Zest Training in Nosework
10-6-24

We would normally train at Craftco Metalworks’ storage yard, but the wildfire raging a few miles away polluted the air too much for safe training.  We moved to the PAWSitive Training Arena instead – and used many of the items that Denise had collected for the nosework trial (which the fire forced us to cancel).  A friend had already been halfway here from Washington state when we canceled the trial, so she joined us in training.  The arena lighting makes for very difficult photography.  Fluorescent lights overhead compete with sunlight streaming in through the windows, and both reflect from the walls onto the ground and everything else.  I’m grateful that we got as many usable photos as we did. 

Zest still hasn’t fallen in love with the game enough to graduate to the harness, but we continue to work on it.  At least she works well enough to be on the 15′ longline instead of a 6′ leash.  She loves being praised as much as treats when she finds a hide. She did much better today, possibly because in the arena there are much fewer distractions. We were all very pleased with her.  We had 5 search areas.  On the first round, we had them work one small and one pretty large area; on the second round we did the other three, small, areas.  Out of a total of 15 hides today, Zest only refused to acknowledge two, a vast improvement. We can all see that she knows there’s a hide there, but she just refuses to indicate.  It doesn’t seem to be that she dislikes a certain scent, but so far I haven’t figured out why she’ll go past one hide and then nail the next.  She definitely prefers praise as her primary reward, then treats – and today decided she loved to chase the ball after each find, too.  She’ll get there.  Her dad, Justice, was very slow to begin to enjoy learning.  Slow maturation is typical in the East German and Czech lines, so I’m hopeful Zest will come alive and love nosework, just as her dad has done this summer

See a fuller explanation of this summer’s training and links to all the dog’s pages
See An Illustrated Explanation of Nosework for Those Unfamiliar with It
See Zest’s page