Scent games for dogs

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Slightlyconfused

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I've got a cocker pup who loves games and figuring stuff out especially of it evolves her nose :D

She is only seven months old and can't do a lot of running out and about as at the moment is on 35 minutes walking aday mixes with off lead time.

So can anyone suggest games for her that will her mind and nose happy. She loves sniffing for treats in those little plastic game thingys you can get and we are working on the find it command with cups and a treat. Anymore?

My other two.are just happy to throw a ball down the garden and bring it back :D
 
If you google 'scent games for dogs' you will come up with some great ideas.

Good books include 'Smellorama', 'The Canine Kingdom of Scent' and 'Fun Nosework with Dogs'

Nosework is becoming a fast growing UK sport (UK Scentwork Association) where dogs are trained to search for a target scent (such as birch oil, clove, gun oil etc). There are classes, and also if you get really addicted (and believe me, it is addictive) there very reasonable courses online you can do (Fenzi Dog Academy).

Your dog would also love to track - 'Puppy Tracking Primer' and 'Tracking Dog' (Glen Johnson) are good starting points.

Man trailing is also a lot of fun - get hold of a book on how they train search and rescue dogs and go from the basics when your pup is a bit older. I offer all this stuff in my dog training classes now (along with article selection) and clients and their dogs absolutely love it. Good luck with your pup.
 
Thank you.

Would love to find somewhere in beds/Herts/bucks borders that will teach as she is so switched on with her nose. Just got to work on the over excitedness :D
 
Tracking dog by glen Johnson is fantastic for teaching competition tracking.
Try anything by John rogerson he does working trials and teaches various scent exercises.
 
Whilst you're deciding on 'proper' scent training games to do - you could maybe do what I do:

Make your dog sit and wait outside a room, close the door (with him outside and you inside). Hide treats as quiety as you can, then open the door for him to come in and sniff them out. My Staffie loves this game. (Little Shih Tzu haven't got a clue, other than sniffing everywhere where the Staffie's already been, lol!)
 
When i lived in the Outer Hebrides we only got one TV channel and then only if the wind was blowing in the right direction! What to do with a dog on dark winters nights with a force 10 blowing outside?

Well, shut the dog in the porch and place pieces of cheese in various parts of the room. Then let the dog back in and guide it to each piece of cheese in turn using only hand signals and the Sit command. Then when they've perfected that, just reduce the signals to the movement of one finger! Great fun and good training.

I read a lot about dogs chasing a ball, but how many owners can bring their dog to a skidding halt while in full chase after a fast moving tennis ball? That's somethng of immeasurable value if you ever need to control your dog in an emergency. Chasing sheep? Running after a rabbit in the direction of a busy road?
 
Dry Rot said:
When i lived in the Outer Hebrides we only got one TV channel and then only if the wind was blowing in the right direction! What to do with a dog on dark winters nights with a force 10 blowing outside?

Well, shut the dog in the porch and place pieces of cheese in various parts of the room. Then let the dog back in and guide it to each piece of cheese in turn using only hand signals and the Sit command. Then when they've perfected that, just reduce the signals to the movement of one finger! Great fun and good training.

I read a lot about dogs chasing a ball, but how many owners can bring their dog to a skidding halt while in full chase after a fast moving tennis ball? That's somethng of immeasurable value if you ever need to control your dog in an emergency. Chasing sheep? Running after a rabbit in the direction of a busy road?
Click to expand...

Still working on stopping while mid chase but my collie won't go near sheep.
He was running and sniffing, as any sensible collie does on a walk, and ran and sniffed into a feild of sheep. Got a huge shock.of the sheep fenced, yelped, ran back to me and got another shock and scared the sheep away. Since then everytime he sees sheep he runs straight to my side thinking the are going to zap him!
 
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