I said I would tell you about this new thing my person is doing with me to celebrate how amazing I am at ten years old. I am learning a new job! The people call it nosework.
Ojo is learning it too, but guess what? My person picked ME, Cobi, to go to class! I haven't gotten picked for class in forever! But she picked ME!!!
I am just getting started learning. Here is what I know so far...
First I put on my special collar. I only get this collar when I am working. Also my person tells me that it is time to work. So this is how I know it is time to work.
Then there is this SMELL. It is a funny smell. (My person says it is wintergreen, pine, and thyme. Some Dogs sniff out bombs or drugs. We only sniff for these funny oil smells.)
The SMELL goes inside of something. Something like this:
(And yes, there are holes in the blue lid so I can still smell it!)
Then my person hides the SMELL.
I am asked to Search. And my job is to use my nose and my amazing sniffing powers to find the SMELL!
There it is! I found it!
The SMELL can be pretty much anywhere.
Hey, I found it again! Momma B, look here! There it is! Do you see it? I found it! (Treats please!)
Now we are outside. My special collar goes on! It is time to work!
This time the SMELL is in a flower pot. (Although I did not know that. It was a surprise to find the SMELL in a pot! I still found it though, no problem, because I am amazing.)
The SMELL is in a pot because Ojo fetches the container with the blue lid. This is not supposed to be a fetch game. It is a poke-it-with-your-nose game. And Ojo will not fetch the flower pot. So the silly pot is Ojo's fault. Like most things are.
Time to Search!
I found the SMELL in the pot! (I am very good at this job.)
I need to stick my nose on the SMELL for a while, or at least poke it again and again, to make sure my person knows I found it. (She's kind of slow sometimes.)
I still have my nose on it. Do I get my treat now?
Aren't I amazing?
I love this new sniffing game! And we only just got started. I wonder what we're going to learn next week?
Pee Ess This is not the first sniffing job for either of us. If you'd like to read more about our other sniffing jobs, look here!
Ojo is employed as a Thing Finder. She finds lost things. Here is her job:
http://dogdoesntfetch.blogspot.com/2017/02/my-new-job-by-ojo.html
(She is even better at it now, by the way!)
My first sniffing job was finding lost people in the woods. And the stuff they'd dropped too. But haven't done that job forever and ever. So I am glad I have a new job.
https://dogdoesntfetch.blogspot.com/2011/09/sniffing-day.html
and
https://dogdoesntfetch.blogspot.com/2011/01/world-under-water.html
We Dogs have the most amazing noses. I love my new Search job. I hope we practise again soon!