Nemo is probably what one might popularly call a hobby/comfort dog.
Despite a pretty good career early on the agility course, he was given a quick early retirement. A nasty attack left him with both physical and mental disabilities – and the vet's verdict was: - "No more regular jumping, at least not if you want him for many years."
What the heck do you do then?
When you have a dog that spins around 8 times with excitement when it enters an agility course, and who loves challenges and is impossible to run physically tired?
Then you naturally have to get creative and find another form of training that is mentally tiring – and provides new challenges and variety to everyday life.
And we have actually looked for and tried a lot of different things over time.
Rally – very fun, but not a huge hit. Obedience – ahh – it seemed like it was mostly a duty, but then we came across NoseWork.
A perfect combination of search work in different environments, as well as training in socialization with other dogs at the same time.
And he's a quick learner, the little fat guy – and he thinks it's fun.
So even though it was just for fun, he quickly found that it paid off to find the scents quickly.
And one of the hardest things has been to get him to understand that it wasn't enough that he knew where they were - but that he also had to mark clearly and long enough for the slightly dull-witted dog handler to understand it too.
We have no ambitions to resume a new competitive career.
Because even though Nemo is sweet and talented, it's always a huge stress factor with many dogs around him. But it's always good to have something to train against....
And then a little test crept into the end of the current team... not a real competition, but just a mini test of a competition situation, with rules, points and winners, not least...
Then the dog handler's competitive instinct woke up at 0-point-five.
Training suddenly had to be done to an even greater extent, in different environments, and I can't count how many strange parking lots we've snuck into to practice vehicle searches on a trailer or use their pallets - because apparently the weather is different on wood...
So...
When you read this, it's the day of Nemo's and my mini-comeback on the "competition track."
Because even though he is actually a cozy dog, he also loves challenges and training.
And of course it won't be at the expense of his stress, because fortunately there are only 8 other people there - most of whom he already knows.
So set-up is not much different from regular training – and yet, because it's called a TEST. And who doesn't get a little more excited when the word test is included?
And who knows, maybe the test is actually more intended for the dog handler than the dog?
Early retiree or working dog?
Nemo is probably what one might popularly call a hobby/comfort dog.
Despite a pretty good career early on the agility course, he was given a quick early retirement. A nasty attack left him with both physical and mental disabilities – and the vet's verdict was: - "No more regular jumping, at least not if you want him for many years."
What the heck do you do then?
When you have a dog that spins around 8 times with excitement when it enters an agility course, and who loves challenges and is impossible to run physically tired?
Then you naturally have to get creative and find another form of training that is mentally tiring – and provides new challenges and variety to everyday life.
And we have actually looked for and tried a lot of different things over time.
Rally – very fun, but not a huge hit. Obedience – ahh – it seemed like it was mostly a duty, but then we came across NoseWork.
A perfect combination of search work in different environments, as well as training in socialization with other dogs at the same time.
And he's a quick learner, the little fat guy – and he thinks it's fun.
So even though it was just for fun, he quickly found that it paid off to find the scents quickly.
And one of the hardest things has been to get him to understand that it wasn't enough that he knew where they were - but that he also had to mark clearly and long enough for the slightly dull-witted dog handler to understand it too.
We have no ambitions to resume a new competitive career.
Because even though Nemo is sweet and talented, it's always a huge stress factor with many dogs around him. But it's always good to have something to train against....
And then a little test crept into the end of the current team... not a real competition, but just a mini test of a competition situation, with rules, points and winners, not least...
Then the dog handler's competitive instinct woke up at 0-point-five.
Training suddenly had to be done to an even greater extent, in different environments, and I can't count how many strange parking lots we've snuck into to practice vehicle searches on a trailer or use their pallets - because apparently the weather is different on wood...
So...
When you read this, it's the day of Nemo's and my mini-comeback on the "competition track."
Because even though he is actually a cozy dog, he also loves challenges and training.
And of course it won't be at the expense of his stress, because fortunately there are only 8 other people there - most of whom he already knows.
So set-up is not much different from regular training – and yet, because it's called a TEST. And who doesn't get a little more excited when the word test is included?
And who knows, maybe the test is actually more intended for the dog handler than the dog?