Engage your dog in nose work games at home or in classes to provide mental and physical enrichment while strengthening your bond.
Dogs have an incredible sense of smell. They have a highly developed olfactory system. It features a large nasal cavity filled with a complex structure of bony walls covered by the olfactory epithelium. This means dogs can detect even the faintest scent molecules. This remarkable ability enables well-trained dogs to achieve near-perfect success in odor recognition tasks. Building on this natural talent, nose work for dogs provides fantastic enrichment opportunities for your dog. It offers him both mental stimulation and lots of fun.
Why nose work makes a great enrichment activity
Nose work provides dogs with an excellent way to burn mental and physical energy by engaging them in searches that can be conducted either indoors or out. It requires no prior training or obedience, which means it’s accessible to all dogs.
Whether you enroll your dog in nose work classes or workshops, or set up some backyard scent games at home (see sidebar on page xx), this type of activity offers several benefits:
- Nose work helps shy or fearful dogs gain confidence. Even a simple “find it” game where dogs search for hidden treats can have a calming effect.
- It gives busy or overactive dogs a much-needed job, and channels their energy into fun and productive searches within a structured environment.
- Nose work strengthens the bond between you and your dog as you learn to observe, understand, and trust his instincts.
According to Cheryl Beckage, a certified nose work instructor, the most important part of nose work is stepping into your dog’s world and sharing in their fun. “The dog will always be better than us at the scent work game, but when we play it with them, a deeper bond forms between us,” she says. “Seeing that is magical.”
Nose work as a canine sport
Nose work for dogs involves much more than setting up scent detection games at home. It’s also a canine sport with classes, workshops, field trips, and even competitions.
“Nose work is a dog sport that was developed to emulate tasks performed by professional detection dogs,” says Cheryl. It’s based on the work performed by detection dogs (such as drug dogs). These dogs are employed by humans to detect a wide variety of scents and substances.
“The dog and handler team searches for specific target odors in various environments, and the dog communicates with the handler when that odor has been located,” says Cheryl. “At the beginning of training, the dog develops independent searching skills while the handler develops observational skills around what the dog is doing.”
Most beginning classes or novice nose work workshops start with the food in a box activity, as described in the sidebar. This allows dogs reward themselves when they find the treats. They learn to search for food or toy rewards hidden in a variety of environments.
As a dog progresses, instructors add new challenges and search skills. He “graduates” by starting to search for specific odors (such as birch or anise). The goal is to find the source of these odors.
A nose work class or workshop provides many opportunities to build your dog’s expertise in scent work and boost his confidence.
“Your instructor knows the skills most important for you and your pup to learn, and will use their expertise to teach them in a manner that will benefit the team,” says Cheryl. “Because everyone in the class is working together, you learn to make all kinds of observations as you move through it. You meet people who share interests similar to your own. Finally, your dog gets to work in different environments.”
You can find a nose work class or instructor through the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW), an organization that provides an extensive formal training programs. Instructors who pass this program have well over 200 hours working with and training scent detection dogs. They design their classes for dog/handler teams to succeed, whether they plan to compete in the sport or not (k9nosework.com/find-an-instructor-or-class/).
When it comes to canine sports, nose work for dogs may not be as familiar as agility, but it offers some unique benefits. It’s suitable for all breeds, which means any dog can participate. Whether you engage your dog in scent games at home, or attend a weekly class together, nose work can enrich your dog’s life while strengthening the canine-human bond.
Getting started: a simple nose work game
To begin engaging your dog’s sense of smell with nose work, gather some small cardboard boxes and healthy treats.
- Start by placing a treat in an open box that your dog can easily access.
- When he finds the treat, reward him with extra treats to reinforce the behavior.
- Gradually introduce more open boxes with treats inside, but leave some previously used boxes empty. This helps to challenge your dog to rely on his nose to find real treats instead of following old scents.
This exercise will help sharpen your dog’s olfactory skills and provide mental stimulation.
Learning to read dog scenting behavior
Recognizing the Changes of Behavior (COB) when your dog picks up a scent takes experience and helps hone your observational skills. According to experts, there are eight indicators that show a dog has found an odor:
- Pulling towards the container holding the target odor (also called the hide)
- Circling when going around the hide
- Head snaps, or swinging the head back and forth
- Breathing changes or increased breathing rate
- Cadence and gait changes, and a quick shift in direction
- Running the nose up and down where the odor is
- Carrying the tail higher or swinging it in anticipation of a treat
- Walking sideways towards the odor, or planting the front feet and spinning around the odor.
The post Nose work for dogs: enrich his life through scent appeared first on Animal Wellness Magazine.
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