Sun, snow and sniffing

Hi friends! Ojo here! Today there was sun, snow, and sniffing. This was a good day. That's it, bye for now!

Keys found! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

I worked today! This is not unusual. I worked yesterday on our Walk too. But for some reason my person was extra-extra-happy with my work today!

In case you did not know, I have a job as a Thing Finder. If you would like to read more about my job and see a video of me working, you can click here! http://dogdoesntfetch.blogspot.com/2018/08/i-am-amazing-thing-finder-by-ojo.html

I find all sorts of things! This is a very fun job, I love it very much.

Today we went for an extra-long Walk in the forest and at the lake. When we got back to Car, for some reason our person did not open Car for us. Instead she started patting all of her pockets, and then she got more and more upset. She said her keys were missing!

She started pacing back and forth all over the parking lot and the road. She looked on the ground. She looked on the path. She looked inside of Car. But her keys were nowhere to be found!

Cobi tried to make her feel better by pushing into her legs, but this did not help. Our person said, "We just walked for over an hour and a half! My keys are somewhere on that walk! It is wet and raining, and I have a meeting soon! This is Very Bad!"

Our person called for a Rescue. But before the Rescue could come help us, I helped instead!!

Here is how I helped! Our person decided to do the first five minutes of our Walk again while we were waiting for Rescue. She walked very slowly and looked everywhere with her eyes. But then she got smart! She asked me to help!

She said the magic first words, which are, "Ojo, want to work?"

I said YES, yes I do! (I said this by jumping in the air and running towards her full speed.)

She gave me her palm to sniff, and she said the words, "Where's my thing?", and I was off! I used my nose to find all traces of my person's smell!

And guess what?!? I found her keys!!! Aren't I amazing!!

Okay, honestly I do not know why this was so special today. I do this kind of search all the time. Yesterday I found a hard plastic disc hiding stuffed down in some rocks. That was a hard find. Compared to that, the keys weren't hard at all!

But for some reason my person was extra-extra-happy with my work today! She gave me soft goat cheese, right out of the package! AND she gave me pieces of leftover pancake!!

I guess the keys were really really lost!

I am an amazing Thing Finder! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here again!

In all of our training for our new job, which is called Nosework, my person almost forgot what an amazing Thing Finder I am! But then one of her people-friends asked to see me work and so a few days ago she made a video!

Here is my video!

My job is to find whatever the people lose when they are on a walk!

In this video you see me find the same thing twice. My person is clearly very clumsy. I found the Thing for her, and she lost it again almost right away! It is good that I was there to help find it!

The first time I find the thing you will see me on a narrow path, and so I am moving fast! The second time I am looking in an open area, and my person had walked all over this area a few minutes before. By walking all over my person put her scent all over the place, so I had to do big loops to make sure I didn't miss anything.

It is good that I am such an amazing Thing Finder! Otherwise that black, soft, whatever-it-is would have been lost forever!

New Sniffing Job - Search!

Dear friends,

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!

I sniff all over!

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!

Hello, is that CHEESE?

Hello there. Is that Cheese I smell in your pocket?

Yes please, I would like some Cheese! Look at how nicely I sit and wait for Cheese!

Pee. Ess. To any humans reading this, did you know that us Dogs smell in stereo? Each of our nostrils captures scent separately, just like each of our ears do! If you look at the first photo of me up above, you'll see that my nose is angled to one side with my right nostril pointing at the Cheese, even though my face is straight on. Aren't we Dogs amazing?

My person says to watch this video if you're interested in learning more about our noses and how we smell in stereo!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7fXa2Occ_U

The rains have started! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

The rains have started!

The plants and grasses and trees are breathing a sigh of relief!

At the same time, the plants and trees are getting ready for Winter. The leaves are on the ground as they get ready to go to sleep for the year.

But most exciting is that all of the smells that dried up all summer are now moist and very strong! It is a very good time of year for sniffing! We like walking in the Fall.

My New Job! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here! I have a new job!

You may recall that I lost my previous employment last spring. I used to be a Rat Catcher! This was a great job - stimulating, fun, close to home...

