But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley
from 'To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough' by Rabbie Burns
Peoria, AZ, NW3
January 22, 2023
This was our fifth NW3. Ziva and I had missed a hide and so earned a "leg" at our first trial at Springfield, OR, in August but had either missed a hide and gotten a "no" or gotten two "no"s at each of the three Tucson trials held in November, December and January. We came into this trial sorely in need of some success, but also feeling like we'd learned a few things along the way. Going in, these were our goals:
- Cover the whole search area, but don't focus on covering space so much that we rush past a hide. At one trial, we missed a threshold hide when she ran over to greet the timer and judge, and I didn't remember to take her back to the entry area. In another, I pushed her through a narrow "aisle" and she alerted on pooling odor on the far side when the hide was actually at the "near" side. In a third, I was so worried about the size of the space that I didn't give her time to check out the most obvious spot for a hide, i.e. the spot where there was a hide.
- Stop talking my partner into "desperation" alerts in blank rooms. Twice! And I KNEW better!
- Do an attitude "reset" for each search. Repeat after me: "What happened in the past, what will happen in the future doesn't matter, only now and the search in front of us and my marvelously talented dog."
- Keep the Zen of "Schrodinger's Scoring" that is the NW3 secret to staying sane. At this level, you get a "yes" at a correct call and a "no" at an incorrect call, but you don't know how many hides there are until the END of the day, after all six searches. So the challenge is to stay out of your own head and treat every search without a "no" as a Success until you get those end of day results.
We took the RV up to Glendale, just north of Phoenix, so Doug could pursue one of his hobbies, and had a restful few days before the Sunday trial. It was lovely to have only a 30-minute drive up to the trial site, which was absolutely gorgeous. The private drive to the Maricopa County Desert Education Center wound through big hills studded with huge cactus, and signs warned of wandering donkeys and tortoise crossings. Lake Pleasant could be seen glistening in the background of the small amphitheater/wedding venue that was our exterior search. Parking was very tight but we serendipitously were directed to squeeze in next to our instructor, Aleks Woodroffe of Release Canine, which was fabulous because she is invariably upbeat, insightful and supportive. She was running FEO (For Exhibition Only) with her baby dog, Georges, who had been waitlisted for the NW2 the day before. The parking lot was full of friendly faces, women we knew from classes as well as from previous trials. The last couple of NW3s had been in very wet conditions, but the weather on this day was clear, albeit a frosty 34 degrees when we arrived. Ziva and I were #22 in the run order, preceded by Sally Nusslock and Roxie, who live near us and have been wonderful training partners.
In NW3, there are six searches -- an Exterior, Vehicle, Container, and Interior search and then two more. In this case, we knew from the walkthrough videos posted the night before that those would be a second interior and second container search. Each search would have an unknown number of hides, from 0-3, although only one search for the day could be blank, i.e. have zero hides.
It seems like people interact with walkthrough videos in hugely different ways. Some have told me they don't watch the videos because they just find them confusing. Others really want to have the video from the competitor point of view, disliking a "stand and pan" approach. Aleks has said that she will watch walkthroughs until she can effortlessly visualize the space, drawing it out on paper if need be, and I have found that approach tremendously useful. My husband will tell you that I am very spatially-challenged -- I tend to look but not see -- and studying the spaces is helping me create new habits, which turns out to be beneficial far beyond nosework trials! I will link the official trial videos in my discussion as well as my own results when I receive them from our videographer, the fabulous Stacy Saravo!
