Sharon7
Moderator
Well, the inevitable is upon us, it's time for the Odor Recognition Test, otherwise known as "was all the money spent on these classes worth it??!!" 
Seriously, I think Eli will pass, and Faith should pass, she is very good, but my issue with her is recognizing when she is seriously signaling the "find". Sometimes she will linger at the box NEXT to the odor, and because she is so dang quick, she will change direction on a dime and end up tangled in the long leash. 
It's really ME I'm worried about not doing well. 
Every time I line up at the start at class, my instructor smiles and says "Got your roller skates on?"
We don't really have a big drive to actually compete in the sport too much - it involves a lot of driving to these events, and then your dog must wait in a crate or car for their like 5 minute turn.... not sure that's how I want to spend my free time. It's not like agility where you can get out your Xpen, sit around with other people and their dogs, just have a relaxed good time. They advertise the sport as being good for reactive dogs, so that means stringent rules on keeping all dogs separate.
Fingers crossed....
Seriously, I think Eli will pass, and Faith should pass, she is very good, but my issue with her is recognizing when she is seriously signaling the "find". Sometimes she will linger at the box NEXT to the odor, and because she is so dang quick, she will change direction on a dime and end up tangled in the long leash. It's really ME I'm worried about not doing well. Every time I line up at the start at class, my instructor smiles and says "Got your roller skates on?"We don't really have a big drive to actually compete in the sport too much - it involves a lot of driving to these events, and then your dog must wait in a crate or car for their like 5 minute turn.... not sure that's how I want to spend my free time. It's not like agility where you can get out your Xpen, sit around with other people and their dogs, just have a relaxed good time. They advertise the sport as being good for reactive dogs, so that means stringent rules on keeping all dogs separate.
Fingers crossed....
I was elated after that run. Had to wait around a couple of hours for the next odor, Anise. Eli went first, did not get it. 
Then Faith went, and alerted on the same (wrong) box Elijah had. If I had just waited an extra second, our instructor said she was ready to move on. She thought the fact Eli had lingered there had left enough scent that it interested Faith long enough for me to think "Bingo!".