CANINE CORNER WITH REBECCA HAWKINS
CANINE ENRICHMENT FOR YOUR DOG
Canine enrichment is an important practice every dog owner should use to help keep their dogs brains busy. A 20 minute brain game is far more tiring than an hour’s walk. It can also be useful for times when we can’t go for a long sniffy walk or time is limited.
Below are some simple instructions to a basic scent work game
Search and Find!
We can use the dog's phenomenal scent searching skills to keep them entertained and tired them out. We're going to teach the dog to find a scent toy.
Some people use a cat toy, but it's a little small so there is risk of them being accidentally swallowed. Try to get something bigger. You could use any soft dog toy for this but actually a face flannel tied in a knot might serve equally well. You'll also need to purchase a tub of dried catnip.
Step 1: Place some catnip in a plastic container (enough to cover the bottom). Place a paper towel over the catnip and place your toy/flannel on top of the paper towel. Keep the lid on while stored. The toy/flannel takes on the odour of the catnip and provides a distinctive scent for the dog to track.
Step 2: Using the toy, play fetch with your dog, throwing it just a short distance. If your dog doesn't fetch things back to you, no worries, you can just let him chase and grab the toy. To get it back, have another toy to throw or switch to some scatter feeding with a few treats. Be careful not to chuck the toy again until the dog has well and truly stopped eating for at least 10 seconds. If the dog is reliably fetching of at least chasing and picking up the item, you can tell him to ‘Find It’ whenever you throw the toy. This will become the dog's signal to go and look for the item later in the process.
Step 3: Place the toy instead of throwing it, and encourage the dog to Find It' (it helps if you have a good wait behaviour but i's not crucial. Reward with another toy, game or food.
Step 4: Start putting the toy just out of sight but allow him to see where you put it (maybe in an open box).
Step 5: Place it in easy to find places but without him seeing where you put it.
Step 6: Increase the difficulty by placing the item in more challenging places around the house or garden and telling him to 'Find it' If he has seen you get the toy container he will certainly know that the game is on so will not be too dependent on the ‘Find It' signal. It is nice to have the signal (cue) if you advance to hiding the toy without his knowledge.
Always ensure the dog is competent and keen at each step and always play fair. Don't ever place it where he can't reasonably access it. This is extremely good brain exercise.
You can see the concentration and focus as the dog uses scent, not just casually, but purposefully, to find a particular object. The dog is rewarded (or reinforced if we want to be technical) by the mere act of seeking. Further reinforcement comes from finding the item (if he was never able to find it he'd eventually give up trying) and further still from the game or food reinforcement we provide for him finding it.