OTCWF Beginner Scent Work - Week 1

Would ya just look where we ended up!  It is the Obedience Training Club of Wichita Falls.  It can only mean one thing.  It's training time!!!

We arrived early and waited in the main room.  As dogs and their peoples entered they were greeted wif my adorable waggy self.  

One pet pawrent was so kind and even offered me cheese.  Thanks Jackson's mom!  This photo was taken the moment his mom asked if I wanted cheese.  

There was one hitch in my giddy up when we had to be crated at 6pm.  Something abouts letting the pet pawrents have orientation and needing to have their hands free from distraction.  We are puppies not distractions!  Ill let momma tell you about this pawt since I was not allowed.  

Thank you Lucy

In orientation we we got the run down of supplies needed, how to handle the oils, and equipment for our dogs. For supplies we will need an air tight container.  She recommended ammo cans as they have handles, rubber seals, and a large locking mechanism.  Then we will need small baby food jars to store our scents.  Cotton swabs cut in half to hold the scents.  Metal containers to hide scents for practice.  Essiental oils in the scent of Birch, Anise and Clove.  She also added Myrrh, Vetiver and Cypress to our practice tins but we won't repurchase these.  Martha, the trainer, included scents that all the clubs use AKC, UKC, NACSW. So we could work under any club if we choose too.  But OTCWF is AKC certified and my girls are AKC registered so most likely we will stick to AKC.  

Included in the cost of the class was a practice tin and we loaded it up with swabs containing the scents.  We made a "cocktail tin" which means all scents were put into one tin.  Our dogs will be able to separate out the different scents and this speeds up the training process instead of training one scent at a time. 

We then wrapped it in foil to prevent the oil swabs from drying out and in a bag to contain the scents so our dogs can't smell them between practice sessions.    

When working on making our own scent swabs and tins at home the trainer told us we have to be careful.  Anything the oils touch will then become the source.  Our dogs could start alerting to that spot, would expect a reward but we wouldn't necessarily know what they were alerting to or they would become used to the scent and it would loose its novelty.  So its best to use gloves, tweezers and have a paper towel down when preparing.  When making your cotton swabs we can use as little as 1/3 drop of oils and it is enough for them to alert on.  She also told us to store our bottles of essential oils with the original cap (not the dropper) in baggies and make sure they are upright to prevent leakage.  She also mentioned that when storing oils keep the dropper separate from the bottle.  Oils will break down the plastic if stored together and can damage the dropper.  On a similar note if using plastic centrifuge tubes for hides they will break down over time as well thats why we mainly use tins.  Interesting factoids!  

Martha then moved to equipment.  She stated harnesses are best as they allow the dog freedom to move and the d ring on the back allows them to not get tangled as easily.  For leashes she recommended biothane (which we love), or leather but minimum of 6 feet to allow the dog freedom to do searches with an option of doing long lines up to 15 foot.  

Once jail time...I mean crate time was over we all went into the mirror room.  Oh boy a room full of dogs and hoomans.  Its a dream come true.  We had Chance the schnoodle, Jackson the sheltie, a Yellow Labbies whos name escapes my memory, Rufus the All American Mutt, and 2 Presa Canario Brothers.  The Presa Canarios were the biggest puppies I ever did see.  

 Miss Martha had a ring set up wif boxes just like an official trial.  Each team got to do 3 searches to find the tin. She set up lots of empty boxes and one loaded box with the tin of scents and treats on top.  #yum  

All the puppers did a great job!  One of the big Presa Canarios got spooked when he saw himself in the mirror.  It was so cute! 

Miss Martha said next week we will work more on the searches as tonight was about the orientation and getting the pawrents educated.   

I said bye to all my furiends and met a few more on our way out as the intermediate scent work class was coming in to the building.  One furiend was a black labbie I met at my TKI and TKA evaluation.  Good to see you and your mom again bud!  We also noticed on the bullitin board that the OTCWF's Scent Work Trial dates for the fall have been set.  August 16, 17 and 18 2019.  Oh boy I can't wait!!!!

Last but certainly not least I got my week 1  photo.  

Scented Smooches,

Lucy

P.S. Pawsonally I feel quite left out in this.  I don't agree to the mistreatment of puppies by means of abandonment.  Even if it was abandonment at daycare wif 2 hoomans and 1 Aunt Gracie and I did get pie.  Its still WRONG!

That is all.

Poppy