Teach your dog how to find and paw indicate a scent using this easy and fun enrichment game using materials you have at home. Shows you step by step how to chain two simple behaviors (sniff, paw) to create a new more complex behavior that gets a new cue. Great to develop your dog’s problem solving ability! Star (*) indicate clicker sound for deaf/HOH.
Note: The paw touch is an active indication. If you are planning to train for allergy alerts, you want to use a passive indication. If your dog already does the active indication, it may take quite a while to retrain the new passive behavior.
Follow up to the Shell Scent Game
This enrichment game can be played either before or after teaching the shell game.
If you are planning to train an allergy alert where the dog needs to indicate tiny residues of allergens, make sure you only do one trial per side of the blanket. Otherwise, you are teaching the dog to only indicate the strongest scent. In allergy alerts, you want the dog to alert to ANY amount of scent. Also, use a passive indication.
Dogs that have their activity restricted (are on crate rest) get bored, especially active dogs. Sometimes its too hot outside for active games. The best way to help them cope is to use their brains. The bonus is that they know some additional behaviors when they are ready for activity or the weather cools off.
Here is a list of links that will start you off in training the various behaviors. Some are videos, some are links to training descriptions. Some have extra instructions below them.
Other simple activities are giving your dog a stuffed frozen bone or Kong or food puzzles. I would avoid ‘bark and quiet’ since the dog is confined and barking may become a default behavior when frustrated.
All of the various targeting behaviors are just variations of the nose target. Start with a few cued nose targets, drop the cue, then just slightly modify the position of you hand. Do this stages until you get a chin target. For the nose bridge, start back at the nose, and modify the position of your hand over the dog’s nose until she pushes it between your index finger and thumb. For the loop target, start by having the dog target your hand with the loop held between the nose and your hand.
For the touch and hold, just add duration before clicking a nose touch, or ask for two and click the longest one.
Capturing a lip lick (Jessie’s curl was captured this way)
Capturing head tip
Ring Toss Once your dog can pick up objects and drop them in a specific location, use the ring and replace the container with an upright stick. Shape the dog to target the ring to the stick, then the top of the stick, then drop the ring over the stick
Cover Your Face (captured when scratching her eyes or place a piece of tape on the side the the dog’s head.)
Muffin Tin Game
Shell Scent Game
Scent Discrimination. I used metal mason jar rings. Smeared cheese lightly on one and clicked when the dog picked it up. Then added a second one that I had not handled and clicked when she picked up the correct one. Over time, fade the cheese scent and just held it in my hand. From there add more rings. Repeat with wood dumbbells and other objects that had not been recently handled.
Left and Right
Shaping the light switch
Shaping the dog to hold smaller and smaller objects and to Put Them Away (toys, objects etc)
Teaching Take
Teaching Paw Target
Once both behaviors are consistent and on cue, practice a few of each before alternating, clicking only for correct choices. If the dog chooses incorrectly, reset the behavior (no click or treat) and let the dog try again. Here’s a video that shows this with different behaviors: tug and shut
Object discrimination (Names of Objects)
Here’s an extra activity that uses the front end of the dog. This little daxie is blind and has just had surgery on her hind legs, has no use of her back legs yet she still wants to participate! 101 things to do with a pouch using only the upper-body The activities work for disabled dogs too!