The average dog's sense of smell is about 100 times better than a human, according to the "Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook" (Debra M. Eldredge, DVM, et al.; 2007). Over the centuries, humans have used the dog's sense of smell to locate game, predatory animals, intruders and missing people. There were at least 250 search and rescue dogs at the airplane impact sites of September 11, 2001. (See Reference 2)
Things You'll Need
- Dog chest harness
- Lead
- Dog's favorite toy
- Swab or piece of scented cloth
- Human friend
Instructions
The Nose Knows
Identify your dog's favorite toy. This toy is only to be used during human scent work training and is only given to the dog when he signals that he has discovered a scent. This toy will become a powerful motivator for the dog to learn scent work (sometimes called "nose work".)
Fit the dog with a chest harness. This gives the dog's head and neck more freedom and also limits the chances that his neck or throat could be hurt through pulling.
Scent a cotton swab or piece of cloth with your sweat, blood or urine. Place the swab or cloth in a hiding spot. This could be something simple, such as underneath a large paper cup in the center of a small room.
Fit the lead to the harness and bring the dog in the room with the scented cloth. Tell the dog to find. Odds are the dog will not understand at first, so any move made towards the scent should be rewarded with a toy. Eventually, the dog will uncover the strongly scented material. Give an extended play session and praise the dog.
Place other scented materials in other hiding places inside and then outside for the dog to find.
Get a friend to sit in a visible place indoors. Tell the dog to find. Everyone should act really happy when the dog "finds" the friend. Have the friend actually hide and repeat. When the dog does well indoors, try outdoors.