"Find it!" (scent work)
The find it game teaches your dog to track down a hidden treat with his nose, on the word "find it". Move him away while you hide it, let him sniff an identical treat, say the word, then go quiet and let him snuffle. The moment he finds it, mark it with a cheerful "yes!" and give him the second treat, right there on the spot.
Scenting is a real mental workout
For a dog, the nose is by far the sense he leans on most to make sense of his world. Searching for a scent asks him to sort through trails, follow them and solve a problem on his own: a real mental workout. Plenty of dogs who chew things up, bark or pace about are not "difficult", they are bored, and their brain is short of work. The find it game answers exactly that need. One study even measured more optimism in dogs who did a daily scenting game for two weeks, compared with dogs who walked to heel without being allowed to sniff (Duranton & Horowitz 2019). The sample is small, twenty dogs in all, and the measure indirect, how quickly they approached a bowl placed in an ambiguous spot, but the signal is real.
Scent work is not reserved for "sporty" dogs: quite the opposite. Here is who it helps most.
Who it is the number one activity for
And also great for
Teaching the word "find it"
Pick a strong-smelling treat: a small piece of cheese, sausage or dried liver carries far further than an ordinary bit of kibble. Your dog is not food-motivated? Swap the treat for his favourite toy: you hide it the same way, and when he finds it, instead of the second treat, you play with him for a few seconds.
You do not need a second person to do the hiding. Outdoors: clip his long line to a tree or a post, just past a bend or a bush that hides you from view, long enough to go and place the treat out of his sight. Indoors, with no door to shut: put a gate between two rooms, step into another room, or toss him a treat across the room to keep him busy while you hide one quickly. If your dog already has a solid "sit, stay", use it; if not, the tether or the gate does the job without asking anything of him.
Keep sessions short, five to ten minutes, no more: scent work tires the brain quickly. You can absolutely string several finds together in one session, that is even a good thing. The point of a 2011 study, run on laboratory dogs, lies elsewhere: they remember better when the sessions are spread over several days, rather than piling up lots of sessions on the same day. Always finish on a success, while he is still asking for more.
Seven levels, from the living room to the punctured box. You only move on once the previous one is solid.
Step 1 / 7Get him to link the word "find it" with the treat waiting for him.
- For the very first tries, put the treat on the floor in plain sight, in front of him, and say "find it" as he dives for it: first he learns that this word announces a find.
- Then hide it somewhere easy but slightly less visible, the corner of a rug, the foot of a piece of furniture, moving him away while you hide it (a gate, another room, or a treat tossed the opposite way to keep him busy).
- Let him sniff a treat from the same packet, which you keep in your hand.
- Say "find it" once only, stay in the room with him without walking straight to the hiding place, and let him snuffle.
- The moment he finds it: mark it with a cheerful "yes!" and give him the second treat, on the spot, right where he has just found the first.
Move on when: On the word "find it", he starts snuffling straight away, nose to the ground, even with you right beside him.
Make him work on his own around the house.
- Always move him away while you hide it, even once he knows the game.
- Let him sniff the treat, say "find it", then let him work it out alone.
- Stay in the room but hang back: you do not leave, and you do not walk towards the hiding place either. Never point.
- Vary the hiding places and change rooms from one go to the next.
Move on when: He regularly finds it unaided, in several different rooms.
Move the game to a place full of competing smells.
- Work in an enclosed space, or keep him on a long line: never off-lead near a road or any other danger.
- Keep him away and out of sight while you hide it (long line tied past a bend, or a second person).
- Walk away from him in a straight line for a few metres and place the treat, in plain view, on the ground along your path.
- Choose a strong-smelling treat (cheese, sausage): outdoors, the competing smells go through the roof.
- Come back for him, let him sniff an identical treat, say "find it" and go with him at first: the change of scenery sends him back a level.
Move on when: He searches outdoors with the same drive as in the living room.
Make him work on his own outdoors.
- Same exercise in a straight line, in an enclosed space or on a long line, dog always kept away while you hide the treat.
- Hang back and let him work alone, without guiding him.
Move on when: He keeps at it on his own along the straight line, with no input from you.
Teach him to quarter the ground instead of heading straight off.
