Patrice Dodd | The Power of Presence and Attention in Scent Work

I like to start these episodes with a shared experience if I have one with the judge that I’m talking to, any idea which one I’m going to bring up with you?

The thirty-seven second?

Thirty-seven second Detective run. Yeah.

Yeah.

That is exactly it. And in all fairness, we’ve talked about this. Murphy alerted out of bounds. I called it. It wasn’t your fault. Totally my fault. But I want to tell you that was actually a learning experience for me because that day I had another really short one.

And that was my first Detective run, by the way, Patrice, under you - that thirty-seven second run.

Oh no.

And I had another really short run like that, over in less than a minute and a half that same weekend. And I decided, and this kind of goes against common logic, in Detective from now on out, unless I’m absolutely sure, I’m not going to call it. I would rather get the search time in than be done that quickly, which comes with trade-offs.

If the dog is right, I walk away, maybe damage our relationship a little bit. But I was willing to accept that because I felt we needed that prolonged search time. I’ve stopped doing that now because it doesn’t serve us the same way.

But I bring this up because you’ve told me you learned more from your non-qualifying runs than your qualifying scores. That was one of the things I learned from you in one of my non-qualifying runs. So I wanted to thank you for that.

That’s nice of you to say.

This is Alert! Scent Work. I’m Scot Singpiel, Murphy and Keeva’s dad, and I’m talking with Patrice Dodd, who is Carlin and Grits’ mom. She’s an American Kennel Club (AKC) Scent Work judge, a competitor, and one of the most thoughtful writers in the sport.

I say that because I discovered your blog, and it is so beautiful. It goes back so far with reflections on your runs and lessons learned.

You’ve said you learned more from your non-qualifying runs than your qualifying scores, and I think many of us could say that. What are a couple of those important lessons that really stuck with you?

Most recently it has been to pay attention. That turns out to be harder than I realized. If somebody had told me that, I would think, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it’s hard to pay attention for ten minutes and not lose the thread or get distracted.

The second most recent Detective search that Grits and I did really well in, but did not qualify, was because I lost my attention at the very end. I turned my back on my dog and said finish to the judge as Grits was alerting on the last hide.

Oh no.

I stopped paying attention to my dog.

Another example was a Scent Work retreat I went to. I was very worried about Grits wanting to go swimming because the search was right next to a pond. I thought she was straining to get to the pond because I was worried about it. But all the people watching me said, no, she was trying to get to the hide up in the tree.

Oh man.

So it was a tension.

You’re right. In a Detective search, you have to pay attention to your dog, where you’ve been, places you want to return to. What else do you have to pay attention to?

Don’t trip over the rock in the middle of the exterior. Don’t hit your head on the door of the hut. There are a lot of physical challenges for the handler. Don’t get your legs wrapped up in the leash.

Those are all just speculation.

Just speculation.

Yeah.

One thing you said in your blog that I loved is that AKC Scent Work taught you failure is survivable and can even be fun.

How did you get to that mindset?

I was very lucky in my first Detective dog. He was extremely talented. I got to watch him during all of my searches, qualifying and non-qualifying, and he was having an absolute blast.

Watching him have so much fun made it fun for me regardless of whether I qualified or not.

I want to dig into what fun means. It sounds like watching your dog work and solve puzzles. Are there other things that define fun for you?

Mostly that. And when my attitude is good, it’s because I’m in the moment.

Scent Work, and before that hunt tests, are pretty much the only places in life where I’m actually in the moment most of the time.

Yeah.

Almost all the rest of the time I’m distracted by something that needs to get done. Those environments last long enough that I have time to get into the moment and stay there, and that’s very rewarding.

It’s like shutting down all the background apps. How often do we get to do that?

Not very often.

I want to know your origin story. You competed in AKC hunt tests. Was there anything in between that and Scent Work?

I dabbled in other things. Confirmation, obedience, rally. I had a Water Spaniel that got to high levels.

When we moved from Oregon to Idaho, I was looking for my people. Carlin is dog reactive, so there are very few venues I can take him into.

I heard about Scent Work and understood dogs work alone in the search area. My instructor said it would also help with reactivity.

The first several classes, I was in one corner by myself. Gradually we integrated more into the class. He hasn’t lost his reactivity, but when he knows he has a job, he can focus.

That has been a tremendous boon for both of us.

Sounds like Carlin is in the moment too.

