Well I did it. I went to my first scent class…I knew we were going to SOMETHING, because I was groomed earlier in the day. That’s always a dead giveaway that either WE are going somewhere, or someone is coming over. I was all fluffed and puffed, and my human put a barrette in my hair so I could see what was going on. Had I known that I was going to be in a class of macho looking Turverens, a German Shepherd, a Silken Windhound, a Brittany and Sheltie, I would NEVER have let her put the barrette in. I mean, it certainly DOESN’T make ME look tough like the other dogs.
When we arrived, my human needed to register us. I was initially a BIT overwhelmed. For like 3.4 seconds, and then I was FINE. My human, who tends to babble in new situations – actually in ANY situation, told one of the instructors that she had high hopes for me – as I DO like to use my nose. I looked at her as if to caution her about any preconceived notions about my performance – because we all remember the herding debacle. Actually TWO herding debacles. As soon as the words came out of her mouth – she realized maybe her bragging about my olfactory skills MIGHT be a bit premature. Too late. The instructor was anxious to see me work.
Well. I am here to tell you – I was awesome. I mean COME ON – we are talking PONs and FOOD. How could I NOT be good at this game?! People actually LAUGHED at my exuberance. I was a sniffing machine. Not only did I try to find the food in the boxes, I jumped on the instructor because I KNEW that’s where the stuff came from. I figured why not go right to the source.
The Sheltie seated next to me, didn’t like me. She snarled at me and basically wanted to kill me. I initially thought it was the barrette, but when she moved to a different seat, I saw that she wanted to kill everyone. I think she was just having a bad day. The Brittany on the other side of me became much less shy as the class went on – she was really enjoying the work and having fun! I watched the other dogs – and squeaked because I wanted another turn. THIS is MY kind of sport. Find food. Perfect. I have a FEELING there may be more to this – we’ll see as weeks go on. I have aspirations to becoming a drug detection dog at the airport – but my human thinks that just taking a few classes and MAYBE taking a test someday will be a big enough goal. But I like to dream big – I can see it now – Balthazar ( my working name) detects largest drug shipment in history. Mind you – only if the drugs are hotdog flavored.
Have a good one!
© Linda Wozniak
Viktorsviews. The Next Chapter. 