Search #1: Exterior, the amphitheater. I knew our challenge would be covering the space. Neither of us is at all agile these days; while many teams would be able to range up and down the semi-circular tiers, Ziva and I were going to have to use the steps at either side. I mapped out a route that should most efficiently cover the whole space and when we learned during the briefing that our entrance would be at the top rather than the bottom, I only had to shift that plan a bit. It was a 3-minute search and my take on our execution was "epic disaster." I started on my planned "cover the space" route and Ziva said "I don't know WHAT you are doing!" and proceeded to balk. We ran into each other like some kind of "after you! No, after you!" comedy sketch. I caught her leash on things that didn't even exist. We wandered in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Worlds were spawned and ended. Finally, Ziva said, "for God's sake, Mother!" and hauled me down the steps, alerting correctly on the corner of the first tier, at which point we got the 30 second call. We took a too-brief fling past the other electrical outlet box, looked regretfully at the 2/3rds of the search space we hadn't even gone near and called Finish. Shreds of Goal #1 were blowing out over the beautiful lake as we trundled dejectedly off to our next search, run back-to-back.
Search #2: Containers. We had a minute and a half to search 10 sterilite shoeboxes in a row on a sandy path. Ziva is a 'one-and-done' containers kind of gal, so I tried to buck up but we got a "no" on the (totally empty) 7th box before she correctly alerted on the 8th box. In hindsight, I managed one good thing -- I didn't just look at the boxes but I SAW them. As Ziva was telling me about box #7, I could SEE that it had a neon sign blinking over it, "Odor Might Pool Here!" It was in a shallow depression, in shade while the others were in sun, on moist gravel where the melted frost hadn't yet evaporated, but I went ahead and called it. For right now, this one is going to go under the "shit happens" tab. Maybe I only saw the potential for error because subconsciously I realized her alert was not confident. I think we likely were the only team to false on that box (although others stumbled over distractors in earlier boxes), and that's very unlike Z. It would have been very interesting to have run this search in confident optimism rather than smelling like someone had just died during our first search; I had abandoned Goals 3 and 4, and it's entirely possible that my sensitive and caring partner was more focused on me and the black cloud over my head than on her task.
We broke for lunch and had Happy Parking Lot Time with Nice People. Many friends were having a Very Good Day (no 'no's) and it was hugely therapeutic to bask in the sun and trade stories about dogs we've known and loved. Although I thought we likely had missed at least one hide in search 1 and had that "no" for sure, I tried to resurrect Goal #3, at least, and try to clear my mind before each of the upcoming searches.
Search #3. For us, that was the second Container search, a bunch of toolboxes set in a "U." This was a cheerful search because there were 3 hides, so, having found them all, we could confidently call "Finish." I did make Ziva double down on one and got a justified "trust your dog" comment on the scoresheet from the judge, but, sue me, I'm human.
Search #4 was Interior, a Science Lab, similar to places in which Z and I have spent a lot of time together over the years. I went into this search with a strong reminder to myself that it could be blank, eyeing her avidly for the lack of focus and loud sniffing behavior that I've learned means Z is trying to find odor but can't. I took her off leash at the doorway and after greeting the timer and judge (she's a Poodle, we're just going to live with those lost seconds), Ziva worked the perimeter of the room and gave me a very confident alert on a cabinet at the very back. I waited a beat and she ran her nose over the cabinet seam again before I called it and we got a "yes." She explored the rest of the area (I appreciate her methodical patterning SO much!) and we called Finish. A volunteer escorted us out through a reptile display area and, while there was no time to stop and look, Ziva did wag the whole way -- she loves those reptiles! -- so I felt good about the "middle" two searches.
Staging for the next search was extensive with lots of "chairs" to wait in. While many dogs chafe at waiting, Ziva doesn't really care. However, all the waiting stations were on rough gravel and I could see that she was uncomfortable whether she sat, stood or laid down. Holding her isn't really an option for either of us and these were not chairs that would work for her. This is often the point in the day where I start to Worry About My Dog and lose focus on the search. I think that might have easily happened here if I'd felt less comfortable with the upcoming space that I'd seen in the video -- maybe I am learning!!!
Search #5 for us was the second interior space, a couple of bunkrooms separated by a hallway. Again, this was familiar-feeling space (Iowa peeps, think Camp Tanager!), and the actual "live" area had been pared down considerably since the walkthrough video. Z showed interest around the ladders of the two bunks and I thought there *might* have been a high hide on the bunks that she missed, but, having watched a lot of NW3 de-briefs, I didn't think it likely. And we'd remembered to check the things in the narrow hallway space rather than pushing through it, which was good. She found a hide in the smaller bedroom and we were Finished.
