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I'm curious to know if anyone else plays 'scent' games with their dogs. We are all familiar with throwing the ball or the tug toy or other visual / physical games, but I hardly ever see or hear of people playing scent games with their dogs. (unless they have hunting dogs)
By scent games I mean dragging a jerky treat or even a hot dog in the yard or in the house and leaving bits here and there and then the grand prize hidden for them to scent out. Start them on the trail with a 'Track' command and then let them sniff it out.
Dogs 'see' with their noses and this is an extremely fun (and challenging) way to have some different play with dogs.
We have two German Shorthaired Pointers and part of field training is scent games. It's amazing to see how their brains go 'ding!' when you awaken their noses.
My youngest seems to really enjoy those sort of games...I hide treats around a room while she is out doing her "business" or in some of her toys and throw them back in her toy box...also have some of those "puzzle" games where I put treats in the compartments for her to find.
I'm curious to know if anyone else plays 'scent' games with their dogs. We are all familiar with throwing the ball or the tug toy or other visual / physical games, but I hardly ever see or hear of people playing scent games with their dogs. (unless they have hunting dogs)
By scent games I mean dragging a jerky treat or even a hot dog in the yard or in the house and leaving bits here and there and then the grand prize hidden for them to scent out. Start them on the trail with a 'Track' command and then let them sniff it out.
Dogs 'see' with their noses and this is an extremely fun (and challenging) way to have some different play with dogs.
We have two German Shorthaired Pointers and part of field training is scent games. It's amazing to see how their brains go 'ding!' when you awaken their noses.
I don't play scent games with my dogs, but I let them sniff stuff like spices, toiletries, and other non-toxic stuff all the time.
All my dogs have loved to smell the spices. Sage always is a favorite. Some aren't all that interested after their first exposure, and others always like to have a sniff once in a while.
Cats like it too. For both it's not so much fun as it is an interesting experience for them. It's always interesting from a human perspective too- I've learned a lot about what my pets like or not when it comes to scents I find pleasant or not; my pets often don't share my choices.
I'm curious to know if anyone else plays 'scent' games with their dogs. We are all familiar with throwing the ball or the tug toy or other visual / physical games, but I hardly ever see or hear of people playing scent games with their dogs. (unless they have hunting dogs)
By scent games I mean dragging a jerky treat or even a hot dog in the yard or in the house and leaving bits here and there and then the grand prize hidden for them to scent out. Start them on the trail with a 'Track' command and then let them sniff it out.
Dogs 'see' with their noses and this is an extremely fun (and challenging) way to have some different play with dogs.
We have two German Shorthaired Pointers and part of field training is scent games. It's amazing to see how their brains go 'ding!' when you awaken their noses.
Thanks for posting! I used to try and do this when my girl was young but she was not focused enough. I am going to try and get her back into to it in the house. Outside - there are too many distractions.
I'm curious to know if anyone else plays 'scent' games with their dogs. We are all familiar with throwing the ball or the tug toy or other visual / physical games, but I hardly ever see or hear of people playing scent games with their dogs. (unless they have hunting dogs)
By scent games I mean dragging a jerky treat or even a hot dog in the yard or in the house and leaving bits here and there and then the grand prize hidden for them to scent out. Start them on the trail with a 'Track' command and then let them sniff it out.
Dogs 'see' with their noses and this is an extremely fun (and challenging) way to have some different play with dogs.
We have two German Shorthaired Pointers and part of field training is scent games. It's amazing to see how their brains go 'ding!' when you awaken their noses.
I do. I take my terrier mix into another room and close the door then I proceed to hide bits of treats around the house. Then I let her out and giver her the "find it" command and she will track every treat down. I feel like it keeps her mind stimulated as well as her "nose" She seems to really enjoy the challenge her tail is wagging the whole time
I used to do this with my Bluetick years ago when she was younger (and of course they have incredible noses), then I gave up when we had Basenji's. Now we've been doing it with the GSP's and it's really a hoot to watch.
After about 3-4 times in the yard with a hot dog, they 'get it' and you make the course harder and harder. Then they get really into it and all they focus on is catching the wind with their noses. Once the find that scent cone, they narrow down their search until the zero in on the bits.
They find their prize 100% of the time now.
It's funny- we tend to forget that in dogs their scent ability is stronger than their sight. We just don't engage them in it because it is such a weak sense for us. We forget about it!
Great idea! This is basically the game I play with my GSD mix, I hide her toy and tell her to find it. She looks for it but I think she smells vs. sights it, I never thought to hide treats. I'm sure she'd enjoy this game. Our other dog would probably be a master at it, he's part bloodhound, yikes!
Yes....we have Treeing Walker Coonhounds.....we use bear sent on drags however, you can't do it to often because the dog will learn to always run "hot" and lose there desire to "cold track".
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She seems to really enjoy the challenge her tail is wagging the whole time 
