A Little Dog's Adventures in a Big Dog's World: Following Winnie on the Path of K9 Scent Work and Life

By Suzanne J Catalano

Within the pages of this book, you'll read about the author's adventures doing Canine Scent Work and the real life lessons learned while following her dog's nose. A Little Dog's Adventures in a Big Dog's World tells the story of the bond built between a dog, Winnie, a Pug-Beagle mix, and her human, Suzanne, as they grew together to become a dete

• Language: English
• Publisher: Suzanne J Catalano
• Release date: Dec 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9798985242010

Suzanne J Catalano

Suzanne Catalano has been a story teller since she was a child mostly writing about her dogs and horses, family and cars. Following the advice of her High School English teacher, Suzanne began writing novels, and became a published author in 1999 with a contribution of short stories in an Anthology, Along the Way: our unique relationship with horses.Suzanne has traveled across the country with her dog, Winnie, learning, practicing, and competing in K9 Performance Sport; Nose Work. In a short time, Suzanne and Winnie have earned many competitive titles and are currently trialing at the Elite and Detective levels.Suzanne's stories are now filled with insight and inspiration as she shares what she has learned doing Nose Work. In her book, A Little Dog's Adventures in a Big Dog's World, Suzanne demonstrates the remarkably deep connection she now has with her dog and is passing her philosophy on with examples of doing Nose Work Winnie's way. Suzanne Catalano, a Sonoma County, California native where she lived her whole life, has recently picked up and moved to the Sonoran desert in Tucson, Arizona."I have been a Redwood tree all my life. It's time to be a Suguaro."--S. Catalano

Book preview

Introduction

Iam not a dog trainer. I hold no certificate of authority. But what I have to give is my perspective. This book is for humans to read, but I wrote this book for the dogs. I see how powerful it is when a dog is given a choice, given a voice. I hope to give handlers another way of looking at things. By bringing my perspective to those in nose work, and those just starting out, it is my hope it will bring freedom to the dogs without whom this sport—and all the ways we depend on dogs in our lives—wouldn’t exist. 

Inspired by my ninth grade English teacher who recognized in me a knack for the written word, I have written. I wrote novels and short stories, poetry and blogs, and having put it on paper, I shared experiences, learned, and developed thoughts and opinions. Stories about being a mother, tales of adventure with horses, and most recently, stories telling of Winnie’s and my journey as we’ve grown our wonderful relationship. Our nose work adventures plus time have given me confidence to write about a subject in which I am not an expert. With WinnieBelle: A Nose with Feet the blog and now A Little Dog’s Adventures in a Big Dog’s World, Following Winnie on the Path Scent Work and Life the book, I hope to give readers a deeper dive into all things puggle, nose work, and life. With this opportunity, it is my intention to bring my words to a larger audience, to inform, inspire and, hopefully, entertain. 

I am definitely not an expert in training, but I am an expert in nose work as it pertains to me personally. I am an expert in what I believe. I have encountered many in the hobby from the founders all the way to the newly certified, from the pioneers who created the sport to the newly introduced who share, teach, and understand it as I do. A friend of mine named Laurie Leach who ran her own small nose work sanctioning organization, Sniffing Dog Sports, used to say, We are serious about sniffing, but we are not serious. Her message is, Nose work is for fun. Don’t take it too seriously.

For centuries, humans have taken dogs and carved and sanded and created from them a vessel to deliver our will. Recently, there has been much focus on softer methods of training, force-free and without pain or intimidation. Detection dog training is, to me, the single most important area that can benefit from these kinder, gentler training methods. Forceful and coercive training methods build distrust and fear. This is why I believe nose work training, when presented with philosophical intentions, can become the standard to which all things canine should look to as an integral activity no matter your goals.

People who choose nose work as a fun pastime to do with their dog reap many rewards. For those looking to increase their purebred dog’s registration documentation, nose work titles look good on their résumé. Dogs who show accomplishments in this performance sport are smart, driven, versatile, and even athletic. Nose work can also have another purpose—to build a better relationship with your dog, creating a non-verbal, two-way street kind of communication. With nose work, we can learn how to be more sensitive to silent cues, not only from our own dogs but others’ dogs—and even each other.