You see, we used to have chickens living in our yard, and under the chickens was a Rat Town. The ratties liked to eat the chicken feed, so they were very happy living there. But the people were not so happy. So my job was to keep the rattie population under control. I ran patrols every day, dug up nests, and I caught whatever ratties I could! My record was eleven ratties in one week, and my personal best was six ratties in one day!

But then Mother Raccoon took the chickens to feed her babies, and with no chicken feed in the yard anymore all the ratties went away.

I had no more job.

As the humans will attest to, unemployment is not a good thing. I found myself bored and had lots of extra energy. So I tried self-employment for a while.

The job I found for myself was barking at the raccoons and squirrels in the Big Oak Tree! I thought this was a pretty good job, but my people were not so keen on it.

So my person helped me find a new job! Now I am employed as a Thing Finder!

My person has been helping me train for this. I'm still a novice, but I'm getting better all the time! When we go out on Walks, I find the things that the people lose. So far I have found gloves, a water bottle, a hat, a washcloth, a plastic clip, the end of an umbrella, a whole umbrella, a fork, and car keys!

Here I am finding a dish cloth!

So if you ever come walking with us and you lose your sunglasses or wallet or keys, I will find them for you! Because that is my official employment - a Thing Finder!

And it's a good thing I can do this, because my person seems to lose at least two or three objects every time we Walk. She's very clumsy. Sometimes she even loses the same thing two or three times in a row! Silly humans!

I am very happy with this job. When I come home from our Walk I am satisfied and tired, and I sleep for hours. It is good to have a job.

Do you have a job?

It is FALL! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

Nature has decided that Summer is done. It is now time for Fall!

This means fog, and rain, and wind. And it is much cooler.

All of these things are Good, at least for us Dogs! Rain means better smells for sniffing! Fog carries more scents and sounds to us! And cooler wind days mean that we do not get as hot, so we can explore longer!

Hurray for Fall! We welcome you!

We sniff! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

We sniff! Our noses are amazing! Not like the people-noses that can only seem to smell things like "stinky dog" and "coffee brewing". Our noses smell EVERYTHING!

We smell:

• Bunny that went past this morning
• Big Dog that peed
• Little Dog that also peed
• Pack of Dogs that were playing
• Another bunny
• Two squirrels
• People
• Where we walked when we were here last week

What do you smell?

On top of the world! (by Ojo)

Hi hi hi! Ojo here!

I stand on top of the world
And I smell...

Everything!

I think I can even smell YOU! (Cobi just smells where someone dropped a Cheeto.)

Sniffing day

Today was Sniffing Day!

I haven't had my sniffing harness on in a very long time. I thought Momma B had forgotten how good my nose is. So when she put my sniffing harness on, I worked really hard to show her. She was very pleased with me!

The ground was dusty-dry-not-wet, so the smells didn't stay very fresh. But there wasn't much wind so I just stuck my nose on the place where Leader had walked and I showed Momma B how good I am!

At first I forgot to do Sit to show the people when I'd found something important that Leader had dropped, but then I remembered. I found four things. Leader was very happy. I think she needs to pay closer attention though, because losing four things is pretty silly!

Momma B said this was my longest track ever. When I was done I was hot and tired. I lay down with a stick for a chew break.

I hope we have Sniffing Day again soon!

Sniffing Friday

It was Sniffing Day today!!!

Just me, my person and Leader today. The smell in the bag-with-scent-to-follow belonged to my person. I followed her footsteps, where she had walked earlier. She had dropped some things on her walk and was very pleased when I found them for her. She didn't even need to ask me to do Sit. I did that all on my own when I realized how important the dropped things were.

There were a few hard parts. The ground was dry and hard. When we weren't in the bushes or grass, there wasn't much smell to follow. The wind was also blowing around a lot. Near the end, I could smell the shirt my person had been wearing all week around a corner. I wanted to go right to it, but my person made me follow where her feet had walked. Why is that?

In any case, I was very pleased to have such an important job to do today.

I also had fun playing in the tall grass with a dog-friend.

Today was not too hot for me, and not too cold for my person. It was perfect! And she was so pleased with me! I am Good Dog!

Yay Sniffing Day!

Today was Sniffing day! Finally!

It was only me and Simon. I followed Simon's person's scent. Simon's person walked along behind us so she couldn't have been lost. She had dropped a bunch of things though, and the people got very excited when I found them. So I must have been helping find lost stuff.

