Relieve Tripawd Boredom with Scent Games and Canine Nosework

Finding fun things to do with your three-legged hero is as easy as looking in your pantry for empty containers and boxes that you can incorporate into fun target scent games like the Wag-It “Sniff-It” games or “Nosework”

Scent is the most powerful of all of your dog’s senses. Scent-driven dog games help strengthen your dog’s instinctual hunting abilities while having fun and getting enough mental exercise to burn energy.

Tripawd Maggie the Agile Cow Dog’s sister, Hailey made this video at home to show us how easy “Sniff-It” games are done in their most basic form:

And here is Maggie, showing us a more advanced version in her recent Wag-It Games competitions:

 

According to the folks at Wag-It Games, Sniff-It is comprised of two elements:

1. The dog must find and identify canisters charged with light scent or morsels of food
2. The dog must find and identify mats charged with the handler’s scent

Scent games like these are great for all dogs, from the youngest to the oldest and you can do them anywhere. This article, Dog Star Daily: Getting Started in Nose Work, gives you all of the basics to get started.

Nose work classes are available around the country with organizations like the National Association of Scent Work, or K9 Nosework. Or, you can learn the basics on your own with some of these recommended books.

The Canine Kingdom of Scent – Fun Activities Using Your Dog’s Natural Instincts: Your dog truly rules when it comes to scenting ability, but you hold the key to allow him to learn how to more fully explore his kingdom. And that key is your willingness to work with him in what dog trainers call nosework exercises and games. While your dog has a wonderful innate ability to scent, nosework will present fun and interesting challenges which will make your dog more physically and mentally fit as well as to help solidify your relationship with your dog. Anne Lill Kvam’s The Canine Kingdom of Scent provides you all you need to know in terms of training techniques and tips so that you and your dog can both get all the benefits from doing nosework.

Fun Nosework for Dogs: Learn dozens of games to relieve boredom, teach important skills, build confidence and improve performance in obedience, tracking and other dog sports. These games are fun for both you and your dog. They come from a variety of sources: TV, children’s games, suggested by other trainers, etc. They’re marked for degree of difficulty and special skills neeeded. Games are generally designed for use in a class and require multiple dogs to be really fun! “Fun Nosework” will teach your dog to enjoy using his nose, and stimulate his primary source of information. Teach specific techniques for tracking and advanced obdience. Outstanding resources for trainers and owners!
Learn More About Nose Work:

Clicker Training; Harnessing the Power of Your Dog’s Nose
Dog Star Daily: Getting Started in Nose Work
Dog Games; Your Dog’s Sense of Smell
Blind Dogs: Games for Blind Dogs