How To Teach Scent Games
One of the easiest ways to give a dog something meaningful to do requires almost no equipment at all.
Let him use his nose.
Dogs already spend an enormous amount of their lives collecting information through scent. We humans tend to hurry them past half of it because we have somewhere to go. A scent game turns that natural ability into something we can deliberately enjoy together.
I especially like these games for scent-driven dogs, dogs who get bored easily, rainy days when everybody has been trapped inside too long, dogs who need more mental work without another hour of hard physical exercise, and dogs whose age or physical condition limits how much running they should be doing.
They are also just fun.
You do not need to be preparing your dog for professional detection work or competition nose work. You need some food your dog values, a few cardboard boxes, a dog with a nose and about ten minutes.
Scent games do not need to be complicated. Hide something the dog wants, teach him that “Find It” means use your nose, and then slowly make the search more interesting.
Why I Like Nose Games
There are dogs who will happily chase a ball until your arm falls off, but physical exercise is only one kind of activity. Searching requires the dog to slow down enough to gather information, solve a problem and work independently while still participating in a game with you.
That makes scent games useful for dogs who need something to do with their brains as well as their bodies. A hound may naturally love them, but I have had plenty of dogs without “scent hound” written anywhere on their résumé become completely invested once they understand the game.
I also like scent work because it is so adjustable. A young healthy dog may search an entire yard. A senior may search five boxes in the living room. A dog temporarily restricted from heavy activity may be able to work through simple stationary searches without racing around the house.
The game can grow or shrink around the dog in front of you.
Start With Success, Not a Detective Exam
The biggest mistake people make when inventing enrichment games is making them difficult too quickly. They hide one tiny treat somewhere in a 2,000-square-foot house and announce “Find It!” to a dog who has absolutely no idea what those words mean.
Then everybody watches while the dog stares at them.
I want the first few searches almost embarrassingly easy. The dog should succeed quickly enough that he begins understanding the point of the game: there is something here worth finding, and my nose is how I find it.
Once that light bulb comes on, we can make things harder.
But first, let the dog win.
What You Need
Small Food Rewards
Use small pieces of food your dog values and tolerates well. Tiny is enough. You want plenty of repetitions without accidentally feeding an entire extra dinner.
A Few Cardboard Boxes
Four or five small boxes of roughly similar size are perfect for beginning box searches. Shoe-box size works nicely.
A Simple Cue
I use “Find It.” You can use Search or another word, but use one cue consistently enough that the dog learns what the game is.
A Safe Search Area
Begin somewhere boring and contained. If you eventually move outdoors and the area is not securely fenced, use an appropriate leash or long line.
A Way to Hold the Dog Back
A helper is useful. A solid Stay can also work as the game advances. In the beginning, simply have someone hold the leash while you set up the search.
Your Enthusiasm
This is supposed to be a game. Let the dog know that finding the answer was brilliant. Your reaction helps make searching worthwhile.
Game One: The Obvious Treat Search
Before I introduce boxes or complicated hides, I may start with the world's easiest version.
Let the dog see you place a piece of food a few feet away on the floor. Hold him back for a moment, then say “Find It!” and release him toward the food.
Do it again.
Move the food slightly farther away. Put it near a chair leg. Place it somewhere the dog has to use just a little more nose and a little less eyesight.
I am not testing him yet. I am teaching the game.
After several easy repetitions, many dogs begin dropping their nose the moment they hear Find It because the cue has started predicting that something worth searching for is nearby.
Game Two: Start the Box Search
Boxes are great because they give the dog a very clear little search problem without requiring fancy scent-work equipment.
Begin With One Box
Use one cardboard box and place several tiny treats inside. Depending on the box, you can leave it open or create small openings that allow scent to escape while keeping the food contained enough that the dog has to investigate.
Let the dog see the setup the first time.
Release the Dog With “Find It”
Bring the dog into the search area, say Find It and let him investigate. Avoid pointing directly at the box once the search begins. Give his nose a chance to solve the problem.
When he locates the food, praise him and let him enjoy the reward.
Add Empty Boxes
Now place two or three empty boxes nearby along with the box containing food. Keep the arrangement simple and give the dog room to move around the boxes.
Release him with Find It and let him work out which box pays.
Increase to Five Boxes
Once the dog understands the concept, work toward four or five boxes with only one containing the food. Rearrange the boxes between searches so he cannot simply memorize a location.