I understand why she would be sad to lose her mitts. I don't like cold paws either. But I wonder why she needed help finding the used kleenex?

The place where we went today was full of little flowers. My person thought they were pretty and so I wasn't allowed to eat them.

All of that running and sniffing is hard work! Time for a drink!

Nature's big wind makes sniffing a person's track hard

Today my person took me to Mt. Doug and said the special words "go track". But it was very hard. Nature was making very strong winds was blowing the smell all over the place. The scent, by the way, belonged to woman-who-visits-lots-and-walks-in-forest. I knew who it was even before my person opened the bag because I could smell where she had walked on the trail already.

But it was hard to follow her on the trail. The wind was blowing the smell away and into funny places, and I was sure she had gone up a little path, even though my person said "no" and wouldn't let me go that way. I felt stressed. I ate some grass. My person asked me to try again. I did. But I was still stressed. I ate more grass. Have patience with me Momma B, this is really hard.

My person backed me up a ways and gave me the smell in the bag again. I decided to try again, just for Momma B. I put my nose down and worked very hard. We moved very slowly. This was okay, because my person still made pleased noises and said the word "good" a lot.

Then the track went into the forest and this was much easier. Less wind and more things to hold the smell in place. I moved fast. But then we left the forest and got onto open trail again. I knew which direction the track went, but then I lost her smell. By now I was getting tired. I looked at my person.

Oh Momma B, this is really hard.

My person backed me up into the woods again. I wanted to go all the way back, but she didn't let me go very far. She asked me to "check around". I did. I could smell where woman-who-visits-lots-and-walks-in-forest had gone, but I was feeling frustrated. I shook my body. That helped a bit.

My person said "back to work" and started walking in the direction of the big open trail. So I put my nose down and tried again. I moved slowly. I checked all over both sides of the large trail where the wind was blowing. By going back and forth and side-to-side I kept moving in the right direction.

And then something good happened. The track went back into the forest. There were bushes on the ground and lots of piles of prickles. The smell was stuck onto each of the bushes and each of the prickles. I could smell clearly now so I started going fast again. In fact, I knew we were getting really close. I closed my eyes and pushed through a big pile of prickles. And then, behind a tree, there she was! Woman-who-visits-lots-and-walks-in-forest! I found her!

She had handfuls of meat for me. Whew. That was really hard work.

My person took off my sniffing harness and we went for a wonderful walk in the forest. It was good to be walking and playing. It was one of the most fun walks I've had in a long time, with running and sniffing, and new trails I'd never been on before. It was worth doing all that hard work to get such a wonderful walk after.

Here I am with woman-who-visits-lots-and-walks-in-forest.

Mud and friends

Mud and friends! Brodie, Simon and Teddie.

Playing, running, sniffing. Fun. Water and mud.

Oh yeah. I found Momma B's shirt in the woods too. I am so very amazing.

Shirt Sniffing

Today was Friday Sniffing Day. Before Sniffing I had a wonderful walk in the forest with Momma B. We got to walk for a long time, up and down hills, through trees and bushes, over rocks and moss, past swamps and ponds.

My turn was last for Sniffing today. But I'd had such a good walk that I didn't mind waiting and resting.

When we got into the woods for Sniffing I checked around. I could smell the direction that my person, Molly's person, Simon's person and Leader had walked many times. I could also smell Simon and Molly going in that direction. I was ready to go. Right away. Let's go!!

But my person took me in a different direction a little ways. She said the word "Quickly". Oh right. I should probably make a Quickly. So I did.

After I finished my pee, my person took me back to the place where everyone else had headed away from. She put on my sniffing harness and Leader opened the bag with the smell in it for me.

Guess whose smell was in the bag? It was Leader's smell!

Do you think was confusing? Nope. She was behind me, but in front of me there was a track where she had walked before. Several times. No problem. Off I go!

I followed where Leader had walked three times before. She walked in the same place each time so it was easy.

As I cut behind a tree, I suddenly found something on the ground. It was big, soft, and had lots of Leader's smell on it. I stopped to check it out, and suddenly my person got very excited. She ran up to me, jumped up and down, and put lots of ham in my mouth. I guess I was supposed to find that. I am very clever.

But Leader's trail kept going. So after my ham I kept following it.