- Place the hide behind him, or off to one side, away from the line he has been taking so far.
- Go with him at first, then leave him to it as soon as he catches on.
Move on when: He widens his search area by himself when the usual line turns up nothing.
Teach him to lift his nose, not just keep it on the ground.
- Put the treat on a tree stump, a low wall, a ledge at nose height.
- Never make him climb: the hide stays within his reach, all four paws on the ground.
- Let him work out for himself that the scent is coming from above, without showing him.
Move on when: He checks higher spots by himself, without you pointing them out.
Teach him to signal a very faint, enclosed scent.
- Take four or five identical containers: a cardboard box, a shoebox, a pot. Definitely not a sealed airtight container (a Tupperware type), which traps the scent and makes the search impossible. Punch a few holes or leave the lid ajar.
- Line them up on the ground, about a pace apart, and hide the treat in one only.
- Give yourself weeks of short sessions, not one single session: this level is built over time.
- When he signals the right box, a clean stop, nose glued to it, insistent nudges, open it and reward him straight away.
Move on when: He clearly signals the right box among empty ones, every single time.
The classic sticking points
He just stands there, he does not search
- Drop back a notch: put the treat on the floor in plain sight again, a step away from him, and say "find it" as he dives for it. He first has to grasp that this word announces a find, before he learns to go looking for it.
- Check too that he is genuinely hungry: a strong-smelling treat, offered before a meal, is far more motivating.
He starts, then gives up halfway
- The hide is probably too hard all at once: drop back a level, shorten the distance, or pick a stronger-smelling treat to rekindle his interest.
- Stop the session before he gets fed up: better to stop on an easy success than on him giving up.
He watches your hands or your face, he does not sniff
- He is relying on his eyes, not his nose, often because he saw you hide it, or because he is counting on you to show him.
- Next time, hide it properly out of his sight, another room, a closed door, a long line tied past a bend, and stay neutral, without looking at him, while he works: with nothing left to read on you, he goes back to his nose.
Check the area before you hide anything
The game sends your dog snuffling everywhere: take a look around before you start the search.
0 / 5- Duranton & Horowitz — Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgement bias in pet dogs (2019)
- Demant et al. — The effect of frequency and duration of training sessions on acquisition and long-term memory in dogs (2011)
- Pfungst — Clever Hans (the horse of Mr. von Osten) (1907)
Going further
Frequently asked questions
How do you teach a dog to search?
The first time, put the treat on the floor in plain sight and say "find it" as he dives for it. After that, move him away while you hide it (a gate, another room, or a long line tied up outside if you are on your own), let him sniff an identical treat, say "find it" once and let him snuffle. The moment he finds it, mark it with a cheerful "yes!" and give him the second treat on the spot. Only raise the difficulty once he is succeeding convincingly, three or four times in a row.
From what age can you play scenting games with your dog?
From very young: it is one of the rare games with no risk for a puppy, everything happens at ground level, with no jumping and no impact, so nothing to endanger his still growing joints. Start with very easy hiding places, in a single room.
Is scent work really more tiring than a walk?
No, no study puts a figure on any equivalence between the two. What is established is that a scenting game keeps your dog's brain intensely busy, which can be enough to settle him even without heavy physical exercise: one study measured more optimism in dogs who played this kind of game every day for two weeks (Duranton & Horowitz 2019). Nose work does not replace physical exercise, but it is a real bonus for the brain.
My dog cannot find the hiding place, what should I do?
Drop back a notch, an easier hiding place or the previous level, and never show him where it is. Check too that you really did keep him away while you were hiding it: if he saw you do it, he is counting on his eyes, not his nose. As he closes in, speed up the rhythm of your "find it", the only bit of help that supports him without cheating.
Which scenting game for a senior or bored dog?
The find it game is an ideal activity for them: it uses up energy without making him run and keeps his brain busy. For a bored dog who chews things up, it is often the right answer: most of the time the cause is a lack of mental work, not a bad temperament.
Do you need a clicker for scent work?
No, no equipment is needed. A short, cheerful marker word ("yes!"), said the moment he finds it and followed by the treat, does the job perfectly. Your voice is enough.
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