I earned my Elite Champion Title in NACSW Nose Work in Wilson, NC. Mom realized I am extremely talented in nose work when I earned my NW3 Titles. Our instructor told us to make sure we enjoyed Elite because it would pass by fast, so we formulated a plan that only we knew about…just in case it didn’t work out. As you know we have traveled our behinds off, and after ten months with twelve Elite trials, I earned my ELT-CH! Mom and I are over the moon ecstatic, and she did cry a little bit.
Our day went really well. We searched at a fairgrounds and had some really fun and some challenging searches. At the end of the day, we missed two hides, but one of those not one dog found! I placed second in one search, third overall out of the thirty dogs, and earned my Champion Title. The goal we set was for me to earn my title before I turned four and I did it at three years and ten months. Many dogs are much older when they earn their titles.
We trialed in MN, and traveled to seven different states for trials searching fun venues like a search and rescue training center, prison museum, University of St. Thomas, baseball stadium, fire museum, camps, fairgrounds, hockey arena, and a school. I placed 1st overall once, 2nd overall twice, 3rd place overall twice, 2nd place in a search twice, and 3rd place in a search five times.
My journey in NACSW Nose Work started when I passed my NW1 on October 25th, 2020.
Five months later, we traveled to Iowa, where I passed my NW2.
NW3 has been a family problem for many years as none of my sisters had passed one. Enter the family sniffalufagus, to remedy the situation. I earned my first full NW3 on July 10th, 2021 in Iowa. It seems Iowa is good to me. Mom cried a lot about this one as she had waited so long.
In September our real travel spree began. I earned my second NW3 title in Pennsylvania on the 18th. We knew no one at the trial and when I walked away with so many ribbons, they were wondering, “who was that dog”, LOL! This was the moment where Mom knew I am something really special.
A week later I earned my third NW3 Title in Schaumburg, IL. I was missing an element, so I had to do another to get my NW3 Elite.
My big day came in Brainerd on October 9th, 2021 when I earned my NW3-ELT Title. Mom and I were over the moon happy! Finally we would be able to play in Elite.
We traveled to Wyoming in April 2022 where I earned my ELT1 Title searching a prison. It was a super fun trip for us all!
My ELT2 Title I earned in northern Minnesota in August 2022. It was also my first time placing in the top three overall. Mom says there is a trend as the longer we do this, the more placements we seem to earn.
Earning my ELT3 at the University of St. Thomas in October 2022 was special since Mom graduated from that school, many years ago. We had fun searching at her Alma Mater, and we did very well.
My Elite Champion Title is something Mom and I are so very proud of, as well as how fast we achieved it, and how much fun we had traveling for trials. My siblings are thrilled for us, but also because the pressure is off of them finally. Mom has me and I can do it all, so they can earn their titles at their own pace. Now it will be on to the Summit Level for us. We can only do two of those trials a year. It will mean travel most likely, but we don’t mind. Hopefully you have enjoyed looking back at my journey from NW1 to ELT-CH.