Two weeks ago, Fly and I competed in our second nose work trial. The trial, held at a school in San Pedro, featured some challenging hides of the oils the dogs have to find with their noses.

I’m amazed how far Fly has come in less than a year. I’d say he’s a natural at this sport, but really, all dogs are naturals at it. Nose work simply lets dogs take advantage of what they are so good at: finding things with those amazing noses of theirs.

Who hasn’t played hide and seek with their dog, just on a whim? Look Fido, here’s your favorite toy. Now I’m going to hide it behind the sofa. Find it! And, amazingly, Fido does. Does he see you hide the toy? Maybe. But is he using his eyes to find it? Nope. It’s that nose. That nose knows where everything is.

I’ve had Fly in agility classes since he was 8 months old. I have struggled for the six-plus years since to get him to enjoy this sport that I love so much.

I took classes with many really good instructors, seminars from many others, until finally landing with an instructor who teaches a system that allows me to make agility black and white for Fly.

That helped. Clear cues with straightforward meanings and easy-to-understand body language on my part helped him focus. Still, almost anything could take him out of the game. “Almost anything” being defined as a leaf falling from a tree, the merest possibility that someone just might have dropped a treat on the ground, a dog barking a quarter of a mile away …

Then, last January, I signed up for a nose work seminar and watched Fly enter his element. He wasn’t just interested; he was jazzed, over-the-top excited, absolutely in love with the idea of finding a treat-filled toy in a box and then getting to eat the food. What more could any dog want?

So of course we signed up for classes, and in June we entered our first trial. I had no idea how Fly would do. At agility trials, he spends more time exploring the corners of the agility ring than on the equipment. What would he do at a nose work trial? Would he start sniffing, ignoring me like he did at agility trials, and have to be carried out of the competition area?

I needn’t have worried. He knew the game and wasted little time sniffing out the birch scent he was tasked with finding. We got a perfect score of 100 and earned our Nose Work 1 title, making Fly officially Fly, NW1.

We didn’t quite get our NW2 title two weeks ago, though we came oh so close – within one point. We missed finding the odor in one room, where the scent was flowing in such a way that Fly couldn’t pinpoint the actual source. That’s the dog’s task: Find the odor’s source. Fly came close but wasn’t quite there.

But that didn’t matter. We had so much fun, and I learned so much about how Fly communicates with me from that trial. As is the case with any sport, every time I participate in nose work, I learn something. And that’s the point. The titles are nice, and I have no doubt that we will get our NW2 at our next trial. But the real fun is working with my dog, having fun, learning from one another.

The bottom line, as nose work founder Ron Gaunt is so fond of saying, is to “Trust your dog.” The dogs know what they’re doing; all we have to do is watch and learn from them.

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Recent columns by Maryanne Dell:

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It’s not everyday you sit among former gang members — their hands tattooed in blue ink — and some happy mutts.

But so it was Friday at Juvenile Hall in Orange.

Three last-chance mutts from the Orange County Animal Care shelter graduated with honors after completing a 12-week training program at the facility.

You could say that Gizmo, Biscuit and Scout had a lot in common with the teens that trained them. All had behavioral issues and struggled with boundaries. Biscuit was out of control, Gizmo was a bit lazy, and Scout had a serious case of wanderlust.

With a lot of help from Janette Thomas, the executive director of Another Chance for Love and a dog trainer extraordinaire, the wards and the dogs learned about love, patience and empathy.

Read more: Three mutts ‘paroled’ to new homes

Top photo: Juvenile Hall was home to Biscuit, a terrier-mix, over the past 12 weeks. A group of teen wards cared for and trained three dogs and helped prepare the dogs for new homes.

Left photo: Gizmo, a Pekinese, gets a hug from a trainer on the dog’s graduation day at Juvenile Hall in Orange.

See more photos by Register photographer Cindy Yamanaka.

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Nubs was in town recently for a book signing in Mission Viejo.

