Dogs see the world differently than we do, primarily using their sensitive noses to investigate the world. Did you know a dog’s nose is a estimated to be between 100,000 and 100 million times more sensitive than a human's nose? And they smell many different smells at one time, not just the impression of a smell like we do. When we smell aroma from a bouquet of flowers, they smell each individual smell of the pansy, rose, daisy, ferns, etc.
Most dog owners tend to think of dog’s sniffing as a barrier to whatever it is they have on the agenda that day – Sniffing on walks is often thwarted. No sniffing during training, that’s another no-no. But the dog’s most prominent physical sense is the sense of smell. Anything that encourages use of that sense can have major beneficial impact on the dog’s quality of life.
So what about scent detection? Scent detection is where dogs are trained search for a specific odor, find the source of the odor and signal to the handler that they’ve found the source of the odor. Real life examples of working scent detection dogs include K9 police dogs that search for drugs or track suspects, Search and Rescue dogs who search for people trapped in building rubble or snow avalanches. There are also service dogs who alert their diabetic owners if their blood sugar, or dogs that sniff out bedbugs.
There are several fun sports that use scent detection principles that you can participate in with your dog.
Tracking, where the dog follows a person’s tracks across different environments, like a field or parking lot.
Barn Hunt, where the dog finds a tube with a rat secured in a tube, buried in hay.
Nose work, where a dog finds a specific odor, such as anise, hidden in a room, on a car, in the ground, outside or in a container.
There are many benefits to training your dog in one of these sports, first and foremost, because it’s fun for the owner and the dog.
Unlike some sports, like bird retrieval or herding where dogs that have been breed for the job excel, any dog can do well in Scent detection.
These sports develops teamwork in a way that other endeavors don’t because it is dog driven. The human can’t smell the odor, so become the less important part of the team.
Scent detection requires the handler to become more in tune with dog’s body language and response to odor. Stronger bond between dog & handler as handler learns to observe, understand, and rely upon his dog
Scent work can literally be done anywhere-inside, outside, in the rain, snow, in water and doesn’t take a much in the way of equipment.
You can set up an easy search in your house when the weather is terrible. It’s a good way for a dog to burn mental and physical energy on a winter’s day.
It builds confidence and focus - Shy or fearful dogs build confidence and overactive dogs put their energy into fun searches
Sniffing goes through amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, brings about good feelings. So nose work can actually improve your dog’s mood
Game of the week: Shell game
1. Place a treat under a plastic cup. Let the dog knock over the cup and find the treat.
2. Once they have the hang of the game, add a second plastic cup, and then a third cup. Only place a treat under one of the cups.
3. To give yourself time to move the cups (ala shell game), throw a treat away from you and move the cups when the dog isn’t looking.
Report back and let me know how it goes ! Bonus points for posting video on my Facebook page (PlayNTrain K9).
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