![]() Don’t let her see which hand you place the treat into. While doing so, say “Find it!” Once she has sniffed it, open your hand and offer the treat, saying, “Good find it!” Repeat this a few times. Then, with your dog sitting in front of you, offer her that fist, and let her sniff. Next, take one into your palm and make a loose, palm-down fist. A bit of turkey meat or cheese will work better than kibble because of the former’s stronger aroma. First, get some small tasty treats that will fit into your hand. Here’s a simple way to rev up your dog’s nose. Try hiding a chicken egg out there! You can even try this in your car or in a friend’s home. Then move it out into the yard and do the same, making it easy at first then progressively harder. Hide a frozen cube of meat or broth (on a plate of course!). Try hiding a food dispenser toy filled with treats. Once she “gets it,” vary the hidden item. ![]() Vary placement and quantity some days just hide one treat. You will soon see her scenting for them rather than looking for them. Then simply let her find them on her own. Place them while she is outside, or in another part of the home. Repeat this process, but begin placing the treats in less obvious places in a corner, just beneath a sofa or coffee table, or even partially beneath a doggie cushion. She will eat them happily and look for more. Start by placing one or two treats down in full view, while she is out of the room. Once she finds the first one (often by accident), she will quickly key into the possibility of finding others with her nose. It requires you to do nothing but place treats randomly around the home in the hopes that she will locate them by scent. This is a simple way to engage your dog’s scenting prowess. But the good news is that, with just a little planning and patience, you can add fun scent games to your dog’s repertoire of behaviours and help her utilize this untapped smell power! Once dependent upon their noses to survive, most domestic dogs today are a bit out of practice. It stands to reason then, that we should somehow be harnessing this amazing power in our own pets. This enables dogs to find lost hikers, discover buried truffles, or even locate cadavers beneath the water. Additionally, the part of the brain that analyzes smells is 40 times bigger in dogs than humans. We have six million olfactory receptors dogs have up to 300 million. While we focus on what things look like, our dogs’ attentions center on a smorgasbord of scents floating through the air: what the neighbours had for dinner which raccoon walked through the yard the night before if the retriever across the street just got a bath. It’s a dog’s most powerful sense and the one we humans overlook the most. Though newborn puppies are essentially blind at birth, their sense of smell is fully developed and active.
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