“Nubs” tells the story of a stray dog that Maj. Brian Dennis rescued while on a tour of duty in Iraq. After nursing the dog back to health and caring for it as his own, he arranged to have him shipped back to the U.S. and was reunited with the dog when his tour ended.

The story became a media phenomenon in the fall, with Dennis and Nubs making appearances on such programs as “Today,” “The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

The Iraq War will serve as a backdrop, but the picture is not expected to contain combat scenes.

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Today’s tip involves recycling, if you will, and was submitted by Patty Royce, who walks her dog, Annie, twice a day:

My mother-in-law, who lives with us, gets The Register every day.  We have found the orange baggies they put on the newspapers are invaluable as doggie poop bags. (Probably any one who has a dog and gets the Register already knows this.)

A man around the corner from me also made a wooden dispenser that he strapped to a metal street pole.  He puts his orange bags, neatly folded into squares, inside it — and I can tell people are using it.

If you have a tip to share with Orange County pet owners, send it to Samantha Gowen at sgowen@ocregister.com. And thanks, Betty!

.

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Anyone out there know how to sex a tortoise?

Nope? Me neither … but I’m really good with kittens, so holler.

A tortoise’s zookeepers in Cleveland are the ones feeling slow because after more than 50 years, they’ve discovered “Mary” is actually a male. Officials at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo say it can be tough to establish the sex of a giant Aldabra tortoise because the reproductive organs normally aren’t visible. But Mary’s maleness was unexpectedly revealed earlier this month during a routine exam.

Spokesman Tom O’Konowitz said the zoo has decided to rename the tortoise Terry.

When the 400-pound reptile arrived at the zoo in 1955, it was assumed he was a she because of a flatter shell, shorter tail and all-around smaller size than most males.

The tortoise is estimated to be between 75 and 100 years old.

Photo: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, with reporting from The Associated Press

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Raina Dey of the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association and state public health veterinarian Emilio DeBess said the 10-year-old cat likely contracted the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, from a human, The Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard reported Thursday.

Read The Cat Doc’s column: “Can the family cat catch our colds” for advice on combating illness in your pet.

The cat died three days after being taken to Lebanon’s Animal Clinic with labored breathing on Nov. 4. The Register-Guard said a family member of the cat’s owner was recently sick with a flu-like illness.

The feline became the third confirmed case of a cat with H1N1 after the Oregon State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory confirmed the animal had the influenza strain.

What should you do if you suspect that your cat has an upper respiratory infection?

According to Dr. Elaine Wexler-Mitchell, our contributing cat expert here at Pet Tales:

• Assess your kitty’s ability to eat, drink, and breathe adequately. If the discharges are clear and the cat is eating and drinking relatively normally, then wiping the eyes and nose clear may be all that is needed.
• If your cat is depressed, not eating, or is having difficulty breathing, then he should probably be examined by your veterinarian.
• If you have a cat that is sick with an upper respiratory infection, your veterinarian may prescribe antibiotics, antihistamines, nasal sprays, interferon, or even the amino acid L-lysine.
• The most important thing to remember if your cat has an upper respiratory infection is to be patient. Do not have unrealistic expectations on how long you think it should take for your cat to be 100%.
• Try to keep your kitty as comfortable as possible and seek veterinary advice if signs of illness progress.

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The folks at Barks of Love have added some new pups to their Faces in the Crowd photo gallery. The dogs need “forever” homes. In the meantime, they’re living with foster families who are generous with their time and resources.

Faces in the Crowd is a regular series at Pet Tales that highlights through photographs homeless Orange County pets.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Turn the page and enjoy some adorable, furry faces …

Faces in the Crowd: Want some puppy breath?

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Companies like Google, Disney, AOL, HSBC, home improvement chain Home Depot and eBay offer health insurance for their employees’ cats and dogs, a niche market that has sprung up in the wake of a spike in costs for veterinary treatment.

“We do offer voluntary pet insurance as one of our benefits. Google is committed to helping our employees lead healthier lives, and we try to support personal well-being in a number of ways,” Google spokesman Jordan Newman told Agence France-Presse.