He is. One time we succeeded in a Detective search where a car drove through the search area, a truck backed up with beepers, and a guard dog ran to the fence barking.

The judge asked if I wanted to restart. I said no, he’s in the moment.

One of the vehicles crushed a hide in the gravel. He found everything. I called finish and we qualified.

People have told me they’ll never forget that search.

What a journey from sitting in the corner to that chaos. So you became a judge. What pulled you deeper?

It seemed like the next best place to learn how dogs do this. Carlin was very fast, and I wanted to see how other dogs worked.

Timing for judges gave me the opportunity to watch dogs and talk to judges. Judging is much more demanding than running a dog. I had no clue.

What feels demanding when you set searches?

I want people to succeed, and I want it appropriate to the level. Those two things can conflict.

I don’t want another thirty-seven second search.

Not your fault again.

Grits and I have had a couple of thirty-two second searches too. It’s a balance. I’m a perfectionist, and that’s a mental challenge.

Finding that appropriate range seems hard.

It is.

Yeah.

I was very happy with my last Detective search. It was an oddly shaped space. I set mostly converging odor problems and one inaccessible. No ground hides.

I found out last weekend I’m known for ground hides.

I didn’t know that.

Neither did I.

The converging problems were a pleasure to watch. You could see the light bulbs go on. I got compliments, which is rare for me.

That sounds like your definition of a fun search.

A challenge.

Congratulations on that.

Thank you.

What do teams do well that others could learn from?

Paying attention. Noticing interest without an alert. Going both directions in containers.

Giving dogs time. Letting them work through puzzles.

Better than going the same way twice.

Exactly.

We nag them when they’re working.

Exactly.

Giving a few extra seconds can make the difference between a qualifying score and a non-qualifying run.

Buried in containers is a great example. Dogs may follow odor elsewhere before returning.

They’re gathering information.

And I love seeing handlers allow that.

Sometimes two seconds makes all the difference.

One thing you wrote about was knowing when your dog is done.

Yeah.

Do you ever tell contestants that?

No, not generally.

Your dog being done doesn’t mean the search is done. It means that area is done.

Exactly.

That’s a journey.

It is.

How do you differentiate?

Partly it’s the look on his face. Sometimes he will sit and then leave.

One time, watching the video later, he sat next to the last hide and did a little leap. I tried to get him to keep searching, and he did another leap, and then a third leap. I realized we were done. I celebrated and he did a fourth leap.

He was totally communicating.

Exactly.

Carlin has twenty Detective qualifying scores now. What advice would you give someone going into their first Detective run?

Try to breathe.

Okay.

I found myself holding my breath a lot. That’s not good for the brain.

It doesn’t help you pay attention.

And try not to care about passing. Just have fun.

Sometimes call the hide again if you’re not sure. I did that last weekend and realized I hadn’t actually called it.

Wow.

Just call it.

For me it’s ego.

Remembering where you’ve been is a skill.

Practice that in buried. I have to say locations out loud.

Yeah.

We’re running out of time. We’ll need a part two.

I’d love to.

Every dog has their thing. Carlin blows by thresholds. How do you work with that?

I’m never going to train him to slow down. I plan for it during the walkthrough and adjust based on the space.

You don’t want to kill momentum.

The dog is the star. I’m the stage manager.

I’m the producer. The dog is the host.

Exactly.

Seven questions.

You asked me before the first episode was out.

What were you scared I’d do?

I’m careful.

What won you over?

Everyone sounded like they were having fun.

What do you hope competitors say about your searches?

That they were fun and fair.

Your dog’s favorite reward?

Carlin loves the celebration. Grits loves roast chicken.

What do you wish competitors knew about judging?

It’s mentally challenging and a great learning opportunity.

Advice that stuck with you?

Breathe.

Signature distractor?

A life-size mimic rabbit.

Why?

It gets their attention, then brings them back to work.

What still delights you?

Searches are never the same.

Best compliment?

People stayed to watch Carlin work.

If your dogs could talk?

Carlin would say thank you. Grits would say, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Thank you so much.

Thanks for having me.

You can find Patrice’s blog, The Cooper Project, at patricedodd.wordpress.com. You can also find her through the AKC judges directory and the Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA).

If you enjoyed this podcast, please follow or subscribe. Visit alertscentwork.com for more.

Patrice, thank you so much.

I’ve really enjoyed it.