How to teach a dog to search for objects by smell?
First stage: casting
So, let’s say that your dog knows how to play the way it should, then you can safely start teaching him to search for objects using scent. It is better to start with a game called throwing. It can be played both indoors and outdoors.
First you need to take the dog on a leash and show her her favorite play item. You can move the toy in front of the animal’s nose a little to increase the desire to receive it, and then discard it. It is advisable to do this so that the subject is out of sight. For example, for any obstacle, in a hole, in bushes, in grass or in snow.
After dropping the object, make a circle with the dog so that he loses sight of the landmark for finding it. For the same purpose, before throwing, you can cover the dog’s eyes with one hand.
Now you need to give the pet a command to search for “Search!” and with a gesture to show exactly where; to do this, you need to stretch your right hand towards the search area. After that, go with the dog to look for the item. When helping a pet, indicate only the direction of the search, and not the place where the item lies.
When the dog finds the item, praise it and have fun playing. The described exercise should be repeated 2-3 more times. When you’re done exercising, trade your dog’s toy for something tasty. In one school day, you can conduct from 5 to 10 such gaming sessions. Be sure to change the game items so that the dog is interested in looking for them.
Stage two: skidding game
When you notice that the pet has understood the meaning of the game, move on to its next form – the skidding game. Call the dog, present it with a game object, provoke it a little with the movement of the object and, if you are in the apartment, go with the toy to another room, closing the door behind you. Place the object so that the dog cannot immediately find it with his eyes, but so that his scent spreads unhindered. If you hide an item in a desk drawer, then leave a wide gap. After that, return to the pet, give the command “Search!” and together with him start looking for a toy.
As a rule, young animals search chaotically. They can examine one corner three times, and never enter the other. Therefore, when helping the dog, let him understand that you need to search the room, starting from the door in a clockwise direction. Attract the attention of the pet with a gesture of the right hand or even tapping it on the objects of study.
Watch your dog carefully. By her behavior, you can understand whether she caught the smell of the desired item or not. If the dog finds the toy and can’t get it on his own, help him and arrange a fun game.
If you are playing outdoors, tie your dog up, show and let him smell the toy, and then take it away. Move back about ten steps and hide the toy, and then pretend to hide it in different places three or four more times. Just don’t get too carried away and remember that the smell should spread unhindered.
Return to the dog, make a circle with it and send it to search by giving the command “Search!”. If necessary, help the pet by showing the direction and forming a shuttle search: 3 meters to the right, then 3 meters to the left of the line of motion, etc. And, of course, after finding the object, play with the dog.
Stage Three: Hiding Game
Skid play should not be practiced for more than 2-3 days, otherwise the dog will decide that it is only necessary to search in such a situation. It’s time to move on to the game of hiding, and this is a real search.
If you are practicing at home, put all your dog toys in a box. Take one of them and, without attracting the dog’s attention, hide it in one of the rooms so that the toy cannot be seen. But make sure that there is a free distribution of smell. It is not necessary to let the dog sniff the object: she perfectly remembers the smell of her toys, besides, all of them have her smell.
Call the dog, stand with it at the door of the room, give the command “Search!” and start searching with the dog. At first, the pet may not believe you, because you did not throw anything and did not bring anything. Therefore, it is necessary to prove to him that after the magic command “Search!” there is sure to be something.
When working with a dog, change toys. If desired, you can add the word “toy” to the command. Then, over time, the pet will understand that after these words you need to look for only toys, not slippers, for example.
When exercising outside, simply throw or stash the toy without your dog noticing. After that, having moved 10-12 steps away, call her and offer to find a toy. To complicate the task, you can hide items more carefully and tell your pet less in the search process. But remember that the better you hide, the more time must pass before the search begins – you need to give time for the odor molecules from the toy to evaporate from its surface, overcome possible obstacles and get into the air.