Search #6 was Vehicles, which I have always considered Ziva's superpower, gained through midwest UKC trials where she's searched seven or more vehicles, including giant combines, tanks and railroad cars. On this search, I told Ziva out loud that she was giving me palpitations over her interest on the front of the first car. She had vacuumed the gravel under it with her nose, not typical at all for her, and then had run all over the front bumper. Although she looked at me, she definitely wasn't sourcing anything and didn't give me a confident alert, as she did on the other two vehicles, so we left it at two and called Finish.
At the end of the day, I thought we likely missed hides on Exteriors, possibly on Vehicles, knew we had a "no" and (effectively) a "pass" on Containers, and was hoping for the best on Interiors, an element title we still didn't have. Then the hide locations sheet was posted and I don't think you can begin to imagine my shock to see that our "no" was our only error for the day!!!
And that's when things got REALLY crazy. The CO (which stands for "Certifying Official" except we'd decided at lunch it really should be "Captain Odor") went over the results and, while most were in the 50%-ish pass rate you usually see from NW3 searches, only 3 teams out of the 35 running passed the Science Lab search. Now, some teams, like Aleks and Georges, ran FEO and so even if they were perfect, they don't get to be in the placings, but that is still an extremely anomalous situation. So many excellent teams searched that room - why wasn't odor available to them as it was for us? Roxie and Sally, just ahead of us, also passed this search. Did Roxie leave a bit of "success" cortisol in the air for Ziva to find? I will be super interested to see the video.
We ended up earning a second leg and thus our first NW3 title (three are required for NW3 Elite, which is our goal). We placed second to Roxie and Sally in Interiors and, despite a "no" and an overall time that would have had those desert tortoises tapping their toes in impatience, we got 2nd place overall.
I feel really badly for the CO and Trial Host. As the CO put it, this turned out to be a really tough trial. Even the first place team had an error. The Science Lab situation was just weird. If we were among the many who didn't find the hide, I know I would have felt skeptical and grumpy about it. I will share our video and maybe that will help us all understand better what happened.
Final analysis:
Things we did poorly:
- Goals 3 and 4 should be moved to 1A and 1B. In NW3, it isn't over until it is over! "No 'no's" REALLY should be a positive state, not one of trepidation and second guessing!
- We had no "teamwork" in the first search. That will be a video to study and consider what we'll do with large and/or unwieldy spaces in the future. Do I just let go and let her decide the route, knowing that other teams may criss-cross the entire area multiple times while we won't have time to double back?
Things we did well:
- We had a history of failing the last search of the day and Aleks pointed out that I was "pushing" more as a result. I rationalized that I was trying to compensate for Z's tiredness but, in reality, my nerves were fouling up our rhythm and communication. Being able to get out of that false alert trap I set us up for in Vehicles is a huge victory! Our connection got better as the day went along and I stayed objective about Ziva's discomfort and fatigue rather than wallowing in it and predicting cataclysmic collapse as I've done in the past. She had a fabulous time searching and had great energy in her searches all day long.
- I actually did *perceive* some things while we were in the thick of it. Our Vehicles video should probably have ominous music playing in the background... even knowing that I didn't call an alert on the front car, I'm going to be screaming at my video self "Don't do it! Move away from the car!" BUT it was interest and not an alert and we got through it, together. And I saw the trap of the pooling odor - actually recognized how odor might move through that particular spot! - even if I still tripped over it.
- Gotta give Ziva credit for her methodical patterning. She is so good at this!
I don't know how long it will be before we get to play this NW3 game again. In the meantime, I have been promising to share some of the things I've learned that helped with my trial nerves and my handling. And I'd love to hear about your experiences, too!
Happy Trials to You!
--Kristi & Ziva
