outdoor scent games for dogs
I give him for breakfast would sit in his food bowl for a week if I didn’t get creative. There are no time constraints like on the morning walk so Kona can choose the direction and follow whatever scents he chooses. Are the sheep staying close to the barn in this weather? Most of my students have some behavioral issues and I have seen the transform in a lot of them. I play the ‘find it’ game with Kona (toy poodle) every morning on our walk. We do something a little different, that does require scent skills and not just visual in the really deep snow. He was always very motivated to be with his own people and he went blind gradually, so it sort of arose naturally. Discriminate between scents. The dummy is helpful to train shape recognition while ensuring the dog doesn’t get a poke from a real, hard, heavy shed and make them shed-shy. But what are we nose-challenged primates to do about our dog’s need to use its nose to explore the world when it’s covered in a blanket of ice and snow? Why wouldn’t dogs who have been reinforced for sniffing boxes not be faster to sniff into, uh, boxes? She added that there was nothing like the smell of rotting leaves exposed by melting snow, also a vital ” mail “drop. My blind border collie loves nose work and tracking. https://www.kqed.org/science/1938255/how-your-dogs-nose-knows-so-much. The man was amazed (as was Mike). Her first Barnhunt trial she triggered on a gate steward just as we entered the ring and I thought that was the end – but we got ourselves back to focusing on our work and she Q’d. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to experience the world our dogs do , just briefly? What a great idea! Say Find It as you walk back searching for it. This is a more advanced scent game, but extremely useful to teach the dog the concept that only one object is desired from a group of similar objects. ShareTweetBest offers for you! So each morning on our walk I toss the biscuits into the grass at the local park – one at a time – and tell him to find it. When most people hear “agility,” they think of specially trained dogs … Terriers use their natural scent and detection abilities in a safe and secure environment, while bonding with their humans. When I … Since then she has found cats in garages and sheds (and hidden under beds), and finds people she knows in quite challenging places (it can mean going the long way round in a large shop or market, though, if following the sister who loves to look at everything, several times…). Share these resources with dog adopters and foster families to help them recognize and treat the signs and symptoms of separation anxiety. Ah, poopsicles, my current competition for Willie and Maggie’s attention. I do believe she has an additional secret sense to detect them, though. Susannah Charleson and Cat Warren wrote two of my favorite dog book/memoirs, Scent of the Missing and What the Dog Knows — about dogs using their remarkable sense of smell to locate missing persons or their bodies. You can give simple scent tasks to particularly frustrated or bored dogs – a job may be just what they need to boost their moods, and the games keep their minds active. You can email me at dogcognitionstudy@gmail.com. This dog Covering Game plays around the classic kid game that lots of us may know, but we’re using the same concept to scent work with your pet. Make your dog sit and wait whilst you place the treat on the floor. She will dig through the snow and layers of ice over snow over ice to get to something she finds irresistible buried down deep. We play all kinds of games like this inside as well as outside. Give the dog some room as you get close, but don’t hesitate to bring it to your dog’s attention (an inadvertent kick of the object for example) without “finding” it yourself. Place the box among other empty cardboard boxes. I respect her need to sniff and try not to hurry her along on days like today here in Maine when the wind was gusting over 40 mph. Half her body is snuffling under the burm after I throw an item. Pick from a variety of scents for training or breaking your dog on scent early. He is the county champion in walking off leash, he has a pretty secure reall and a 100% secure jackpot recall, furthermore it’s his responsibility that I don’t get lost, not the other way round. In a similar vein to the nosework games mentioned above, you can play the “Cups” or “Shells” game with your dog as well. I discussed this with Izzy the BBC (Brooklyn Border Collie) and she said it’s much easier to read the pee mail when it’s on top of the snow . I so enjoyed reading this post. Required fields are marked *. I am convinced that he has recovered mainly because of all the sniffing in calm nature. I put him on a sit or down wait. I place tiny treats around the boat for her to find, many of them “hidden in plain sight” because she’s not LOOKING for the treats. It won’t last, but I did get the first of the vegetable beds prepped today, and have been washing all the bedding while