Enrichment & Fun

Nose Work: The Find-It Game

Enrichment & Fun

Overview

A dog's sense of smell is 10,000–100,000 times more sensitive than a human's. Using it is deeply satisfying for them and mentally exhausting in a good way. Find-it is the entry point to a whole world of scent work.

Why it matters

Nose work is especially useful for shy or reactive dogs — it builds confidence and requires no interaction with strangers.

Watch: demonstration

[VIDEO PLACEHOLDER] Find-it demo: handler hides treats around the room, dog searches and finds each. — trainer to attach a video via the admin uploader.

Step by step

  1. Start easy: toss a treat a few feet away in plain sight and cue "find it!"

  2. Once they get the idea, hide treats in easy spots (behind a chair leg, on a low shelf).

  3. Increase difficulty gradually: harder hiding spots, bigger areas.

  4. Move outdoors — hide treats in the yard.

  5. Advanced: teach scent discrimination with a target odor (birch, anise) using scent boxes.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER] A treat hidden under a plastic cup as an easy find-it setup. — trainer to upload one or more still images.

Common mistakes

  • Making it too hard too fast — dogs need to succeed to want to keep searching.

  • Hovering over the dog — let them work independently.

  • Rewarding false alerts — only reward when they actually find the treat.

Practice this week

3 find-it sessions per day for a week, gradually increasing difficulty.