Move the Boxes Around the Room
Spread them farther apart. Put one near a wall, another beside furniture and another in the middle of the room. Now the dog has to search the area instead of simply walking down a row.
Let the Dog Work
This is where the game gets fun. Your dog may overshoot a box, circle back, pause, lift his head to catch odor in the air and then return to investigate more closely.
Try not to solve it for him. Watching the dog solve the problem is half the point.
Don't Point to the Answer Every Time
Humans are terrible at this.
We hide the treat, tell the dog Find It, wait approximately one and a half seconds and then start pointing.
“It's over there. No, over there. Look. Right there.”
Give him a minute.
Part of scent work is allowing the dog to become comfortable solving the problem without constantly looking to the human for the answer. If the search is appropriate for his current level, let him circle, investigate and make mistakes.
If he is completely lost, make the next search easier. I would rather adjust the exercise than turn myself into a human GPS every time the dog starts using his nose.
Watch What Your Dog Does When He Finds It
Dogs are fun to watch during scent games because their bodies tell you when the information changes. You may see the nose suddenly become more deliberate. The dog may pause, circle back or move quickly toward one spot after seeming uncertain a second before.
You don't need to turn this beginner game into formal scent-detection training, but pay attention. You are learning what your individual dog looks like when he catches odor and what he looks like when he is still searching.
That becomes especially useful if you later decide to teach a specific target scent and formal alert behavior.
Game Three: Hide Food Around a Room
Once the dog understands Find It, leave the boxes behind sometimes.
Ask the dog for a Stay outside the room, have another person hold him or simply put him somewhere he cannot watch you hide the food. Place several tiny treats in easy locations around one room.
Start with obvious scent access. Beside a furniture leg. Near the edge of a rug. Along a baseboard. Somewhere the dog can reach safely without climbing on furniture or knocking things over.
Bring him in, say Find It and let him search.
In the beginning, use several pieces so success keeps happening as he moves through the space. As the dog gets better, use fewer hides and make their locations less obvious.
Game Four: Search Another Room
Dogs can become very contextual, so eventually move the game.
Try the bedroom. Hallway. Guest room. Garage if it is safe. Use a room the dog knows and then one that is a little less familiar.
This is also where a reliable Down-Stay becomes handy. Put the dog somewhere he cannot watch you hide the food, set up the search and then release him to work.
If your dog's Stay isn't there yet, don't make that the obstacle that ruins the scent game. Use a gate, leash, crate or helper instead. We are here to work the nose, not prove that every other command is perfect first.
Game Five: Take Find It Outside
Outside changes the game dramatically because now your scent problem lives in a world already filled with scent.
Grass, wind, wildlife, people, other dogs, soil, moisture and whatever happened in that area six hours ago are all competing for the dog's attention.
So go backward in difficulty when you first move outside.
Make the first hides easy. Use an area without overwhelming traffic. If the space is not securely fenced or your dog's recall is not truly reliable, use a leash or long line so the search game does not accidentally become an off-leash adventure.
Let the dog learn that Find It means the same thing outside before you start making the hides difficult.
Grass Searches Are Almost Too Easy to Set Up
One of my favorite lazy-person scent games is scattering a portion of appropriate food through clean grass and telling the dog Find It.
Now the dog has to slow down, use his nose and work through an area instead of inhaling the same food from a bowl in thirty seconds.
You can make the scatter very concentrated for a beginner, then gradually spread it over a larger safe area as the dog becomes better at searching.
Obviously, choose the area carefully. I am not scattering food in a place treated with chemicals, contaminated with waste, filled with dangerous debris or frequented by dogs where resource conflict could become an issue.
You Can Use Part of a Meal
Scent games don't always need to involve extra calories. If the food you feed works well for searching, you can use part of a normal meal.
That may mean a small indoor scatter, several box searches or another appropriate Find It setup before the rest of dinner is served.
For a dog who eats fresh or moisture-rich food, obviously I'm not suggesting smearing dinner throughout the carpet. Choose a search reward that makes sense for the activity and account for it as part of what the dog eats.
The game does not become better because the dog consumed half a pound of cheese while playing it.
Let Kids Participate — With the Right Dog
Scent games can be a great activity for children because the child can help hide food or set up boxes and then watch the dog solve the problem.
For a social dog who is comfortable around children and food, that can be a genuinely fun shared activity.
But I still want adults supervising the setup, and I do not want children reaching into a dog's mouth, grabbing food, fighting over toys or crowding a dog who becomes intense around resources.
