Two months ago, Truffle got excused from her very first Exterior search for peeing on a spot another dog had already marked. On September 19, at the Saccarappa Obedience Club’s AKC Scent Work trial in Westbrook, Maine, she won the Exterior class. Out of 18 dogs. In ten seconds.
Exterior: ten seconds and a lesson in trust
Truffle blasted straight to the hide, so fast that I didn’t believe her. I second-guessed her, and she held her ground until I caught up. Our time was 10.04 seconds, and it would have been faster if I’d trusted her the first time. In my defense, nothing else had gone right that day, and I wasn’t sure she was sure.
She was sure. First place out of 18 starters, and the first time she’s ever placed in Scent Work. It’s also her second Exterior Q, which puts her one away from her Novice Exterior title.
The rest of the day: close, but not quite
The other three searches were near misses. In Buried and Containers, she alerted on the box right next to the hot box both times. Close, but close isn’t a Q, and getting all the way to the source is what we’ll be working on next. Interior had a “high” hide (everything is a high hide when you’re nine inches tall), and she alerted on a stool. Just not the right stool.
It’s a different problem from July, when the early calls were mine. This time Truffle was making the calls, and she was one box off. I’ll take that as progress, and I’ll be trusting her a little faster next time.
