Every dog owner wants to engage and stimulate their dog optimally. Usually, we resort to activities and games like agility, jogging, and long walks. Naturally, dogs have a strong urge to move, but to truly satisfy them, they need another form of engagement, such as nose work.
How your dog learns to indicate
When you watch professional search dogs at work, you’ll notice that they don’t retrieve the scented object and bring it back to the handler; instead, they “indicate.” The detection dog lies down in front of a suspicious suitcase, scratches at it, or barks, for example. You can practice this with your dog too.
Step 1: Practicing indication
You’ll need treats and a piece of pipe or a cone – anything you can throw a treat into so your dog can smell it but can’t reach it. If your dog isn’t too boisterous, a kitchen paper roll can work too.
- Place the pipe firmly on the ground and hold it securely.
- Now, throw a treat into the top so your dog can see it. Then, if necessary, encourage your dog to search for the treat.
- He’ll try to reach it somehow, but you keep holding the pipe firmly.
- If he gives up demotivated because he realizes he can’t get to the food, lift the pipe slightly so your dog can smell the scent again, but he still can’t reach the goal.
- Wait for the crucial moment when your dog shows a reaction that you want to use to indicate an object. This could be barking, lying down, scratching at the object, or simply sitting. Each dog offers something different spontaneously.
- The moment the dog shows this reaction, lift the pipe up, and your dog can snatch the treat.
- Repeat the process over and over again. It requires a little patience, but you can be sure that he will show the behavior again. And exactly then, you lift the pipe up again, and there’s the treat.
- Once it has worked 3 or 4 times in a row, give your dog a short break. Let him chase a ball for a change or just rest for ten minutes. You’ll see: in that short time, a “click” will happen in his mind, and usually, the indication behavior will be shown much faster afterward.
Two things are important:
- Make sure he doesn’t get to the treat on his own. Keep the pipe firmly pressed to the ground.
- Don’t give a command like “Down,” “Sit,” etc. Just stay patient. He should make the connection himself. Because when he finds the search object soon, for example, he should lie down in front of it without you giving the command.
Step 2: Making an object interesting
Now you choose an object that you’ll use soon in nose work. It’ll be easier for your dog if it’s not a toy. After all, your dog should leave the object in the long run and only indicate – not bring it to you or play with it. And if you hide a ball, it’s a bit harder than with an unattractive object in dog’s eyes.
Choose an object that’s not too small so you can find it yourself if necessary. Because you have to pay attention: If you teach your dog to search for a pen, it should always be the same one. Not every pen smells the same. So don’t lose it. And now make the pen (the keychain, a lighter, or a matchbox car) appealing to your dog. Hold the pen in your hand. As soon as your dog curiously nudges the pen, give him a treat.
My extra tip:
A bit complicated in handling, but effective: Hold the pen in your left hand, the treat in your right. When your dog nudges the pen, say “Good,” transfer the treat from your right hand to your left hand next to the pen, and then let your dog take the reward. This way, the pen and the treat are even better associated. But don’t hold both in one hand right away, or you won’t ensure that he nudges because of the pen but more likely because of the food.
- Repeat until you notice that your dog understands that there’s something great about the pen.
- Take another short break and then check the exercise again.
Step 3: Searching and indicating
Now you bring the two steps together: Your dog should now indicate when he finds the pen. Hide the object so your dog can smell it but can’t retrieve it. For example, you can wedge it under your foot, under a large stone, or between sofa cushions. Encourage your dog to search for the pen and show him where to search. It’s not about sniffing out a large area but finding and indicating the pen nearby.
- The moment the dog nudges the pen and indicates, praise him and give him a treat.
- Now you can also introduce a command, such as “Show.” Say the command precisely when your dog shows his indication behavior at first. Later, that will be the cue for him to search and show.
- You’ll see that the dog quickly understands that he should now search for the pen. But choose your hiding spots so that he really can’t get to it. Because the special thing about this nose work is that he not only searches but also pauses in front of the object.
- Only when that works reliably, you can try if your dog also leaves the object and indicates when it’s openly on the ground. But be patient; this can take several weeks. Don’t start too early: indicating must be really well internalized beforehand.
Step 4: Incorporating Variations
When you notice that your dog would like to tackle a few more difficulty levels after a while, you can start by hiding the object not only on the ground but also at head height and later even above head height. This is quite challenging for the dog because his first instinct will always be to search the ground. The idea that the object could also be hidden on a shelf or in a fork of a branch is new and therefore particularly exciting for him.
Advanced Nose Work
You can expand nose work as much as you like and continually come up with something new and more complicated.
- Have your dog pick out the pen from a large number of pens.
- Place around 20 identical pens on the ground.
- Now the task is to nudge and indicate the right one with the nose.
- It’s important to mark the pen with a small ribbon or similar so that you can clearly recognize it yourself. Otherwise, you won’t even notice if your dog cheats.