“We know that pets can be an important and valued part of our employees’ lives and we want them to have the option to enroll in this benefit,” he adds.

“Ultimately, we believe that work-life balance is key to healthy working environments, and to that end our benefits strive to make life easier for Google families.”

David Lummis, a market specialist at Packaged Facts, a consulting market research firm, points out that pet insurance is relatively cheap.

“It’s a fairly low-cost way for companies to attract employers and to retain them,” he said.

In general, companies get a discount on insurance premiums for pets from the insurance companies they use for their employees.

Following the lead of the British market, the sale of veterinary insurance for animals has grown exponentially in the United States over the last decade, with more than a million US policy holders in 2009, double the figure in 2002, according to Lummis.

For between 40 and 100 dollars a month, depending on the age, health and prior ailments of the pet in question, the owner gets guaranteed reimbursement for veterinary consultations, the costs of which increased by 84 percent between 1996 and 2006, according to the Labor Bureau.

The total revenue generated by the 72 million dogs and 82 million cats in the United States is nearly 50 billion dollars, with the market expected to grow by 7.4 percent a year until 2012, according to Packaged Facts projections.

Half of that outlay is spent on veterinary expenses.

“As animals live longer and as sophistication in veterinary care increases, a 1,000 to 2,000 dollar claim for a surgical procedure or an accident is quite common,” according to Grant Biniasz, spokesman for Brea-based pet insurance provider Vet Pet Insurance.

VPI currently provides policies to around 2,000 companies who give their employees the opportunity to insure their four-legged friends.

The numbers “will continue to grow as there is much greater acceptance of the notion of pets as family,” Lummis predicts.

“It sends the message that the company is valuing family relationships of all kinds,” he added.

There is plenty of room for growth in the market, with just three percent of American pets currently insured by their owners.

In what could be an indication of just who really is man’s best friend, 90 percent of those insured pets are dogs, and just 10 percent are cats, according to figures from the North American Pet Health Insurance Association.

– By Virginie Montet, Agence France-Presse

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Curiosity definitely got the best of this cat.

A Texas police officer had his patience tested Tuesday by a friendly feline. The officer was writing a routine speeding ticket when curiosity appears to overcome the cat, who climbs up the officer’s leg, his vest and eventually onto his head.

We admire the officer’s restraint. And our hats are off to the friendly farmer who clearly loves his cat!

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Click on Cooper's photo to find out more about him.

The Mature Match event is happening this weekend. Get your date shoes on, folks!

Every year unwanted older pets are euthanized because nobody wants a middle-aged dog with a gray muzzle or a cat with bony hips.

Instead, we flock to the adorable bundles of fur with their puppy breath and tiny paws. They’re cute, trainable, healthy … you get the drift.

So, to lend an old(er) friend some help, the Orange County Animal Care shelter is hoping to match their mature pets with new owners at a special event.

The shelter is hosting a “Meet Your Mature Match” on Nov. 21 (a Saturday) — all day at the Orange facility.

Cats and dogs over the age of 3 will be available for adoption at a reduced price, according to Katie Ingram, spokeswoman for the shelter. Each pet will go home with a free microchip between their shoulders and a free flea treatment applied.

Click on Rudy's photo to learn more about this bengal kitty.

Ingram recommends interested participants visit the shelter the week ahead of the event to meet the available dogs and cats that meet the criteria.

“This is a great opportunity for people to adopt a pet and avoid the pitfalls of training, the energy levels and the unknown personalities of a puppy or kitten,” she said.

As of Nov. 3 there were 18 dogs and 17 cats that were all over the age of 3.

The OCAC shelter is located at 561 The City Drive in Orange and is open seven days a week, with the exception of the big holidays. For more information about hours and pets available for adoption, call 714-935-6848 or visit the shelter’s Web site at ocpetinfo.com. Click here for the Google map.

For anyone who can’t adopt a pet now, consider becoming a volunteer at the shelter. The facility has positions for dog walkers, greeters, cat socializer, groomers and pet foster parents. Learn more about these opportunities at the shelter’s Web site.

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