it is possible to line dry it. My favourite dog is a 7 1/2 years old mini schnauzer, and for the last 7 years I have walked him 3-5 km a day off leash in the countryside. I play hide and seek with my dog. He is ten and a half and still totally ON POINT. Play Frisbee, dig to China, take a romp in the water, or teach your dog to body surf. Find the treat! Make it easy to find for you too, i.e., don’t lose your keys. Put in the deep freeze so that everything is icy. And this course takes you from zero to hero! It is certainly time to expand Kona’s scent game skills. Anyone interested in reading the publication themselves, but without access to a library that has a subscription, I’d be happy to send you a pdf. I love this post and the fantastic ideas for scent games. So it’s not a good test to use in this study. Yes, Wisconsin weather is not for the feint-of-heart…I’m so ready for spring. Her first AKC Scentwork trial the entrance and the Containers were facing toward the spectators section as we came in and I thought – uh oh! Never the less he recovered much faster after the trauma, than I did, and now he is his own well balanced self again. Last summer Mike and Obi were out hiking, and found a gentleman poking around the sagebrush looking for his hat. We just have to watch them like hawks.). Scent games allow dogs to channel their love of sniffing while also enriching their minds. Sometimes we go for miles and other days I feel like we have just gone around and around in circles! Gradually put the object (dogs on stay of course) farther and farther away, eventually completely out of sight. And you? Due to our success with off leash walking, his owners also walk him several km a day, off leash and sniffing as he pleases. Basically another variant of Find It!, except this time you are what’s hidden. People participating in a Mantrailing Scent Dogs course share an interest in enjoying their pets and the outdoors and encourage newcomers – both dogs and owners – to develop their skills. Nose Work is Great Exercise for Dogs! He is en extremely calm and well balanced dog with an extremely good dog language. Set Up Dog Agility Activities. Put back in the freezer so that your mixture is icy on the top, then pour on rain and rain and rain and rain. Your email address will not be published. March 18 2018 without any kind og warning he was attacked by a young male Grand Danois who seriously tried to shake him to death. I’m not a scientist, I only have my own anecdotal knowledge to rely on, but I do find Benkoff’s and Horowitz’ conclusions highly plausible. She calls it “What a Klutz!”. The wind was howling at about 40+ mph, so I can’t say it was blissful, but it sure was beautiful. Thanks for all your encouragement and advice – wonderful! (Details to come later, part of his lung is collapsed, no idea why yet…). Running … Instead, it was in the delay to approach the ambiguous bowl that we saw a difference between the groups. Playing flying disc, or Frisbee, is a great alternative to throwing a … Obviously he get the food if he sniffs the one with food, but if he chooses the empty fist, simply open it, close it back up and ask him to try again. I was going to call you today but my Willie and I spent the entire day at the vet’s. This is a simple fetch game that dogs love playing. Find “mom” is a basic one I start with puppies, as well as easily found treats on the floor, working up to other things. This reminds me that I should read the study myself, perhaps the authors discuss this? Then, cover the treat with the one cup, and place the other two either side. Alexandra Horowitz wrote her fantastic book, Being a Dog, about scent as the center of a dog’s world view. Olive is learning to spot the tiny hole, then sniff, and dig out a treat. He always seemed to really enjoy it! I compete in nosework with my reactive/fearful dog and I teach nosework classes. Scent games are a staple in this household! Any dog can develop mantrailing skills with the right training. Email. I have been wondering if my young Aussie is scent challenged apart from poopsicles and pee mail! Find it while on a walk. Scent Games for Dogs (Canine Nose Work) are a very good way to pass through time aware of your dog. We call it “Oops, I lost it!” and Obi is fantastic at it. “Fetch” is standard backyard fare for dogs with a decent retrieval instinct. Get creative by tossing ingredients such as yogurt, bananas, peanut butter, and carrots into a blender with a little water or, for picky pooches, chicken or … She suggests dropping something behind you while on a walk. Your favorite scent game? Thanks for this. He loves this game and his little tail wags constantly (while he is usually quite reactive, he is completely focussed on this game) and best of all – he eats a full serve of healthy biscuits while playing! Scent work can happen in any type of weather, and both inside and out and is inexpensive because only time and high scent training treats are needed. A normal February would be bumping along a few degrees above