Well there’s totally no chance I’m EVER gonna get bored or ever know everything there is to know about fellow pooches. I learn something new pretty much every week, it feels like. This week, for ex-zam-ple, I learned about Nosework.
My innerview-eee was Duke Sumner, a big frenly poocheroo, short coarse hair, budderscotch color with Crispy Biscuits white sprinkles on it, stick-uppy ears that flop over a liddle at the ends, an a nice, smiley face. He says his mixture’s a miss-tery, but “Mom says, cuz I’m so big an such a pain in the butt, I’m probly part Great Dane an part Jack Russell. I’m not sure if she’s kiddin’, tho.”
We decided to meet on the padio where it was nice an cool. I introduced myself an my assistant an Duke introduced himself an his Mom, Cissie. Following the Wag-an-Sniff, we got comf-tubble, an I opened my notebook.
“I’m ready to hear your story,” I said. “And your career sounds in-TREE-ging.”
“It IS,” he agreed. “I guess I should start at the buh-ginning, right?”
“Absolutely. How’d you an your Mom find each other?”
“Well, I was inna town called, um, CLUE-wiss-tun, stayin’ at a foster home that’s part of the Ewenity Farm Herding Dog Haven foster-based rescue organization (I think I got that right).
“Mom already had Sally, she’s a sorta hound like me but smaller; an Odie, a Rat Terrier; an Rio, who she’d had since he was a pupper and he was getting Up There (he was 11); an she was lookin’ for another pooch. She was swipin’ thru pooch pickshurs on The Web: like, swipe, NOPE; swipe, NOPE; swipe, NOPE; then swipe, YEP! when she saw mine! She says there was Something in My Ex-preshun. She says it was Pure Luck.”
“Woof! What was it?” I wondered.
“I’m not sure,” Duke replied. “It’s a MISS-tree to me, but Mom’s been a pruh-fessional dog trainer for 25 years in human an she Knows Stuff, an the look I had in the pick-shur told her I would be TRAIN-ubble. And, guess what? I Totally AM! A week later I was dropped off!”
“So what was it like at first, meetin’ your new famly?”
“Mom innerduced me to my new brothers an sister one atta time so there’d be no, you know, drama. It was pretty easy peasy. I’m jus’ naturally a frenly sorta pooch, kinda silly I guess. It did take a while for me to get the message that Odie was old an didn’t wanna play. Rio was kinda old too, but him an me hung out for about a year, he was sorta like a big brother, I guess, an he taught me a lotta basic dog stuff, then he hadda go to Dog Heaven. We still miss him a lot. Me an Sally love playin’ an runnin’ around together, sorta pooches of a feather, ya’ know?”
“So tell me about your excitin’ Nosework training. I see you have a lotta ribbons!” I prompted.
“Rio had been a really Hot Dog competitor in what humans call the Canine Sport of Nosework, and he really loved it, so Mom started my training the very first week I got here. I hadda learn what she calls Target OH-ders, which us pooches call SMELLS: Anise, Birch an Clove.
Nosework’s for civilian dogs to learn the same skills as pruh-fessional puh-leece and military dogs do for sniffin’ out drugs and BOMS, but with no danger an no bad guys.”
“That sounds So Ex-citin’!”
“It IS. The smells are hidden inside or outside, an we have to find ’um (it’s called Trailing) an let our human know. Turns out, I’m Really Good at it. I’ve got lotsa ribbons and titles, which are pieces of paper, pretty much. Important pieces of paper, tho.
“I love Nosework, an goin’ to events. Me an Mom an Sally go for car rides almost every day, events all over Florida an other fun stuff.”
“That is SO Cool Kibbles, Duke! You must have some Super Sniffer! So do you have any fave foodstuffs. Toys? Where do you pooches sleep? Who’s the Alpha?”
“Well, thanks, Bonz! To tell you the truth, everything I eat is my favorite. Chicken for dinner? That’s my fave! Turkey? My Fave! Animal Crackers? Oh, yeah! Food is my favrite food!
“Toys? Well, pretty much anything that squeaks. They don’t last that long, tho. I ’specially like to employ a nice squeaky toy when it’s meal time an Mom apparently needs a subtle liddle reminder. I usually squeak a squeaky toy every day at 5:15 p.m. on the nose.
“We have our own dog beds, an we sorta sleep wherever we feel most comfy.
“As far as the Alpha, that’s easy. It’s Mom! I’ve heard humans say she’s a Dog Whisperer. The way us pooches look at it, we like learnin’ Important Stuff from her cuz we respect an understand each other. She doesn’t yell and scare the dog biscuits outta us; she gives us a treat when we do the right thing and also pats us on the head an says lotsa nice words. I can’t say she ackshully whispers. It usually sounds like regular human talk to me.”
Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about big, frenly, somewhat goofy Duke an his happily blended family. An how Cool Kibbles his Nosework Sport Career is. It’d be fun to go to one of his competitions someday an report back to you. I’ve never put my own sniffer to the test, but I’m confident I can sniff out my evening yoghurt in the back of the fridge or a random piece of bread on the kitchen counter.
Till next time,