Many unwanted dog behaviors—barking, digging, or zooming around the house like a maniac—often stem from a lack of exercise. While well-intentioned owners try to burn off energy through physical activities like fetch or running in the yard, I’ve found the real issue is frequently a lack of mental stimulation.
In the wild, a dog would spend its day roaming with a pack, focused on two primary goals: seeking resources and avoiding threats. Dogs are incredibly smart and highly adaptable, constantly figuring out how to navigate their environment.
Like many things in life, people often approach scent work with an all-or-nothing mindset—if it doesn’t go perfectly at first, they quit. But scent work doesn’t have to be about search-and-rescue missions or detecting contraband. Relax, take it slow, and most importantly, have fun!
What You’ll Need
- A tennis ball
- Cotton balls
- A razor blade or knife
- A small bottle of an essential oil your dog has never smelled before (choose something mild, avoiding strong oils like peppermint, which can be overwhelming).
Getting Started
- Prepare the Scented Ball:
- Take the tennis ball and carefully cut a small, 2-inch slit in it.
- Dab a tiny amount of essential oil onto a cotton ball.
- Squeeze the tennis ball to open the slit and insert the scented cotton ball inside.
- Introduce the Scent:
- With your dog nearby, squeeze the ball a few times to release puffs of scent near their nose.
- As they sniff, give the scent a name—something simple like “Bob.”
- This helps your dog associate the scent with a word, just as they recognize familiar objects by sight.
- Hide and Seek:
- Put your dog outside while you hide the ball indoors.
- Bring them back in and excitedly say, “Where’s Bob? Where’s Bob?”
- When they find it, reward them with plenty of praise!
- Repeat the process, gradually hiding the ball in more challenging locations.
Practical Applications
Scent work can be more than just a game—it’s a lifesaving skill. When training service dogs for children, especially those with autism, we use scent tracking to help locate them quickly in case they wander off.
Here’s how we start:
- Have the child sleep in the same T-shirt for a few nights.
- Place the shirt in a sealed plastic bag.
- Just like with the tennis ball, introduce the scent by saying the child’s name (“Timmy, Timmy, Timmy”) as the dog sniffs the shirt.
- Eventually, when asked to “Find Timmy,” the dog will track the scent, even if the child is hiding.
You can also use scent work to find lost objects, like your cell phone. Because your phone carries a unique blend of its own scent and your personal scent, a dog can be trained to locate it with ease.
Any Dog Can Do It
While some breeds naturally excel at scent work, all dogs are capable of learning. With patience and practice, the possibilities are endless!