Scent work and nose games
Scent work is a real outlet that costs your dog nothing socially. It happens indoors, it needs no other dogs, and it asks for no exposure to anything your dog finds hard, which is why I reach for it so often with the reactive ones. It also scales further than people expect: the same skill that starts as a kibble trail down your hallway is where competitive noseworkA trained activity in which a dog searches for a specific hidden scent and indicates when they have found it.Read more → begins. Start with Find It.
The two-second game that underpins every other scent activity here, and doubles as a redirection tool out in the world.
Shopping list
Food
- Soft training treats, smelly enough to be worth finding and small enough that ten reps is not a meal.
How to do it
- Show your dog a treat, say "Find it," and toss it a couple of feet away onto a floor where it makes a sound.
- The instant they put their nose down to look, that's the behavior you're building. Repeat ten times.
- Now toss without showing them first.
- Then toss it out of sight: behind a chair leg, into a rug.
- Once "Find it" reliably makes your dog drop their nose to the floor, you have a portable calming cueA word, sound or signal that tells a dog which behavior will be reinforced right now.Read more → you can use anywhere.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Shown first, tossed short, onto a floor that makes a sound.
- Lvl 2
- Not shown first.
- Lvl 3
- Out of sight.
- Lvl 4
- Tiny treats, onto carpet, or through a doorway into the next room.
Safety
Count treats into the daily food allowance. Don't use this to lure a dog past something they genuinely can't cope with: that's a different problem, and it needs a plan rather than a game.
The home version of competitive nosework's container class, and a genuinely absorbing job for a dog.
Shopping list
Food
- Treats worth working for. Wet and smelly makes the early rounds easier.
From the recycling
- Six to eight identical boxes, shoebox size, lids off. Tape, staples and labels off first.
How to do it
- Stage one: put one box down. Drop a treat in it while your dog watches. Let them eat it. Repeat five times.
- Stage two: two boxes, one baited, and let them watch you bait it. When they go to the right box, mark with a "Yes" and feed a second treat inside the box.
- Stage three: same, but send your dog out of the room while you bait. Now they have to actually use their nose.
- Stage four: six boxes in a row, one baited. Walk your dog on lead past the line and let them work.
- Stage five: scatter the boxes randomly. Some on chairs, some upside down.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- One box, baited in view. Five reps and no more.
- Lvl 2
- Two boxes, one baited, still in view.
- Lvl 3
- Two boxes, baited out of sight.
- Lvl 4
- Six in a line, one baited, worked on lead.
- Lvl 5
- Scattered at random, and every box previously used so they all smell of food.
Safety
Shredding cardboard is fine, swallowing it is not: a swallowed piece can choke or block. Take off all tape, staples and shipping labels first, and do not run this with a dog who eats what they tear up. Always let your dog win. Every search ends in a find, even if you have to walk them to it.
Teaching your dog to hunt one specific smell rather than food, which is what competitive Scent Work is built on and what you can start in your own living room. AKC novice searches use birch only, so birch is where you start.
Shopping list
Tools
- A scent work starter kit, or sweet birch oil on its own if you only ever want the one odor.
- Vented metal tins, so the smell gets out and nothing else does.
Food
- High-value treatsFood a dog finds worth working for in a situation where something else is competing for their attention.Read more →, paid at the source rather than from your pocket.
Around the house
- Cotton swabs with paper stems. AKC rules do not allow plastic ones, so start as you mean to go on.
- A small glass jar to make the scent in, and tweezers. The swabs are never touched by hand, because fingers contaminate everything.
How to do it
- Make your scent. Put a few drops of birch oil in a glass jar, drop in ten to fifteen cotton swabs, seal it, and leave for 24 hours. Handle swabs with tweezers only. Fingers contaminate everything.
- Load a tin. Put one scented swab in a vented tin. Store spare tins in a sealed jar away from food.
- Pair the scent with food. Put the tin in an open box with treats sitting right on top of it. Let your dog eat. Do this fifteen to twenty times over several sessions. You are teaching one thing only: birch smell means food appears.
- Move the food off the tin. Now treats come from your hand the moment your dog's nose touches the tin. Mark with "Yes" and pay at the source.
- Add distractor boxes. One scented tin, three empty boxes.
- Add difficulty: hide the tin on a chair leg, in a bookshelf, behind a door.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Food on the tin.
- Lvl 2
- Food off the tin, paid at the source.
- Lvl 3
- One scented tin among three empty boxes.
- Lvl 4
- Hides off nose height, then in another room entirely.
Safety
Essential oils are concentrated. Never let your dog contact the oil directly. Keep the bottle sealed and stored away from pets. Use vented tins so only the scent escapes. Ventilate the room: some dogs and people are sensitive to strong oils. Store scented items well away from your dog's food.
A trail of food your dog follows nose-down from room to room. Losing the trail and casting about to find it again is the tiring part, so the gaps matter more than the food does.
Shopping list
Food
- A handful of kibble or small treats, counted out of the day's ration.
Around the house
- A route cleared of anything they could knock over or slip on. Keep it off the stairs.
How to do it
- Shut your dog in another room.
- Lay a trail with a piece of food every twelve inches or so, starting at the door and winding through the house: around a table leg, under a chair, along a hallway.
- End the trail at a jackpotAn unusually large reinforcement delivered for a single, notably good repetition.Read more →. A small pile, or a stuffed KONG.
- Release your dog at the start and say "Find it."
- Don't help. Let them lose the trail and re-find it. That's the mentally tiring part.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Every six inches, straight line, hard floor.