All of the people made people-laugh noises, and my person called me back. I sniffed the soft-thing-with-Leader's-smell again. I got more ham. My person took off my harness and picked up a stick. We played stick-chase-bite. So I guess that was it. Since the people were so pleased, I was very pleased as well.

Then Leader came up. I poked my nose at her. Yes, definitely Leader. Definitely the smell I was following. I rubbed on her legs for petting. See, I found Leader too! Leader gave me a big pet and then picked up the thing she had lost on the ground. It was a shirt. She seemed pleased that I had found it for her. I am very helpful.

We played on the walk back through the forest. Each time I came up to one of the people they told me how clever I was for finding what Leader had lost. I agreed. Then my person put on my leash and we walked the rest of the way on the road back to the car. My person still had ham, so I walked very nicely beside her so she would share. Back in the car she gave me a bone, which is what I get for being clever and finding lost people. And for finding lost shirts too.

You dropped this

Today was Sniffing Day! We haven't had a real Sniffing Day in a long time.

But first I went into the forest with my person for a walk. Well, my person walked. I ran and jumped and sniffed and ran. My person was worried that it was supposed to be rain-snow-wind-cold today, but it was not. It was a perfect day.

Then it was time to work. Sniffing started off a bit hard. The person I was supposed to find had walked on something my person called "boardwalk". This was hard and slippery and made out of wood. The wind had pushed most of the smell somewhere else.

Also for some reason I was having a hard time concentrating. I really wanted to work, but I just couldn't.

Then four loud, fast, bouncing dogs came. My person called them "sheltie". The people had me sit off the track while these loud dogs went past with their people. My person pet my fur softly. When they were finally gone Leader gave me the smell again and I was asked to get back to work.

I did... But I was still having a hard time concentrating for some reason.

And then I found a good spot.
I peed.

Then I could concentrate.

I moved fast and I found the missing person. He was pleased to see me and gave me food. Then my person played with me with a stick. Then all the people said how clever I was and made happy noises. I made a happy dance. I am very clever.

There is another game my person likes to play right now. She dropped this thing. I found it. Treat please.

Typical Sunday

Nature made sun today. I went with my person to Dallas Road. My silly person kept dropping things on the ground and asking me to find them. Seriously? Can't we just enjoy the sun and fresh air Momma B??

Wait - why are there two of me?

Beaches, forests and how my person keeps leaving me

Today I went several places.

Our first stop was Dallas Road Beach.

We didn't stay there for very long.

We made some stops where I had to stay in the car and my person got out and did... something. And then she came back again.

Then we went to the Sniffing Forest. I had fun running and exploring and climbing.

 
Look at me! I climbed up high.

Then my person asked me to go back into the car and then she shut the door and then she left.

Usually I am okay with this, but today I was not. I felt sad and worried. I made lots of whining and yelping noises. She didn't hear me, so I made them louder. Finally (it felt like a long time to me, although my person said it was "only two minutes"), she came back.

Molly and her person came, and then Simon and his person came, and then Sniff Leader was there too. I got to come out of the car first and do a Sniffing exercise with my person. My silly person kept dropping things and I had to find them. Can people really not see or smell that well?

Then my person put me back into the car and left. Once again I felt very worried. Maybe the weather was funny, or maybe she left me last week for a long time with Raven's people, or maybe it was something else. I'm not sure, but I was very, very worried. I made lots of yelps and whines, and when she didn't come back I made them louder and louder and louder...

Finally she did come back and she let me out. I was still feeling very stressed and worried, and whines kept coming out of my mouth even when we were outside together. Momma B, why do you keep leaving me???

I was asked to find dropped things again, but I couldn't concentrate. I was too worried. And then I had to go back in the car AGAIN! Oh no!

Things kept getting worse and worse and I couldn't focus and it was overwhelming and I felt worried and I felt stressed and I didn't know what I was supposed to do and things were confusing and I was overwhelmed and I was worried and... whew.

Today was not a good Sniffing Day.

My person tells me that Simon and Molly had troubles today too. Maybe it is how heavy the air feels. Nature is about to change the weather to rain and I can feel it. Perhaps that is the trouble.

I was glad when we were finished and it was time to go home. Now I am going to go to sleep until the rain starts.