More Nose Work

I have moved into the next tier of Nose Work...paring the odor of food with the odor of birch.  Ever wonder what birch smells like?  Well, it smells like winter-green, whatever that is.  My mama says it smells goooood.  However, she can only smell it when she puts her nose in the jar; I can smell it from several feet away.

Our instructor, Miss Pam, gave everyone several q-tips (cut in half just in case some silly dog eats them) soaked in birch oil.  She says they will smell for a long, long time if they are kept in an air tight jar.  

Glass jar with scented q-tips

When we want to play "search", the q-tips are moved to a metal container with holes in the top so I can smell the birch. 

Not just another Altoids tin!

At first, the metal container is paired with a lot of treats.  When I find the tin, I get the treats and then my mama or papa give me more treats, right on top of the tin, so I smell the birch while I'm gobbling up the treats.  Each week Miss Pam uses less food and now I only get one tiny piece of food on top of the tin, but I get lots of treats on the tin when I find it, which just makes me want to search again.  That's what makes the game so much fun.

Pay attention to the 53 second mark where I "alert" to the "find".  Those are all Nose Work terms in case you didn't know ;o)  This exercise is called chasing the squirrel.  There are two tins and every time I find one, Miss Pam takes it away and I search for the other one, so I never have to stop.  It helps dogs like me that aren't very fo-cust.

I'm not exactly all business at class but I sure do have fun and get rid of a lot of energy!  You can tell I'm having fun because my tail.never.stops!

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham, CGC TT

I am the Majority

Well, actually this isn't about me, it's about the people that "own" dogs like me.  You know, pit bull type dogs, dogs with block heads, short hair and muscular bodies.  In a way, we are the majority.  Sadly, dogs like me are the most euthanized type of dog in this country, every day.  Lots of people think the only type of people that would want a dog like me are drug dealers and criminals and reckless people.  They believe the stereotype that “good” people don’t live with “pit bull” dogs. That's not really true, of course, and the Animal Farm Foundation is working on a new project to show the world that “pit bull” dog owners are everyday people and they are the majority.  When my mama read about this new project she couldn't wait to take a picture and submit it.

She has already seen her picture in a video and  it's on the same blog post, further down the page. It's a nice picture of her but seriously, I've seen better pictures of me.  She even posted it for all her friends (yeah, all 84 of them...that's lame) on Facebook.  

Finally, after weeks four more days, she was able to take a picture of my papa and me so his picture could be part of the project. too.

I'm not really into having my picture taken, you know.

Since I didn't think much of the picture with my mama, I didn't go out of my way to pose for  the picture with my papa.  They haven't seen his picture on any videos or blog posts yet but I know it's there somewhere.

Now my Auntie Wendy and Uncle Dan need to get their pictures taken with my  "cousins I never get to see" so they can be part of the project, too.

This is my cousin Amber.  She's an 11 year old elder-bull.

This is my cousin Ginger.  She's an elder-bull too but she's only 9.  

This handsome guy is Guinness.  He would have been 12 today but he left us and traveled over the Rainbow Bridge :(  My mama says these are the first pit bulls she ever met.  She was afraid of Guinness at first, but then she loved him.   Then she loved all pit bull type dogs.  That's very lucky for me!

Stay tuned for more tips on where to see my mama and papa during the "I am the Majority" project.

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham CGC TT

Wordless Wednesday 11/14/12

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham CGC TT

I'm a Foster Brother...Again!

It has been busy here at what I affectionately like to call Nottingham Fosters.  Last week my papa brought home a little sister, Penny and a little brother, Larson.  They came from the South.  I don't know much about the South, except Floor-i-duh is in the South where it's warm and sunny all winter.  I can't even tell you how much fun we had running around the yard but I can show you.

This is Penny, my girlfriend. 

This is Larsen, not my girlfriend

Stop, Drop and Roooooollllllll

Penny says "I'm taller than you!"

We're just wrestling

Giving Penny a bully-back ride

 I liked Larsen okay but I loved Penny! 

We all got tired and slept very well.

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham CGC TT

Nose Work, Week 3

Well, last night was my third Nose Work class.  Although I rocked the class last week, I didn't fare quite so well this week.  In fact, I earned two, TWO, timeouts.  This is not something of which to be proud.  Apparently, I am not allowed to relieve myself mark a pole pee during a search.  There happened to be a spot, far, far away from the search area that drew my attention and I couldn't draw myself away from that area, even when my mama rudely pushed gently guided me back toward the search area. So I did what I do when I feel the need to let other dogs know "I was here"...I peed.  Bad Dog!  I was quickly placed back on a leash and removed from the search area to sit all alone in a cold, dark car and give thought to my recent indiscretion.

When it was my turn again, I was ready to work and did a fine job of searching and finding the "hide" very quickly.  I will admit that Miss Pam made it easy for me.  Then it was like Groundhog Day, you know the movie where the same day happens over and over and over.  That smell!  I caught a wiff of That Smell again.  Well, you know what happened next...I ran right over to another pole and.........peed.  Bad Dog!  Once again I was removed to the car.  The point I'm supposed to get is that even though I'm having so much fun, being off leash and running around "like there's a circus in my head" (thank you for the quote Auntie Wendy) I'M NOT ALLOWED TO PEE DURING THE SEARCH OR I GET TO SPEND TIME ALONE IN THE CAR.

I did get to come in once more and Miss Pam made it even easier for me.  All the other dogs were finding the "hide" in buckets, on chairs, in the corner; all my "hides" were placed in two rows right in front of me so I couldn't miss them.  

Here's a little video of me doing what I'm supposed to do...searching, not peeing.

This isn't very exciting to watch but it gives you an idea of what Nose Work is all about.  My job is to find the "hide" (treats) by smelling and my mama's job is to add more treats into the container so I stay with it.  Eventually the treats will be replaced with an odor, like anise or birch, and when I find it, I still get treats.  That's what I call "a good game to play".

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham CGC TT

BAT Training

If you know me, you know...this isn't me.  Just a cute dog from the internet.

No, not that kind of bat.  It's training, silly. 

BAT stands for Behavior Adjustment Training and it's to help me with my reactivity.  We met with Shannon, one of my trainers, at a cemetery in Saco along with two other reactive dogs and their nice ladies.  Shannon brought along Brinna, her very calm, indifferent pit bull to be the "decoy" dog.  Brinna stood, or lyed down, or whatever she wanted to do, at the end of the road while my mama and I walked toward her to a predetermined point and stopped.  Mama was waiting for me to notice her, then turn away like I didn't want to look at her any more.  That's when she said "YES" very enthusiastically and we turn around and walk back to where we started.  We did it over and over and over to the point that I was exhausted.  It was hard work for my brain.  Truth be told, I didn't hardly react at all.  That's because Brinna didn't stare at me, she wasn't moving toward me and she wasn't being yappy.  She totally didn't press any of my buttons.  I was practically a rock star in the world of reactivity.

It turned out to be a very successful BAT day and my mama was very proud of me!  We're excited to be going again next week.

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham  CGC TT

Wordless Wednesday 9/19/12

Until next time...Sir Titan of Nottingham CGC TT