The child's job can be to help hide the treat and then step back while the dog searches.
There is no reason to add unnecessary competition to a game that is supposed to be enjoyable.
Multi-Dog Homes: Work One Dog at a Time First
If you have several dogs, I strongly prefer teaching scent games individually before everybody searches together.
One dog works. The others are behind a gate, in another room, crated comfortably or otherwise out of the search area.
There are several reasons for that. The beginner gets a chance to actually learn instead of following the dog who already figured out where the food is. I can see how each individual dog searches. And most importantly, food scattered around an area can create competition in dogs who have resource issues with one another.
Do Not Turn a Nose Game Into a Dog Fight
If dogs compete over food, guard resources, steal from one another, body-block access or have a history of fighting, do not scatter food around the floor and release everyone together.
Work the dogs separately. The point is to engage the nose, not create a free-for-all around hidden resources.
Don't Make the Dog Search Until He Is Frustrated
I want challenge, but I don't want the dog searching unsuccessfully for fifteen minutes while the human keeps insisting the food is definitely in there somewhere.
If your dog gives up, starts wandering, repeatedly looks to you for help or seems to have lost the concept of the game, the hide may be too difficult for his current skill level.
Help him succeed or reset with an easier search.
Then increase difficulty more gradually.
Confidence in scent games grows because the dog repeatedly learns that continuing to search eventually produces an answer.
Short Sessions Are Plenty
You do not need an hour.
Five to fifteen minutes can be a perfectly satisfying little scent session depending on the dog, the difficulty and what else he has done that day.
I would rather stop while the dog is still interested than keep adding searches until he loses enthusiasm and everyone is just going through the motions.
You can always play again tomorrow.
Seniors Can Play Too
This is one of the reasons scent games remain useful throughout a dog's life. The game does not have to require sprinting, jumping or hard impact.
For an older dog, I can keep the search area small, place hides where he does not need to climb or bend awkwardly, use nonslip flooring and let him work at his own pace.
A dog with limited mobility may still enjoy having a problem to solve even when his body cannot do everything it once did.
Adjust the activity to the dog. Don't turn a gentle indoor search into an obstacle course just because he used to be more athletic.
Dogs on Restricted Activity May Be Able to Use Nose Games — But Follow the Restriction
If your dog is recovering from surgery, an orthopedic injury or another medical problem and has been placed on restricted activity, ask what level of movement is actually permitted.
A stationary box search may be very different from racing through the house checking twelve rooms for hidden chicken.
Keep hides easy, reduce unnecessary movement and use nonslip footing when appropriate. The goal is to give the brain something to do without sneaking a physical workout into a dog who has specifically been told to rest.
Use Scent Games for High-Energy Dogs — But Don't Pretend It Replaces Everything Else
A dog who loves using his nose may be wonderfully satisfied after a good search session, and scent work is a terrific addition for dogs who need meaningful outlets.
But I still don't think there is one magic activity that fixes every dog.
Your high-energy dog may need physical movement too. Your working dog may need other jobs. Your socially immature dog may need better handling and boundaries. Your reactive dog does not stop being reactive because he found six pieces of chicken under cardboard boxes.
Scent games are one useful bucket in a fuller life.
Find It Can Also Be a Handy Everyday Cue
Once the dog really understands Find It, I sometimes use the cue outside formal scent games.
I may toss a piece of food into the grass and tell the dog Find It. I can use a small food search while we are waiting somewhere appropriate. I may scatter a few treats in a safe area and let the dog put his nose down instead of staring at everything happening around him.
I do not use food scatters as a magical solution for serious behavior problems, and I do not throw food onto questionable ground just to distract the dog.
But for a dog who enjoys searching, putting the nose to work can be a useful activity in ordinary life.
Let Your Dog Use His Own Search Style
Some dogs are methodical. They work the room slowly and seem determined to inspect every square inch.
Others come in like a tornado, blast past the hide, suddenly realize they caught odor, spin around and go back.
Unless I am training toward a very specific sport or detection behavior, I don't feel the need to micromanage every piece of that search.
I want the dog using his nose and solving the problem.
It is one of the few training games where the dog often knows considerably more about the information available than the human does.
Let him work.
Don't Confuse Find It With a Formal Target-Scent Search
This article is intentionally the beginner version.
We are teaching the dog the joy and mechanics of searching. He is finding food, searching boxes, working rooms and learning that Find It means there is something worth locating.
