Winter 2016  Saber Tails 37    

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

Anise and Clove, as these are not commonly found in our 

daily lives.  So, we started pairing Pinot’s treats with the 

Birch odor and in no time Pinot realized the new rules of 

the game.  Every time Pinot found the odor, he was in-

stantly rewarded.  

A

fter a few months of practicing with Birch, we were 

ready for our first Odor Recognition Test (ORT).  An 

ORT is proof that a dog is familiar with the odor and is re-

quired before any dog can enter a trial.  To compete at a 

Nose Work Level 1 trial, you first need to pass the Birch 

ORT (Anise – for level 2 and Clove – for Level 3 and be-

yond).  After registering Pinot with the NACSW and get-

ting his official dog registration number and score book, 

we were able to enter him in his first ORT. 

S

howing up at our first ORT for the first 

time was nerve-wracking.   But all the 

people that run the ORT were wonder-

ful explaining everything and helping us.  

When it was Pinot’s turn, we walked into 

a room that had 12 boxes lined up in 2 

rows. We walked up to the blue tape indi-

cating the start line and after giving Pinot 

a second or two to orient himself, I then 

told him to “FIND IT” and off he went surg-

ing ahead to play his favorite game.   What 

felt like forever, was only 12 seconds from 

the moment we crossed the start line, to 

the time I called “ALERT,” indicating that he 

found the correct box with odor.  

A

s we progressed in our training, class-

es began to become ever more chal-

lenging, with hides being placed on walls, 

shelves, under tables, on cars/trucks, 

and outside. All of these scenarios were 

designed to prepare us for our first trial, 

NW1 (Nose Work 1).

A

t all trial levels, dogs are searching 

in 4 distinct environments: Interiors, 

exteriors, containers and vehicles.  At the 

Level 1 trial, the dogs have to find one 

odor – Birch.  Our NW1 was held in a Sum-

mer Camp in Massachusetts.   At the start 

of the trial, there is a walk-through of the 

search areas,  and exhibitors are given the 

opportunity to ask questions and are re-

minded of the rules.  The Interior search 

was a cabin used by kids during camp.  

The container search was located in a dining hall and 

consisted of 20 or so boxes.  The external search encom-

passed a camp fire area with trees and logs as benches for 

kids to sit on (Great!  So many things for a naughty male 

PBGV to mark, which would automatically fail him for that 

element).  And the vehicle search consisted of 3 cars.  Af-

ter a long and stressful (for me) and fun (for Pinot) day of 

calling out 4 “ALERTs” and hearing back 4 “YESs”, we had 

our very own NW1 title.  

O

nward and upward, over the following months Pinot 

was introduced to his next odor - Anise.  The hides 

became more complex with two odors to find.  But that 

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