freezing with rain and sleet; instead we have had a week of strong sunshine temperatures more like June. Thank you for the article (and for including a link to my blog). Show the dog the second ball and they should drop the first. Thanks for this wonderful post! But watching Maggie plunge her nose into the snow, a nose that could clear a 200 acre dog park of poop in an hour, no matter how deeply buried in snow, reminds me how important scent is to dogs. The surprising thing is - playing scent games with your dog can not only help these struggles but moves you from a world of trying to compete with the environment to one of BEING AS FUN AS THE ENVIRONMENT! I had three yogurt containers upside down on the floor. Our weather has been such a freeze and thaw that the layers of ice, snow, ice, snow look like a core sample from a glacier. Also there are often goodies buried in the snow – she specializes in pizza and reverently visits a spot where she almost got a slice of pizza about four years ago . I’ve taught Willie “Where’s Jim?” and he’ll immediately stop and look for Jim. oh Willie! I haven’t played scent games with our dogs in a while and it would be a get change of routing for them. Present both to your dog (switch sides often), and open whichever one he sniffs first. Contact Us |
I’ll just add that avoiding a flooded house by shoveling, scrapping and hacking ice from 9 to 10 PM on a Saturday night is not my particular idea of a good time. My Cairn is the youngest – a year next month – and he seems to have to best nose; or maybe he’s just more exuberant than the other two. Our last dog, a French Bulldog made amazing snorting noises as she sniffed her way down our road during a walk. Imagine setting-out on a sunny spring day for a walk in the woods and 500 yards down the path your pet locates an exciting treasure; perhaps a glove, sock or wallet to his delight and yours. (The heelwork group also got matching treats through their sessions, of course…). She is a moyen size poodle and at times acts like a hunting dog. Elementary scent work or nose games can exhaust a dog just as quickly as hard physical exercise. A quick learner, she hasn’t made the same mistake twice (except for pooping in the house – a work in progress). Charlotte Duranton and I did this study as I have been so impressed over the years in seeing the changes in dogs who do nosework — along the lines of the commenters here. Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB Emeritus is an applied animal behaviorist who has been working with, studying, and writing about dogs for over twenty-five years. She would watch intently, and after a few false turn overs with her nose, she got so she picked the right one 90% of the time. My favorite variant is in Suzanne Clothier’s great article on Scent Games for dogs. Ground cover - straw stubble is very sharp and unpleasant against a dog's nose; it is far harder for a dog to find and follow a track over long grass rather than short grass; twigs, leaves and branches can be distracting for some dogs when they are learning scent games. We shake it up with tossing pieces of biscuits in deep burms, and even chicken nugget chunks between snowballs. It’s too bad that their primary outdoor object of interest is, well, poop, because searching for something in knee deep snow is a great way to keep dogs entertained. The simplest version is a kind of Find Me game, in which you have food in one closed fist and nothing in the other. Scent games and scent working helps satisfy this need. Fun Food Scent Games. He was savaged, and had surgery with four drain tubes, and in his skin you could count not only the four canine teeth of the Grand Danois but also the incisors. Initially lots of dogs will use their eyes to find the toy, but most quickly learn to use their noses. We definitely need to go to the source here, but I share your skepticism in spades at the moment. Where do you get the antler dummy and scent? However, when it comes to efforts, this activity can range from moderate to difficult depending on your dog's interest in scent work. There are lots of variants to this game, including laying a scent trail (scented pieces of paper for example) leading to a tennis ball with the same scent. My favorite scent game with Cecil is just simple tracking with a double-scuffed, winding path to a treat of some kind. Batter Up Game. I just used it a few days ago when Willie was herding the vacuum cleaner (quite effectively I might add). Love the blog on scent games. Simple Scenting Game You’ll need five to eight cardboard boxes and super yummy (and highly scented) treats. Thanks for another great motivational blog. You’ll need five to eight cardboard boxes and super yummy (and highly scented) treats. We feared hemangiosarcoma but the pathology was negative, yaay! Release your beagle to search for the box with the food. I hide them in old bones, on chair rails, in cushions, etc., all over the first floor and Olive gets everyone. I would put a small treat in one and then shuffle