Using Your Dog’s Scent

Scent is a dog’s strongest sense. Dogs process the world around them through their noses similarly to how humans use their eyes, but this is seldom understood and properly engaged by the majority of owners. Allowing your dog to use its scent more is one of the easiest way you can improve its happiness and quality of life, so something we would encourage all owners to do.

One of the easiest ways to encourage your dog to use its sense of scent is also the most impactful, and that is slowing walks down with the objective being to promote free sniffing rather than covering a set distance. Sniff walks offer such high enrichment value that they are actually more mentally engaging than rigorous physical exercise. When taking a dog on a sniff walk, it is important to allow it to explore at its own pace, and not pull it away from an area of interest unless staying there is unsafe. As sniff walks usually take place on a short leash, your closeness to your dog facilitates bonding and creates a positive association between you and that particular pleasurable activity.

Hiding food, especially high-value treats around your house or garden then encouraging your dog to find them using scent is also effective. Such exercises have a modicum of challenge, so are often more intellectually engaging and stimulating than an unstructured sniff walk. Scent-based hidden food games are most effective with intelligent or highly driven dogs, especially those from working lines. A Spaniel or Jack Russell Terrier is more likely to take well to such enrichment than a somewhat lazy Old English Bulldog!

More involved activities such as tracking, article retrieval, and substance detection are other options for active and intelligent dogs. While these require more specialised trainers, they are highly rewarding and allow driven dogs to perform to their full capacity. If you are interested in finding out more about how we can support your advanced dog training needs, we would love to hear from you on info@protectiondogs.co.uk.