(ORT means Odor Recognition Test)
Tonight Sasha, my rescue Shepherd (#1) passed two Odor Recognition Tests - one for Birch, and one for Anise. Before a dog can be shown in a Nose Work Trial, it must prove that it recognizes the target scent for that level.
Dogs entering a Nose Work 1 trial must pass the Birch ORT before entering a trial (which will only include Birch hides)
Dogs entering a Nose Work 2 trial must earn the Nose Work 1 title and pass the Anise ORT before entering a trial (which may include Anise, Birch, or Anise+Birch hides)
Dogs entering a Nose Work 3 trial must earn the Nose Work 2 title and pass the Clove ORT before entering a trial (which may include Clove, Anise, Birch, Clove+Anise, Clove+Birch, Anise+Birch, or Clove+Anise+Birch hides)
A bunch of us sat in a large room, our dogs in crates next to us, chatting as we waited for the tests. First they tested the people/dog teams which were testing only Birch scent.
Then, they tested those of us who had signed up for both scents.
Thing is, I haven't hidden a scent for Sasha in weeks - I've been working 12 hour days, 6 days a week for over a month. I have vacation time from today through Monday.
I spent a few hours this afternoon reminding Sasha what birch smells like, and introducing her to anise, and then we drove to the facility.
Both tests ran alike. We were called up by Lisa (with the nice smile), and waited 'in the wings' while the team before us ran. Then Yolanda came out and took our Scorebook, and brought us into the next room. I'll call it the antechamber.
It's really the doggie daycare room, but there were no other dogs there. We waited until Yolanda gave the people in the next room my Scorebook, and got the ok.
We stepped in the door and someone spoke to us. She was giving us directions... I nodded like I understood, but honest to Pete, I don't remember what she said.
She was sitting to the side of a table, facing a man - I knew one of the two was our judge. There were two or three people sitting behind a table. A woman standing at the far end of the room.
Between us and the woman were two pylons, and two rows of 6 white cartons, each a couple of feet apart. The cartons were probably 18x18, and about 6 inches deep.
Sasha ran down the center of the aisle. On the birch round, she sniffed every carton before she really focused on one and sniffed and pawed. I said, "Alert." The judge (it was the guy) said, "YES! Reward!" and I gave Sasha some pepperoni slices right next to the carton. I think someone said she'd taken 43 seconds.
On round two/Anise, she sniffed about half the cartons. She pawed the last one in one of the rows... and then went back and sniffed a couple others again, then returned to the last one in the row and really WHACKED it with her paw, and I said "Alert." Same judge said "YES! Reward!" and she got pepperoni again. That time I heard someone say, "Exactly 45 seconds."
It was fun. She loves it so much. I don't have any photos from tonight (I was handling her, couldn't take photos!), but here's a photo of one of my Intro to Nose Work students.