Octane Earns Nw 1 Title & The Harry Award

[racindog]

On April 6 OCTANE, aka “The Kissing Bandit” competed with 40 other dogs in Cincinnati, OH at the National Association of Canine Scent Work Trial and you should have seen my man go!!!! He earned his NW 1 in his FIRST trial!!!! IN ADDITION, the judges awarded him the NACSW HARRY AWARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of my boy!!! It was hard work for him-he had to have the stamina and willingness to do numerous searches ALL DAY-some of them in the weather- and they were not easy either. He worked the problems as if he had more experience and most importantly did not quit. He kept hunting.

The Harry Award was established in loving memory and honor of Harry, the Beauceron- a fearless and loyal working dog. Harry was one of the earliest nose work dogs and showed tremendous enthusiasm and promise. Harry and his handler were on a walk when Harry protected his handler and took a rattlesnake bite. Harry fought bravely for a few days but sadly succumb to the poison. He passed away just days before the Inaugural Nose Work Competition on August 9, 2008 when the first Harry Award was presented. .

The HARRY AWARD is given to the most outstanding adopted dog that demonstrates extraordinary ability and spirit in nose work. The five highest scoring are considered by the judges for the award. Octane & I are honored that our teamwork was considered to be at this level. In fact, Team Octane was “Pronounced” on the Interior search & the Container search. The 'Pronounced' term is not automatically awarded due to the score or comments. The nature of NACSW™ trials include the participation of several judges, each with their own interpretation and opinion on the teamwork they view in the element they are judging. Judges will note a "P" on element score sheets when they wish to recognize the technique and/or teamwork for that team, so that handlers may receive feedback and have understanding about areas of their searches that were most notable to that judge. The judges may consider any of the following in their evaluation of a pronounced team: Professionalism, handler and dog safety, observational skills, leash handling technique, off leash control, speed and efficiency, accuracy, stamina, enthusiasm, odor obedience, clarity of alert and dog/handler communication. Pronouncement will be solely at the discretion of the judge(s) for that trial.

 

 

 

Below find pictures of the Vehicle searches & Exterior Search. Be sure and read the short captions as they explain what you see in the pictures. There are not any pictures of the Interior or Container Searches. I was especially proud of him on the Interior Search. It was a large elementary school classroom and it gave new meaning to the word “cluttered.” It seemed like there were a million different places the hide could be! Luckily, we were allowed to work it off-leash. Octane knew exactly what the game was. He caught odor in a corner of the room but it clearly was not source. He-while off leash- searched the perimeter- walking along scanning shelves & myriad stuff with his nose. When he completed that, I directed him back to the general area where he had first shown interest and as he got to the middle of the room, he caught odor! I beamed with pride as my boy started those loud ‘sniffing’ noises they make when they are working odor and he followed it straight to source!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Pictures of the Vehicle (3) Search to follow.

https://res.cloudinary.com/drqdnad6t/image/upload/v1555093601/CAPTIONNW1_4-6-19_HRresized_tddhuj.jpg

[racindog]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greyhounds are amazing creatures. Their appearance does not hint at the greatness within. Unless you know them you will miss their honor, their intense loyalty, their wisdom, their many skills, and the love in their giant heart-the largest of all the breeds. I often thank OCTANE for picking me. “The Kissing Bandit” spreads joy and love to everyone. He has already made MANY friends both K9 and human. Octanes dad “Djs Octane” is 13 years old now and is also a “cow doggy”. He is quite famous and has sired many many wonderful hounds. If you know his dads peeps please tag them on this as I’m sure they would enjoy it!

[sarabz]

Congratulations! This is really neat, thanks for sharing.

[LaFlaca]

Well done, Octane! Congrats to you both!

[JaimeL]

Congrats to you and Octane! That is very cool.

[Patsy]

Congratulations to you both!

[Remolacha]

Good job Octane! Very impressive

[Jerilyn]

Very cool, congratulations to both of you!

[Time4ANap]

This is awesome! You can see how focused he is even in a still picture. Way to go Octane (and Mom!)

[LBass]

Congratulations to both of you! Well done.

[macoduck]

Good job Octane! And how wonderful that someone took really good photos of "Team Octane" too.

[Lexi]

Good work Team Octane! Octane is such a handsome boy too.

[spottydog]

Wonderful! Congrats to you both!

[RaineysMom]

congrats to you, Donna, and Octane!!!! :yay

[FiveRoooooers]

You both must be over the moon! Super well done

[BatterseaBrindl]

[Banjoman]

Well done.

