When I walk into my classroom, puppies will rush at me, glob onto me, and jump up to say HI. And when I step out to demonstrate with one of these little pups, it is smooth, seamless, and moving perfection. No real hitches to speak of.
Why?
The reality is, with a puppy you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, so on the first night of class, every night actually, I make sure to stack all of the cards in my favor, meaning everything has to smell just right, Trade Secret #58.
All of us have a comfort scent that conjures positive memories from our childhood. Maybe it is the smell of bread baking, Grandma’s gardenia perfume, the smell of fishy lake water at sunrise, buttered popcorn and cherry kool-aid, or the delicate but distinct scent of impending snow.
The point is, we all have one. Why? Because our ‘scent memory card’ is more powerful than any other ‘sense’ memory that we have, and it is almost instantaneous.
For our puppies, they have about 205 million epithelials to detect scent, their ‘scent memory card’ is literally 200 million times more powerful than ours.
Freshly laundered work clothes, channel No. 5, and deodorant, are all things common in the human world to attract other humans. But puppies? Au contraire mon frère!
I have spent fifteen years perfecting my personal scent, a swirl of aromas so intoxicating that puppies act like a moth to a flame at first whiff.
My foundation layer is BUNNY-BLUSH 100% prey scent – I use this liberally before each class, and the bonus is a flushed glow as if I had been running from something.
Since I talk to each puppy, and we get face to face to snuggle, kiss, and exchange secrets when they first come in, I want my breath smelling just-so. I have found that Foie Crémeux Bain de Bouche (creamy liver mouth wash) is the ticket. The organy, iron, meaty smell on my breath is damn near hypnotizing.
My Eau de Toilette is skunk juice. It’s clean, simple, uncomplicated, and cannot be misinterpreted. This is a recognizable scent the world over.
My propitiatory fusion is irresistible – Sexy Sardine, Marvelous Manure, and Porcupine Prey. When your Teams walk into the Puppy Classroom on the first night, and almost simultaneously the human stops and looks at the bottom of their shoe, and the puppy starts to wag uncontrollably, well, you’ve nailed it.
And the pièce de résistance is my clothing. I swear at every soirée, concert, or opening night gala I attend I am always asked, “Nancy don’t you own anything besides your work clothes?”. No, no I don’t. My clothing seals the deal on building a robust and pungent comfort scent for every puppy I work with. If I never take them off, they carry that worldly aroma, a little bit of everything in my community, mingled and meshed with my personal body odor. Perfection.
Don’t be shy, scent up, your new puppies will love you ~ Nancy
photo credit – JESSICA DUNBAR PHOTOGRPAHY
Nancy Tanner 