If you want to progress into teaching the dog to identify one specific odor, develop a consistent alert behavior or distinguish a named object from other objects, that is another layer of training.
I have a separate article for exactly that reason.
Make the Game Harder One Piece at a Time
As your dog improves, there are plenty of ways to increase difficulty without turning the search into an impossible puzzle.
Ways to Advance the Game
- Add more empty boxes while keeping only one food box.
- Spread the boxes farther apart.
- Change rooms.
- Move from indoors to a quiet outdoor search area.
- Use fewer food hides.
- Place a hide slightly behind or beside an object instead of directly in the open.
- Let the dog wait out of sight while you set up the search.
- Add mild environmental distractions once the search cue is well understood.
Change one or two things, see how the dog handles it and build from there.
What I Don't Want You Hiding
Use some common sense when you select search locations.
Do not hide food where the dog has to climb onto unstable furniture, knock over household objects, shove his head somewhere unsafe or learn that kitchen counters are now part of a treasure hunt.
Do not hide food inside medication bags, garbage cans, children's backpacks or other places where you absolutely do not want the dog developing a habit of searching for food later.
The search game teaches patterns. Choose patterns you are happy to live with.
The Nose Is Not Just Another Way to Exhaust the Dog
This fits into something I say throughout the site now: I do not want every activity judged by how completely tired we can make the dog afterward.
Scent games can be mentally satisfying. Some dogs will settle beautifully after using their nose. Great.
But my goal is not to exhaust the dog into behaving.
I want him to have appropriate outlets, opportunities to use the abilities he came with, enjoyable work with his human and the ability to settle when the activity is over.
Search. Find it. Celebrate. Then eventually the game ends and normal life resumes.
Sometimes the Simplest Games Are the Best Ones
Dog enrichment has become an entire industry, and there are some fantastic products and activities out there. But don't let that convince you that giving your dog something meaningful to do has to involve an expensive puzzle, special class or enormous setup.
Five cardboard boxes can become a game.
A handful of food hidden around one room can become a game.
A patch of safe grass can become a game.
Your dog's nose is already attached.
Use it.
Start easy enough that your dog understands the game. Let him solve the problem instead of solving it for him. Then keep changing the search just enough that using his nose stays interesting.
Scent Games for Dogs FAQ
You do not need professional scent-work goals to play Find It. These are simple games you can adapt to the dog and space you already have.
Can any dog learn scent games?
Most dogs can enjoy some version of a search game. Scent hounds may take to it immediately, but plenty of other dogs enjoy using their nose too. Adjust the search difficulty, reward and physical setup for the individual dog.
What food should I use for Find It?
Use small pieces of something your dog values and tolerates well. Tiny treats, pieces of an appropriate training food or part of the dog's normal meal can work. Keep the total amount in mind so a ten-minute game does not accidentally become a second dinner.
How long should a scent game last?
Five to fifteen minutes is plenty for many casual search sessions. Stop while the dog is still interested rather than stretching the game until he is mentally done with it.
What if my dog cannot find the treat?
Give him a little time to work, but if he is truly lost, help him succeed or make the next search easier. The early game should build confidence in searching, not repeatedly leave the dog frustrated.
Should I point to where I hid the food?
Try not to. Once the dog understands the basic game, give him room to solve it with his nose. If you constantly point to the answer, he may spend more time watching you than actually searching.
Can I do scent games outside?
Absolutely. Just expect outdoor searches to be more difficult because the environment already contains countless smells and distractions. Make the first outdoor hides easier, and use a leash or long line when the area is not securely fenced.
Can several dogs search together?
I prefer teaching dogs individually. If there is any competition, food guarding or conflict between dogs, work them separately. Scattering food around multiple dogs who fight over resources is not safe enrichment.
Can senior dogs play Find It?
Yes. Keep the search area appropriate to the dog's mobility, use good footing and avoid hides that require climbing, jumping or awkward bending. One of the things I like about nose games is how easily they can be scaled down physically.
Can my dog do scent games while on activity restriction?
Sometimes, but the medical restriction determines the activity. A very small stationary box search is different from racing room to room. If your dog has been placed on restricted activity, keep the search within whatever movement has actually been approved.
When should I teach a specific target scent?
You can move into target-scent work once your dog understands searching and enjoys the game. That training adds another layer: teaching the dog that one specific odor is the target and often developing a consistent indication when he finds it.