 

The written commentary helped a lot!

[racindog]

Good work Team Octane! Octane is such a handsome boy too.

Octane is too humble to reply, but as his Mom I think he is an exceedingly handsome chap too! Thanks for the compliment!

[EllenEveBaz]

CONGRATULATIONS! Well done!

 

 

How did you and Octane meet? And what made you think of going into nose work?

I often thank OCTANE for picking me.

 

[racindog]

CONGRATULATIONS! Well done!

 

 

How did you and Octane meet? And what made you think of going into nose work?

I adopted Octane via the good folks at Music City Greyhound Adoption. He is only 3 and I have had him for a little over a year. My bridge angel soul mate Slim taught me that people may think they pick the dog but they don't- the dog picks them. I handle a working dog, a Belgian Malinois named K9 Reba for the Coroner that is nationally certified in Human Remains Detection on land and water. K9 Reba is, like many working K9's, very dominant so it was critical to find a hound that would accept her so I would not have to keep them both separated. I took K9 Reba to Nashville and we let her interact with a couple available houndies. She clearly favored Octane. He is a sweet silly boy dog and appeared to be low drive which of course was perfect for getting along with a high drive working mal. Octane is nothing but a gentleman and he lets her rudeness and possessiveness just run off his back and acts like he doesn't even notice it. I didn't initially try Nose Work with him because I figured he would probably not be a great candidate. One day I just decided to give him a go at it and boy was I surprised. Octane love love loves Nose Work. And I discovered he had a great nose which he didn't hesitate to use! And, I discovered he had really good hunt drive after all! And since then I have found out that greyhounds are in reality a great candidate for Nose Work. A lot of things that non-greyhounds have problems with are not even an issue for greyhounds. For instance environmental issues. Most greyhounds are completely comfortable even in new environments. They grew up being exposed to many different environments and are very social. And they have been bred for over 5000 years to hunt INDEPENDENTLY of humans-which is ideal for a detection dog etc. So I realized the joke was on me and I should have known that greyhounds would be a good candidate. And let me tell you this too. There is something psychological about Nose Work that helps fearful or nervous types to "settle down" and find themselves so to speak. Many shelters have begun Nose Work programs to help some of the dogs with issues to settle down so they can find forever homes! So if a greyhound is nervous or even reactive they can still do Nose Work and most likely it will help them feel a whole lot better and improve. The NACSW goes to great lengths to provide a SAFE and NON-THREATENING environment for the dogs to compete in. Their main objective in fact is for the dogs to have fun. And as any detection trainer will tell you if the dog is not having fun they won't work well. That is another great thing about Nose Work. It is 100% POSITIVE so you never have to worry about upsetting your dog or harming him in any way. You don't 'correct them. You let them work things out for themselves and make sure that only fun happy stuff is associated with searching. And the ONLY obedience in Nose Work is 'obedience to odor'-which basically means they will ignore you and stay at the odor source because they know that means a treat or reward is coming-which of course they love. That is one of the things I most like about it. And since it is so fun for the dogs I guess it is no surprise they like it so. You can find more info here: https://www.nacsw.net/

 

 

Any dog can do it. There are many seminars and training opportunities and certified instructors are listed etc., and info on it all is there and on the NACSW FB page or the FB Open Nosewwork page. All this only applies to NACSW Nose Work which is the original one. All the others are spin offs-even the AKC one- and I would be a little leery of them as I suspect they don't go to the extremes the NACSW does to keep the dogs safe etc. I can only speak of the NACSW because it is the only one I do and I have done it for years with them.

I am very proud of Octane. He is only the 15th greyhound since it began in 2008 to earn the NW1 Title and to think he did it on his first try puts me over the top. The "secret" is getting out now though about how greyt greyhounds can be at it so I am hoping many more greyhound teams will be having fun doing Nose Work too!

Edited April 17, 2019 by racindog

[NeylasMom]

Congratulations on your success at your first trial! I second everything you said in your last post and hope this thread will inspire some folks to seek out classes with a certified instructor.

 

Or for folks who aren't interested in trialing (it can be expensive and time consuming, especially as it gets harder to get into trials meaning you're likely to travel further just to get in) there are plenty of scent work classes that are just intended to be fun. Other organizations now offer their own and slightly different trials/rules as well.

 

I started with Violet for exactly one of the reasons you mentioned, she was an anxious girl and I wanted something we could do one-on-one that she would enjoy and would help build her confidence. Turned out that I enjoy it as much as she does so Skye, who is my agility dog now does nosework too.

 

Anyway, congrats again!!