One of my favourite moments in a search is the little turn of the head. A dog is moving past an object, then something catches their attention. They turn back, slow down and have another sniff. A second ago, I might have thought they’d finished with that spot. They had other ideas.
It’s one of the reasons I love watching Bert search. I can know where I put the hide and still learn something from the route he takes to get there. The temptation is to point him towards it. The fun is in giving him time to work it out.
What does your dog get out of it?
A scent search gives your dog time to use their nose, make choices and work through a puzzle. A first search might be as simple as finding a few bits of food in an easy spot. There’s a lot going on even in a small search. Your dog gets to decide where to look next, whether to double back and when a spot deserves a closer sniff.
That makes scentwork an interesting activity on days when you fancy doing something together at home, or when a long, energetic outing doesn’t suit your dog. You can make the area smaller, keep the search on the ground and give them plenty of breaks. An older dog might enjoy a short search on a surface they’re comfortable walking on. A puppy might have a go at finding a few pieces of their usual food, then wander off for a nap. Both sound like a decent afternoon to me.
There’s some interesting research behind giving dogs opportunities to search, too. In a small study, dogs that did nosework for two weeks approached an ambiguous location sooner afterwards, a result the researchers interpreted as a sign of greater optimism.
What do we get out of it?
I think scentwork is one of the nicest ways to get better at watching your dog. A little change in pace, a pause or a turn back towards something can tell you a lot about where they want to look next. Over time, you start to recognise what searching looks like for your dog. It’s much easier to give them another moment once you’ve seen what they can do with it.
You get to share the fun, too. You set up a search your dog can enjoy, they do the investigating, and you get that lovely moment when you both realise they’ve found it. There’s no stopwatch at our sessions, and nobody’s handing out rosettes. If your dog wants another go and you’re already thinking about where you might hide something next time, that sounds like a good session to me.
Try a little search at home
Put a few pieces of food your dog enjoys in easy-to-reach spots in a quiet room. A couple by the leg of a chair and one beside an open cardboard box will do. Give your dog time to explore and see if you notice the moment they catch the scent. Keep it short, and make the next search just as easy if they’re enjoying it. You can have a perfectly good game in the time it takes the kettle to boil.
Come and have a go in Old Romney
At SkellyWAGS School of Scent, we search in the Scent Shed, around the field and meadow, and among the straw bales at Waggy Tails Field. The First Sniff is our relaxed, 30-minute, one-to-one scentwork taster for people who’d like to see what scentwork is like with their own dog. We’ll start with a simple search, see how your dog likes to explore and give you a game you can carry on with at home. The session is £45, including a starter scent kit to take home.
If you fancy doing something a little different with your dog, find out more about The First Sniff and how to book.
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