Everyone wants to be heard. Building the confidence to communicate can only make things better for all dogs. I think all dogs and humans should do nose work to whatever degree suits them. For a minimal investment in a few lessons and a reasonable investment of time, practically anyone can train and trial at the introductory levels. If a dog’s skill and drive seem to grow and the dog seems like he could do more than just games, pursuing the nose work hobby at the trial level is always an option. Even at the basic level, nose work is a wonderful compliment to other training as it elevates communication skills between dog and handler. A nose work dog will struggle in the sport without trusting and respecting her handler. That being said, nose work should be fun. We should never make it too serious. The best way to avoid negativity in nose work and in life is to always look toward our dogs and take cues from them for finding odor and the funner things in life. Nothing can heal our souls, nothing can bring us joy, and nothing can help us find our way better than the smiling face of a dog and her nose.

To reiterate, I am not an expert at nose work. Nor a dog trainer or an official representative of the nose work sport. I take part in no professional way and am not writing and sharing this as a how-to or training tool. Fortunate am I to have been introduced to nose work by trainers who had a very philosophical approach. Where I lived in Sonoma County, California, you couldn’t swing a baseball bat without hitting a good scent work trainer whose methods were so aligned with my ideology it never occurred to me there was any other way. I have recently found myself in a new community in another state where it seems they do nose work differently. I am not so arrogant as to say there is only one way. In fact, varying styles provide much fun to be had in nose work. All I want is the opportunity to say, Hey, I see what you are doing, and I hear your reasoning, but have you tried this? Have you thought of that?

I would like to show people there is a depth to nose work they may not even know about. I’d like to inspire others to see nose work as not just a competition but from a more personal perspective. I ask you to give yourself to the spirit of the sport or hobby. You, too, may find yourself on a journey quite like the one Winnie and I have been on through our participation in nose work. My imagination motivates me to do nose work the way I do it, and telling stories is the best way to share. My desire to give dogs a voice is a symbol of my love for dogs and my hope that others may find their own desire. 

Chapter 1

Winnie Nose (Knows) Memories: How It All Began

Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved. — Thomas Fuller

We cherish our memories. Memories of happiness and sorrow, of victory and defeat, of joyful times and heartache all stand in the continuum of our minds like books on a shelf. The covers of each book define and protect the pages upon which are written the words of that memory. As a book cover protects its stories, we protect memories by attaching them to a picture or life event kept track of on the calendar.

Taking Winnie to Nose Work Trials guarantees I create memories. When I pack, Winnie immediately knows. She sees the harness and hears the distinct jingle of the clip on her homemade lead, a 15 foot long, ¹/3 inch thick cord of boat docking line with a scissor clamp knotted on the end. I can see her face light up, the inquiring twinkle in her eyes. We are going to go sniffing. When we arrive at an event, to my amazement, Winnie is instantly standing after having been resting peacefully in her crate the entire trip. It seems as if she knew where we were going all along, though she’d never been there. After we’ve set up camp for the day and waited for her turn to run, I see Winnie’s muscles tense with anticipation when I reach to unlatch the crate door. She knows what’s next, the fun part, the sniffing part, the reason we came. Time to make the memory.

Upon arriving at a trial site, we are checked in. The officials hold a briefing to give an overview of the searches for the day. The trial host and certifying official give us the details about the areas and boundaries within which odor will be placed. Competitors accustomed to a pre-pandemic physical walk through of the search areas can now only expect a virtual walk through. The policy change can bring angst, but in reality, even when we did the physical walk-throughs, we didn’t really know that much more. Each team must handle the search as presented and adjust on the fly. Every search is different, from one dog to the next, and even moment to moment during one dog’s search. The variables are too many to account for, the dynamics too unpredictable. Each time we go, I don’t know what to expect as no two trials are the same. I can see the venue on Google Maps, check the parking situation, and study the lay of the land, but Google Maps won’t tell me what areas we will be covering or the parameters of the search. Google Maps won’t help Winnie search for the target odor either. The unknown nature of each search is the fun of it.

