There is a new king of boxes in town and I think his name is Nelson! You may remember I went to my first ORT (Odor Recognition Test) the end of August. I messed up my first search for birch but I passed anise and clove. In NACSW nose work a dog can’t compete until he has passed all three odors. Thankfully we started trying early, so I have time before I turn one. NACSW also requires a dog to be one before he can enter their trials.
I’ve heard Emma is the only one of Mom’s dogs that passed all her tests on the first try. The rest of us all missed one the first time, but got it the second.
How does the testing work? These what we call, ORT boxes, are set up indoors in two rows of six boxes each. The boxes must all be a minimum of forty eight inches from each other and from any walls. One box has the target odor for that search, but the handler doesn’t know which box it is. The dog needs to search, find, and let the handler know which box it is. Each team has three minutes to find the odor.
Sunday night I had my chance to pass birch and finish my ORT Title. I went in, sniffed most of the boxes up and down the rows and wanted to leave. Mom reminded me that we needed to find the odor. I started again, crossed to the other row, put my paws on a box, and Mom called alert. Simple as that I have my ORT Title. My sisters are calling me the king of boxes for now. Once I turn a year old I will start entering NACSW competitions. It is the family favorite organization for sniffing, so I am excited to get started in a few months.