2 NOSE YOU IS 2 LOVES YOU

Beautiful weather greeted participants of the Nose Work Play Day hosted by 2 Nose You Is 2 Loves You and My Best Friend Dog Training at Fox Rest Farm!  It was really nice to have a day to play Nose Work with our dogs and get a chance to visit and meet folks we might not be able to otherwise.  Judy and Carolyn (with helpful ideas from friends) organized some fun, silly games that still had useful learning for both dog and handler🤓🐾🐾 (emphasis on the fun and silly!).​

Game #1 was a team relay race called "Can you call it now?" Phone Book Race.  Time started when the first team crossed the start line, found the single hide, then went to the phone book and found the page with the word they were given.  As soon as they crossed the finish line, the next dog team crossed the start line.  Time ended when the last dog on the whole team crossed the finish line. In keeping with NACSW protocols, dogs waited out of sight before starting, and were out of sight when next dog started. It became clear the dogs had an easier time finding the hide than the humans remembering their alphabet!😂

Game #2 was an individual challenge called Pandora's Boxes.  We had 101 containers, unknown number of hides (20!), and a 2 1/2 minute time limit!  Oh, and did I mention we broke all the rules by using Containers NOT allowed at trials?😈  

Game#3 was called Castaway Bay whereby each handler cast a fishing line into a bunch of 'fish' with different leash lengths hidden on each fish - anywhere from 1 ft to 30 ft which the handler had to use. The search area involved a LOT of chairs!🤦🏼‍♀️ Dogs did a super job of searching even though their people were sure changing things up on them! 🐾🐾🙄 (I was impressed with tall people/small dogs/short leash!😄)

Game#4 was a 2 person team game called Bait and Switch and by now I bet you might be guessing what that involved...yep - dogs were handled by their owner's teammate!  The owner was there as a 'helper' and could advise, but not call the Alert.  We noticed how interesting it was to be the observer only and surprisingly difficult for owners to do. The handlers/dogs all did great with each other!      ​

We hope to make this an annual event, so please join in the fun next year - The pitch-in lunch showed that dog people know how to do food, and the games showed we definitely know how to have fun!🤣