Who’s ready for some competitive sniffing practice? We do this once a month or so as it builds drive. One needs to be careful as it can also cause dogs to fight over odor. For that reason, Nelson plays the game with one girl at a time to keep things safe.
How does it work? Mom has a pouch full of yummy treats. She takes one of our hides, today it is a clear plastic smiley tin, and chucks it into the yard when we are not looking. We get the search queue and take off to find it. First dog to find the hide gets treats. Mom takes the hide and when we are not looking, she throws it again. Today we got to search seven times. Nelson was a rock star, but I still beat him by one hide.
Off we go. The hide can be anywhere in the yard on the ground. Once and a while Mom will stick it on something up higher, but usually it is a ground hide. We don’t usually follow each other, but as I approached the hide, Nelson was also on the same path.
We look high and we look low. Lots of air scenting goes on with us.
Nelson is a thinking kind of guy. He is multi tasking, walking, sniffing, and thinking all in one.
Oh look! I found a hide! Mom chose the clear plastic hides because they are harder to see in the snow. We don’t go by our eyes anyway, but it makes her feel better.
Now Nelson is doing some air scenting. It may be combined with a bit stretch too.
I think Nelson is onto something with his tracking odor technique. This competitive sniffing practice stuff we do not only builds drive, but it teaches us that even if we clear an area, there could be a hide there that we missed. Actually, we didn’t miss one, but we are not supposed to know Mom is constantly tossing the same tin.
Now Nelson is coming in on the hide and I am hot on his tail. Unfortunately, he claims this one and gets the treats. I have to find more to get my treats.
I’m thinking there might be a hide up on the deck, but I am not sure. Air scenting helps me work out the answer to that question.
In between finds, we are all over the yard thinking and sniffing, trying to find where the next hide will be. We know the treats are waiting for the winner and we each want the treats!
I’m sealing the win finding the last hide Mom has for us. The weather is no fun, so it is a good time to practice sports. Maybe if the sun comes back we can go for a fun walk somewhere. In the meantime, competitive sniffing practice is always a fun thing to do for all four of us!
We’re joining our friends at Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard for their Nature Friday blog hop.
That looks like a fun game to play in the snow and because the container is white – you REALLY have to use your noses!
Mom is always amazed that even if we see the container, we won’t go to it unless we can smell the odor first.
wow you are really super pros…. da phenny has the nose in the air too… it looks as if he eats the air… and then he finds the berd within seconds…
Air scenting can really tell us a lot about what is out there in the area.
Any game which involves a pouch full of yummy treats has my vote.
Toodle-oo!
Nobby.
We love it, unless we are not the dog to find it first because then we get nothing. It’s motivation to find it faster the next time.
We used to bury a tennis ball in the sand on the beach and make several more burial marks before letting the scenting dog go looking for the tennis ball. Our version of that ‘game’.
Lots of dogs would love that. We are not into tennis balls, so it would not be for us, but we are trained on certain odors and we love to find it. You can even hide food around the house for a dog to find. It is all about our instinct to hunt.
Nelson your eyes and nose were very working together. I could almost see your brain working thru you beautiful eyes
Bol at your Orange and Lime examples. We have been thoroughly enjoying the Navel Oranges this winter. And we have a fresh lime quarter in our water at supper.
Hugs cecilia
Mom has lime in her Mexican food sometimes and she likes clementines. Sadly, they don’t make full sized lime Furballz, so Mom bought me the small one a while back.
You guys are so lucky to have such an active, creative and loving mom
She likes to keep us a bit worn out. It is not boring around here, that is for sure.
Awesome series of ‘sniffer’ photos of you smart and adorable doggies ~ hugs,
Wishing you good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Scent hounds love their sniffing!
What a great backyard game!! We have to say, it is weird seeing so much green instead of white in your backyard. The weather sure is topsy turvy this year!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
It’s a real mess and we are all sad about it. No fun at all.
That is a wonderful backyard game. We are going to play some of that as soon as our backyard dries out a bit!
We should wait for ours to dry, but who knows when that will happen. Our grass is in bad shape but there is nothing we can do except not go in the yard, but we love to play out there so that won’t happen.
What a fabulous way to have sniffing practice and fun at the same time. Mom has fun too doesn’t she?!?!
She love watching us sniff. It never gets old and we always amaze her.
That does look like a fun game. Congratulations, Olivia. Nelson, You’re right on her tail, good for you, not giving up.
We don’t give up. Both of us are pretty high drive in our sniffing stuff and we have fun searching around.
You guys really ‘nose’ your stuff!
We love to sniff and live up to our scent hound breed š
Competitive sniffing is a wonderful idea! Keeps the brains oiled!!
It is good mental exercise and it builds our drive.