Fun Game: Teaching your dog to 'Scent'

I'm going to give most of the process of this game but please don't jump ahead and want to challenge your dog. Keep it easy, fun and very rewarding.

Buy about 10 cheap plastic bowls. All same size and colour. They should just be big enough so your dog can easily take a treat out.
I bought 10 dirt cheap pudding bowls.

To start: A few tasty treats and your new scenting bowls.
Try and note the wind direction at first and have your bowls directly upwind of your dog.
You can add one bowl every 2nd day that you play this game, after the 3rd day. You start with 3 bowls, keeping it easy and fun.

Tie your dog up on a clip lead and put out 2 of the bowls about 1.5m infront of your dog. If your dog has a steady stay you can have them loose and sitting. Stand just infront of your dog, show Pooch the treat and drop it into the 3rd bowl. Keep your dogs attention on you, put the bowl with the other 2. You can tap on the bowl and say their name so they get that's where they're supposed to go.
Keep the bowls close together ( about 30cm apart). Tell your dog 'Find', 'Look', 'Search' whatever command you choose and release them.
When Pooch has found the treat call him/her back and reward for the return. Tie them up again and repeat.
If your dog crazily runs off not understanding, keep them on lead and walk with him/her till they get the game.

Most dogs get the game very quickly because it's 'self' rewarding.

Once you've sent your dog don't speak to it again unless you see it flagging. They have to figure out where the scent is so give them thinking space to do their job.

When you add the 4th bowl have your dog about 2m away, never further as you don't want to make it hard.
Don't repeat the 'Search' more than 3/4 goes each time you do it.
You can pack the bowls in any pattern you want but try to keep to about a 3 square meter area and slowly work up to that size.
Put your treats in different bowls each time your dog Searches.
In the beginning they often run to the first bowl when you send the second time. Don't worry.

When your dog gets this game you can use the wind direction to make it much harder.
You start with the wind blowing in their face so they can pinpoint the origin. With the wind blowing the scent away or to the sides they have to work harder to pick it up the scent.
Also if the scent blows away from them they might make a loop, looking like they're lost, before finding the scent and coming back.

When Pooch is confidently finding the treat take him/her out of sight before dropping the treat, bringing him/her back and sending.
You can also start moving the bowls between sends and add other objects (old shoes, buckets, chairs etc).
Take away a bowl for every object you add.
In time you can change the hight where you hide the treat to up the level again.

If anyone gets to where they want to make it harder, let me know and I'll add the next levels where you almost start training a Sniffer dog.

Have fun. My lot love this.

If anthing is unclear please post. I typed this out on my phone and it's hard to read the whole thing in one.

Sounds really good! I may actually give that a go with Dempsey, although I'm not sure how he'll react, as he rarely uses his nose to find things - the lazy sod.

Brilliant! A lot more fun than when I first started scent training!

When I first started with Xan it was much harder as well. 8 week old pups pick up what to do in a few tries because it's reward for finding, reward for coming, it's positive and easy.

Eleanor: Let Demps see you put the treat in the bowl. Keep tapping on it to keep him interested. You can say'where's your food/treat/whatever word he knows means food. Tap the bowl on the ground
and say 'here it is'. If he's lunging to get at it fabulous. He'll eventually understand using his nose.

Sounds great. I may give this a go, when Bill got all excited doing something right he grabbed a bone and almost played tug of war, i think teaching him something will be really good for him! Lexi will just knock over all the bowls and get the treat

Hayley wrote:Sounds great. I may give this a go, when Bill got all excited doing something right he grabbed a bone and almost played tug of war, i think teaching him something will be really good for him! Lexi will just knock over all the bowls and get the treat

Poor boy. He must have gotten so much trouble in his previous home to be so shut down. This is a very positive game so give it a go.
It's also fine if Lexi knocks the bowls over. They get what they have to do somewhere along the line.

Shisa wrote:When I first started with Xan it was much harder as well. 8 week old pups pick up what to do in a few tries because it's reward for finding, reward for coming, it's positive and easy.

Eleanor: Let Demps see you put the treat in the bowl. Keep tapping on it to keep him interested. You can say'where's your food/treat/whatever word he knows means food. Tap the bowl on the ground
and say 'here it is'. If he's lunging to get at it fabulous. He'll eventually understand using his nose.

Oh, I'll definitely try it! We'll see how it works!

I have my fingers crossed!

Me too!

Sorry I haven't done the video clip. We've had terrible weather the last few days. I'll try on Sunday.

No excuse!   

 did you just give me the middle finger!

  

No. You're imagining things!    

Call the moderators.. the police.. the armed forces... something!

      

What seems to be the problem?