them for quite a while. If your dog doesn’t seem interested in giving up the item they’ve fetched at first, Bassett recommends using two fetch toys. I’ve written before about the importance of letting dogs use their noses in Take Your Dog on A Sniff, and I’m not alone in my belief that dogs need to use their sense of smell to be truly happy. This Holidays4Dogs article will provide a few ideas to get you started on training your dog to play tracking and seeking games using their incredibly sensitive noses. To Linlin’s concern: the cognitive bias test is well established as a test for what is considered optimistic or pessimistic tendencies in non-human animals. This dog is also environmentally and contextually-sensitive and does badly with men – we originally got started in scent games to build confidence, and took to competing because she really loves to work, and has since we brought her home at 8 weeks. Next job is to teach Willie and Maggie to pick it up, dust off the snow, and then find the matching glove that I actually lost track of sometime in November. I’m also not convinced that “time to search a box” is an indicator of optimism. Experienced staff or volunteers should guide the activity, and keep safety for the dog and human in mind when choosing dogs to participate. best wishes from us and our pups. (We’re excluding the smell of Cinnabons in an airport. My sports girl loves to look for *anything* and one of her favorite specifically is at home is articles. So it’s a find-it game with treats. Tonight I’m going to play the Klutz game (Jim might say I do that all the time), and drop my glove on our walk. We used to play the “find me” game with my blind greyhound. Then I hide. But here’s the good side, from a walk the BCs and I took after it had snowed enough on top of the ice to make it walkable. Lately I have been so aware of my dog’s need to sniff. Check out some resources: Dogwise has an entire section on books related to Nose work for Dogs. You and Jim too! I hope Willie is okay…and you as well! Both dogs and handlers develop their knowledge and ability whilst supporting each other. I normally start this with tennis balls or other of my dogs' favorites). Very similar to your here in Nova Scotia! I know she can probably smell it without seeing the hole, but she is not inclined to sniff it out unless the odds are good it will reap a reward. We played “Find it” with Cookie when she was recovering from an injury. I just started the nosework in shelter dogs project in our local shelter and I’m trying to do it as a research project. You are the best to jump in here! Eventually you can graduate to real scent discrimination, which involves letting your dog sniff a scent, say a cotton ball with lavender on it. K9 Nose Work is essentially are casual form of the canine scent activities used by ‘professional’ scent dogs. . Facebook. Nose-based games are a … Want to keep the steps handy? It’s not always possible to go ashore for walks, so we use the Find it game as a wonderful energy release. As I’m sure you know, tired dogs are happy dogs! He was savaged, and had surgery with four drain tubes, and in his skin you could count not only the canine teeth of the Grand Danois (two bites) but also the incisors. (I liked this article by Suzanne so much that I printed out and am taking it home to remind me of fun games to play with the dogs.). to reward and regroup. The second was so afraid of the world that she couldn’t even think until we started “nose” classes. Initially, either my husband or I would hold his leash, the other would walk away, and we’d tell Gryphon to find the other person. Trisha, thanks for the absolutely lovely words about my book. Whoops! She can be reactive but she is able to work through it with me. Shipping |
Dogs experience much of the world around them through their sense of smell. Have someone distract your dog and go hide somewhere close by. with a nozzle for easy no mess dosing. So, I wanted to see if we could validate some of those impressions. Ask them him then to choose between cotton balls of lavender and orange oil under upturned cups. Hide and Seek. treatment hotline: Jill Marie O’Brien, co-founder K9 Nose Work®, © 2021 American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, While the dog isn’t looking, put a treat in one of the boxes, As she finds the treat, offer praise and a few bonus treats, Put a fresh treat in the same box and rearrange the boxes, Encourage the dog to find the treat box again. . You can use a Popsicle mold or just an ice cube tray to freeze yummy, refreshing treats for your dog. Try “team cleaning” – have a staff member or volunteer walk each dog as their kennel is cleaned. This game helps your dog nail their scent training, while also building their bond with … Play with the dog for several minutes with … I imagine there is a treasure trove of critters just begging to be found there. While you are out on a walk, take a treat from your pocket and show it to your … The control group is doing heel work for 2 weeks.