What is an example of Scent Work for dogs?

Scent detection is a dog sport in which we harness the dogs natural ability to search and find a scent. At its most basic, it is where we hide little pieces of food for a dog to find to encourage them to use their noses to thoroughly search an area, and more advanced is where we train a dog to target and search for a specific scent such as Kong, catnip or gun oil. In these classes, you’ll usually be searching areas, vehicles, and items such as bags, chairs or boxes. An excellent example of ‘professional’ scent detection are police dogs who sniff out drugs or explosives. Whilst I don’t train your dogs to sniff out drugs or explosives, the techniques used in scent work classes are the same as those used by the police. Trailing is where we train dogs to find a ‘lost’ person or dog. Trailing is done outdoors in urban, rural or wild settings, and the dog uses its phenomenal nose to differentiate the scent of the ‘lost’ person or dog from all other scents in the environment. Tracking is similar to trailing, where we ask our dogs to detect, recognise and follow a specific scent. The difference between tracking and trailing is that in tracking, dogs must use ground scent and disturbances and stick to the exact route that the missing person went on. Tracking dogs are used by the police, in pursuit of criminals or looking for evidence.

Scent work with food treats is a great way to mentally stimulate your dog and enhance their natural ability to sniff things out, all while having fun. You can play games like "find it" where you show your dog that you have a piece of food/treat in your hand, say ‘find it!’ and then throw the piece of food/treat across the floor. When your dog finds the piece of food, say a clear ‘yes!’ so they know they’ve followed through on the action that you wanted from them. You can also make the ‘find it’ game more advanced by telling your dog to stay while you hide the treat/s behind pieces of furniture. Scatter games are another example, where you can make your dog’s meals more interesting by scattering the entire contents of their food in the garden. Scent work with toys is also a great option, where you can play games like fetch with a twist, by asking your dog to find their ball using their sense of smell. You can throw the ball and wait for it to land, then release your dog from their sit/lead and ask them to ‘find it!’ Another game is "find it" where you hide a toy and ask your dog to find it, and as you progress, you can make this harder by pretending to hide the toy in one place but then moving it elsewhere so your dog starts to really use their nose to seek it out. Hide and Seek is another example of scent work, where your dog will use a combination of wind scenting and tracking to find you, and you can play this game at home or out and about in the garden or in safe areas while out for a walk.