Last Saturday Elly passed her first ORT (odor recognition test)!! 

Here is a page with description of an ORT and a couple of videos.  By comparison to the dogs in the videos... Elly found the correct box in 6.35 seconds!

We have been taking Nose Work classes for 10 months now and the activity has done wonders for Elly, her confidence has increased by leaps and bounds! 

My biggest concern at the test was not that she could pass the test itself, but the fact that she would have to wait in my truck for a few minutes while I went to the pre-brief.  She was diagnosed last February with severe separation anxiety when left alone in a car.  She has done OK at home, better now that when she first came to live with me, but she absolutely could not be left in my truck. She had to wait for 13 minutes (I time everything!) and while she was a little too wound up when I came back, she settled very quickly when I let her out and she was willing to get back in (she used to refuse to get back in the truck).  We have worked very hard to get her comfortable in the truck by herself, literally starting with just opening the door for a few seconds to now, 8 months later, where she can handle 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

We are off tomorrow on our first mini-road trip.  We are going to visit family, Elly's first trip away from home with me.  It is about a 3 hour drive (Elly's longest trip so far) and we are planning on spending two nights with my aunt. 

In case anyone is interested here is the National Association of Canine Scent Work web site- lot of info on Nose Work.

Karen and Elly