You may or may not know your dog has a super power. This super power is their sense of smell. Dogs’ process the whole entire world through scent. It’s directly connected to their brain and fires up seeking circuits helping them process the environment and world around them. Yet we don’t give our dogs any major opportunity to use this sense. We give them food in a bowl, pull them away from sniffing on walks and make toys and resources readily available to them. Playing sniffing nosework games with your dog is not only a great bond building activity but also a huge mental stimulation too.
Here is 3 games to get started..
1: Which hand
A very simple game to start with is to place a treat in one hand with a closed fist so your dog can’t see the treat and have them select which hand it is in. If they choose the wrong hand, show them the treat but don’t give it to them. For a more advanced version of this, get three or four cups or containers turned upside down. Hide a treat under one of the cups and have them find which cup the treat is under.
2: Find the treat
Using a few cardboard boxes, you can hide the treat or toy in one of the boxes and have your dog indicate which box it is in. The first few times you can leave the boxes open to make it a little easier. Start by putting your dog in another room so they don’t see which box you hide the treat in. If you have more than one dog, it is best to play the game with one dog at a time.
To take this game to a new level you can teach your dog to find a particular scent similar to how drug dogs are taught. With a ball or toy, put a scent of the item such as a a mint leaf or similar and get your dog interested in the item. The hide the item in one of the boxes as before and have them find it. As you repeat this game, use the same box to put the item in to avoid cross contamination but simply move the box. As your dog gets good at locating the scent, you can put the scent on a piece of paper and place in the box to test if they are able to locate that particular scent.
3: ” Find it” while on a walk
While you are out on a walk, take a treat from your pocket and show it to your dog. Toss the treat into some long grass or brushes and have them find it. This is good to bring a little variety to your walks.