The searches become the words on the pages in the book of each memory. We have pictures and videos, and when we do well, we have ribbons that become the book’s cover to protect and preserve the memory. Book by book on the shelf, together from cover to cover, our memories live. The spaces in between the books become squashed into insignificance, but the best parts of the day are not written on the pages of the memory book, nor are they the covers; they are the spaces between the book covers on our mind’s shelves. These are the parts not protected for easy recollection attached to ribbons and results. There are no pictures that capture these moments. They are the nuances we feel rather than recall, stored forever in the space between. 

It is in these insignificant spaces of compressed air that lay the images of Winnie’s expressive face while I’m packing, the reminder of her intense expectation when it’s her turn to run, and the sound of her gentle snore or the look of her satisfied gaze out the window after she has sniffed. At the end of the trial, we pack up and go home, but it’s not the end of the day. As we drive, I steal many a glance back at the crate. Winnie is content, sometimes sleeping, other times gazing at the scenery out the window. Winnie always knows each time I get out her harness and sailboat cord it’ll be for nose work, but she thinks not of the next time; she doesn’t think of the future.

Simple Definitions

If you look for the definition of a scent work dog, you will not find Winnie, but she is the description. You can look up detection dog or sniffer dog and you will get a general explanation of what the dog does, but you won’t get a depiction of Winnie. Winnie is the description because Winnie is simply a dog. She has a nose. That is the only requirement which makes her the perfect example of a nose work dog.

In the beginning I did not set out to do nose work with my dog. I didn’t even know nose work existed. But now I can’t tell you what nose work means to me. I never could have imagined how much a canine performance sport would change my life. From opening paths for travel opportunities to forming human connections and bonds. From building friendships through shared experiences to now writing it all down.

If you google Nose Work, or Scent Work, as it has also come to be known as, you can see it described by Wikipedia as thus:

Nosework (aka scent work or scent detection) is a dog sport created to mimic professional detection dog tasks. One dog and one handler form a team. The dog must find a hidden target odor, often ignoring distractors (such as food or toys) and alert the handler. After the dog finds the odor, they are rewarded with food or a toy.

This simple definition of nose work doesn’t even touch the surface of what it really is. As a sport or pastime, nose work is exciting and engaging. Competing can bring you thrilling challenges and unexpected opportunities to take your dogs to unusual places. Nose work can also be more of a joyous and enlightening experience for those who don’t get too involved competitively. I am not competitive by nature, but I turned my lack of competitiveness into a self-starting endeavor. Because of nose work, I overcame my fear of traveling alone and took road trips near and far, just me and my dog. 

Every new adventure begins with the first step but for my adventure, nose work was not the first step. First came a dog, Winnie. Winnie came to us in the most unconventional way—by plane. But Winnie’s trip to us was most unusual not because she was on a plane but because we had never seen her in person. I had chosen Winnie from a 20 second video the breeder had sent to me. She was the puppy in the back of the pack of six little puppy-larvae pushing and falling over each other for attention. I had said I wanted the runt of the litter, the smaller one with the mellow personality. The breeder sent still shots of the puppy she thought I was describing, and I am certain still she got the one I chose.

At the tender age of nine weeks, Winnie was on a plane that whisked her high above the mountains, valleys, and plains from Texas to California to begin her life with us. Ripped away from her littermates in the middle of the night, packed safely in a crate with water and instructions, a tiny five-pound puppy couldn’t have imagined what was happening. When the cargo and freight staff member at the airport handed my husband, Mike, and I the crate, with trepidation we opened the crate door, and nothing had prepared us for who we saw. There were no wings on the angel who had just flown in from Texas, but her sweet eyes that were curious and bold and only a little frightened held us mesmerized, casting a spell we remain under to this day.

Shirts with Words

For the vast and varied list of careers I’ve chosen throughout my life, I have almost always had to wear a uniform. A logo or company name splashed across the sleeve of my shirt or jacket when I was a letter carrier for the USPS. A label on the right or left side of the chest like my bus operator uniform. It sounds boring to the more fashion-minded folks, but I didn’t hate it. It was comfortable and practical. I liked not having to decide what to wear every single day of the week.

When I made a living wearing clothing with words, however, I had no choice. I