What is scent work for dogs and why your dog will love it!

Scent work for dogs involves teaching your dog how to find a specific target odor and communicate to their human where it is. In working dogs this could mean they are identifying drugs, guns, money, bombs, lost humans, recovering cadavers, identifying invasive species or species at risk of extinction, they can even identify certain medical conditions in humans such as cancer! A dogs nose is up to 100,000 times more potent that us humans, we have 5-6 million scent receptors, dogs possess up to 300 million. They can identify scents as small as a teaspoon of sugar in an olympic size swimming pool! Dogs have a specific organ called the jacobsons organ which is designed to act as a second nose to detect chemicals like pheromones, which are missed by the main olfactory system. It plays a vital role in identifying prey, finding mates, identifying territory, and navigating environments. Dogs noses are truly wonderful and we’ll likely never really understand what the world looks like to a dog as their primary sense is their scent! Compared to humans which is our sight its no wonder we often find ourselves scratching our heads over our dogs behaviour!

So what does scent work look like for pet dogs?

Scent work for pet dogs involves teaching them how to find and indicate on a specific target scent. In our scent work classes held in Southampton Hampshire we teach dogs how to search for pieces of red kong initially and move onto other substances as the dogs progress through the classes. We teach our dogs that a specific odor = good things, essentially search for and indicate when you have found it and good things will happen for you. Sometimes that means some tasty and delicious treats, othertimes if may mean a toy, it all depends on the individual dogs preferences. It’s important to note that scent work in itself is rewarding for your dog to do and many dogs simply enjoy the process of searching for something specific!

Why is scent work so good for your dog?

10 minutes of scent work is the equivalent of an hours walk in terms on mental tiredness and it provides an opportunity for you to fulfill your dogs needs completely. If you’re finding that exercise alone is not leaving your dog relaxed at home then scent work could fill that gap! Many dogs can walk or run around for hours on end and still come home completely wired, by introducing scent work you are tapping into the relaxation part of the brain and giving them a calm but enriching activity to help promote relaxation at home or on walks. If you’re short on time adding some scent work into your dogs routine can be a perfect way to tire them out on those days you don’t have time for a long walk, plus if you have a dog who dislikes the rain you’ve got something to tire them out with at home.

Is scent work right for my dog?

Every dog will benefit from nose work activities, after all it’s teaching them to do what they do best… sniff! Scent work is ideal for dogs of all ages and temperaments, even dogs who struggle with reactivity! As scent work is a very low impact activity even dogs with reduced mobility can enjoy classes, we can even adapt searches to ensure they are accessible. 

We can often find that dog scent detection classes actually provide dogs with big emotions an opportunity to focus on an activity in the presence of other dogs calmly. Scent work is a brilliant activity to strengthen your bond with your dog and build confidence. If you feel you’ve been at odds with your dog then scent work can help bridge that gap and get you working like a team again!

What happens during our UK Sniffer Dogs Bronze course?

During our UK Sniffer Dog Bronze course we gradually teach our dogs how to find for and search for a tiny piece of Kong hidden in either bags, chairs or a vehicle! The classes are held within our enclosed field in the River Hamble Country Park. 

Week one -  we start by teaching the dogs that Kong = good stuff and we gradually shape them into indicating that they have found the Kong by freezing with their noses hovering over the top of where it is. 

Week Two - we decrease the size of the kong to make it more difficult for ours dogs to find and search for and we introduce searching bags. 

Week three - involves chair searches with our dogs.

Week four -  is adding in a new environment to search on with even more distractions. 

Week five -  we bring in our vehicles and start completing some vehicle searches (this is when your dog starts looking professional!). 

Week 6 - we complete a mock UK Sniffer Dog Bronze trial to get you ready to take on a trial and win your UK Sniffer Dog Bronze award!

Rachael is a UK Sniffer Dog accredited instructor currently offering Bronze UK Sniffer Dog courses with Silver soon to be added!

If scent work sounds like it's for you and your dog (and I think it most certainly does!) and you are based in Southampton, Eastleigh, Hedge End, Fareham and surrounding Hampshire then sign up to our next UK Sniffer Dog Bronze 6 week course. We can’t wait to see you and your dog embark on this exciting new journey together!

Book a place on our next scent detection course here.