Are you taking your dog for a nice walk in the woods? Use of the branches and leaves you come across! You can use them to hide your dog's toy. No toy with you? Take a look in your pockets. There is bound to be an object in there, such as a handkerchief, that you can use for a tracking game. You can also teach your dog to search for very small objects, such as an old house key.

Tracking

Dogs are very good at "gymnastics" with their noses! Did you know that working with his nose tires a dog at least as much as using his paws? Sniffing also makes you thirsty. So make sure you always have enough drinking water with you.

Attention!

If your dog, during the sniffing in the woods, rubs his paw over his snout or starts limping, these are alarm signals. It could mean that your dog has hurt his paw or has stepped into something, or got a twig or thorn in his eye.

Hiding variation

Instead of hiding low to the ground, you can also hide an object a little higher up in the bushes, wedge it between a couple of logs or hang it from a low branch. This is a whole new challenge for your dog, because often he is only used to search the ground.

Dogs are very good at 'gymnastics' with their noses!

Sniffing is something you do together

Does your dog find searching for or holding a hidden object difficult? Help him by pointing at the object. Sniffing is something you do together! Success motivates your dog to keep going. Just look how proud he is to walk away with the found 'loot'!

Tip!

Do you have a super detective as a dog? Hide an object on the way out (remember where it is!) and see if the dog can find it on the way back after your search!

Creative tracking

You can teach your dog to search for all kinds of objects. For example, in the picture we are just using a very simple school pouch, which you can possibly put some kibble in to make it smell extra good. Because the pouch is flat, you can easily hide it between or under something.

Step by step

Always start by placing the object in a place that’s easily accessible and within sight: the dog can just watch you when you’re hiding it. This will motivate him to look for it. When he finds it, you can make the search more difficult, step by step.

Do it!

When you hide something for your dog, pretend that you are hiding something in several places. Your dog then has to really use his nose well to find the right hiding spot and his toy.

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Annerike from the CareTeam

Questions about your pet's behaviour? The CareTeam loves to help you with free advice!