Training a puppy to find scents is a fun and engaging activity for you and your pup, and it also taps into their natural instincts. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, and when you harness this ability through scent training, you’re fostering their mental stimulation, building a stronger bond, and giving them a job to do that they will love.
Why Should You Scent Train Your Puppy?
Dogs are born with a highly developed sense of smell, estimated to be 10,000 to 100,000 times more sensitive than humans. Training them to find specific scents harnesses this natural ability. Even if you don’t plan for your pup to be a working detection dog, scent work is a fun way to engage your puppy’s brain.
Training your puppy to search for scents offers these benefits:
- Mental Stimulation: Puppies are the most curious with their noses, and giving them a positive outlet for this natural instinct builds their mental smarts.
- Confidence Building: Successfully finding a hidden scent gives your pup a sense of accomplishment.
- Better Behavior: Training provides structure and purpose, reducing undesirable behaviors such as chewing or barking.
- Bonding Time: Working together as a team strengthens you and your puppy’s relationship.
A Fun Start to Scent Training
Before you begin remember the basics of any training: start small, be patient, stay positive, and have treats on hand. In the beginning, scent training is ALL about treats! Other items you may need are small containers to hide scents in, cotton balls, and essential oils.
Nose work games are a great place to start for at home scent training. Here are few to get you started:
The Shell Game: You can play this game first with just hiding a treat inside your hands behind your back. Then place your hands about a foot apart in front of your puppy letting them sniff both. Once they indicate their preference for one over the other by standing closer or licking, open your hand. Expand the game by putting the treat under a cup in a set of three. Mix them up and see if your pup can find the treat!
Hide and Seek: Hide treats around a room in your house. Make them easy to find and increase difficulty as their skills grow.
Egg Hunt: Place treats in some plasitc eggs or other small container and hide them around the house or backyard. Have some eggs that are empty. Everytime they find and egg open it for them to see if they used sense of smell over their sight. Decrease the amount of eggs that have treats and increase the difficulty in finding them as their ability improves.
As you play these games start pairing with commands such as, “Find it!” or “Yes!” when they’ve found the treat.
Next Level Scent Training
If your puppy is showing a real knack for nose work and you want to take their skills to the next level it’s time to expand thier scent identification skills. Start by preparing a cottonball with some essential oil and placing it in a breathable container. You want to make sure you do this in a closed off room and wash your hands after. Essential oils are potent and it needs to be consentrated to the item you want your puppy to find to decrease the chances of creating confusion.
Next place the container in one hand and a treat in the other. Just like the shell game hold your hands about a foot apart in front of your pup. Give the command you choose for them to find. They will most likely go for the hand with a treat first, but don’t give it to them yet. Wait until they show interest in your other hand, say “Yes” and reward them by bringing the treat to the hand with the scent. Make sure to feed them the treat at the source of the odor. Continue practicing this, while changing hands to reinforce your dogs skill until they can correctly identify which hand holds the scent.
Progress through the games you played with the treats with the new scent. rewarding with a treat when they find the scented container. Increasing the difficulty as they master the concept. You can even make the scent harder to find by putting it in another layer of containment. Keep training sessions short and fun, about 5 to 10 minutes. If your puppy seems disinterested or becomes distracted, don’t be discouraged. Just take a break and try again later.
Once a scent has been mastered try different ones. Try using clothes of family members and then having them search for that person. Just make sure when using essential oils or other materials that they are safe for dogs. Some substances can be toxic if ingested or inhaled.
Advanced Scent Training
If your puppy shows a real talent for scent training you may decide to pursue developing more advanced skills such as tracking, search and rescue, or detection work or maybe compete in AKC Scent Work Sports. All of these can be a great way to build a shy dog’s confidence, build bonds between you, and harness your pup’s natural ability in a fun rewarding way.
If your looking for a pup to sniff thier way to your heart and impress you with their scent finding skills check out our current companions who are ready to play and add some fun to your life!