- Lvl 2
- Every twelve inches, with turns in it.
- Lvl 3
- Every two to three feet, across a change of surface.
- Lvl 4
- One long deliberate gap in the middle.
Safety
Clear the route of anything your dog could knock over or slip on. Keep the trail on the flat rather than on stairs.
You hide, your dog finds you. Good for dogs who need connection and confidence.
Arousal
Mildly amping.
Shopping list
Food
- Something they love as the payoff, though the party you make when they find you matters more than the treat.
Around the house
- Somewhere to hide, and a helper to hold your dog if you have one. Not essential.
How to do it
- Easy version: have a helper hold your dog while you walk five feet away and crouch behind a doorway. Call once. Let them find you. Big party when they do.
- Build distance. Another room, then upstairs, then behind a shower curtain.
- Silent version: hide without calling at all. Your dog has to actually search. This is where it gets mentally tiring.
- If they get stuck for more than a minute, make one small sound so they can succeed.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Five feet, in view, calling.
- Lvl 2
- Another room, still calling.
- Lvl 3
- Silent.
- Lvl 4
- Unusual places, and different floors of the house.
Safety
Don't hide somewhere your dog might panic looking for you. This should be fun, not distressing. Skip it, or keep it very easy, for dogs with separation anxiety.
Teaching your dog the actual names of two or three toys, then sending them to find one by name. Slow to build, and the closest thing in this library to a party trick that is also real work.
Shopping list
Toys
- Two or three toys that look and feel clearly different from each other.
Food
- Treats, paid heavily for a correct choice.
How to do it
- Pick one toy. Say its name, "Bunny", every single time your dog touches, picks up or plays with it. Do this for a week. Nothing else.
- Test it. Put Bunny on the floor with one other unnamed toy and say "Find Bunny." Reward correct choices heavily.
- Once that's solid, name a second toy the same way over another week.
- Now play the real game. Hide Bunny in the next room and send your dog to find it by name.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- One toy, named for a week and nothing else.
- Lvl 2
- That toy against one unnamed toy, both in view.
- Lvl 3
- Two named toys.
- Lvl 4
- Three named toys, hidden, in different rooms.
Safety
Normal toy supervision. If your dog gets it wrong repeatedly, they don't know the name yet. Go back to step one rather than repeating the test.
A treat under one of three upturned cups. It looks like a party trick and it is really a first lesson in trusting their nose over their eyes.
Shopping list
Food
- Small treats.
Around the house
- Three opaque cups, plastic or paper, sturdy enough not to be crushed. Never glass or ceramic.
How to do it
- With your dog watching, put a treat under one cup. Don't move anything. Let them nose it over.
- Add a second cup, then a third, still baiting in full view.
- Now bait out of sight, so scent is the only clue.
- Optional: shuffle the cups slowly before releasing your dog.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- One cup, baited in view.
- Lvl 2
- Three cups, still baited in view.
- Lvl 3
- Baited out of sight.
- Lvl 4
- Cups close together and shuffled, and all of them previously used.
Safety
Use sturdy cups your dog can't crush and swallow. Never glass or ceramic. Supervise.
A deliberate collection of safe smells for your dog to investigate at their own pace. No commands, no training. Free-choice sniffing.
Shopping list
From the recycling
- Or just a box, and a few safe things gathered on a walk you take by yourself. A pine cone, a handful of leaves, a stick, a stone.
Around the house
- Three to five pots of dog-safe herbs. Rosemary, basil, mint and chamomile are commonly kept around dogs, and every plant gets checked against a toxicity list before it comes home.
How to do it
- Plant version: put three to five pots of dog-safe herbs on a patio, balcony or by a back door. Rosemary, basil, mint and chamomile are commonly kept around dogs.
- Let your dog sniff freely. Never push their nose toward anything.
- Object version: on a walk you take alone, collect a few safe items. A pine cone, a handful of leaves, a stick, a stone.
- Put them in a box at home for your dog to investigate.
- Rotate weekly. Novelty is the point.
Change it up
Not a difficulty activity. Rotate items to keep it fresh.
Safety
Check every plant against a toxicity list before buying. Many common garden plants are toxic to dogs, and the ASPCA's plant database is the standard reference. Never apply essential oils to your dog. Don't bring home anything that might carry another animal's droppings.
The graduation exercise. A proper multi-room search that will genuinely tire your dog out.
Shopping list
Food
- Ten to fifteen hides' worth of treats. A scented tin works too, if you have already taught your dog birch.
Around the house
- Three rooms, swept first for anything breakable and anything they would have to climb or squeeze to reach.
How to do it
- Shut your dog away. Set ten to fifteen small hides across three rooms: on a windowsill, inside an open drawer, in a shoe, under a cushion edge, on a chair seat, behind a door.
- Vary the height. Low, knee height, chest height. Height variation is what makes searches hard.
- Release your dog with "Find it," then stay quiet and still. Follow them. Don't lead them.
- When they slow down, wait. Give them thirty seconds before helping.
- When everything is found, say "All done" so there's a clear end.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- One room, everything at floor level.
- Lvl 2
- One room, heights mixed.
- Lvl 3
- Three rooms, ten to fifteen hides.
- Lvl 4
- Three rooms, and one hide made deliberately very hard.
Safety
Don't hide food anywhere your dog has to climb, jump or squeeze to reach. Never hide food near cleaning products, electrical cords or anything breakable. Sweep the house afterward for any hide they missed.
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