Day 3
Cheese Trees
AKA Sausage Logs!
Scentventure Compass Point: Scent
As you navigate through treacherous terrains and encounter obstacles, the ability to locate vital resources is crucial. By harnessing your dog’s keen sense of smell and their determination to find hidden treasures, you can unlock important clues, unravel secrets, and uncover pathways to progress further on the Quest.
As your dogs uses their scenting abilities, they practice patience and restraint, carefully examining each feature before making a move. This skill proves vital for dogs that have a tendency to always want to be somewhere else! If your dog pulls on the lead, prevent them racing ahead by grounding them at points in the environment.
Sniffing is physically and mentally tiring – dogs often fall into a deep, relaxing sleep afterwards. It lowers the heart rate, helping dogs feel calmer – so it’s the perfect antidote to Growlfang’s Distraction Dust.
Dogs sniff out and discover treats on logs, fences, trees, benches, rocks, or any other safe feature in the environment.
Civilian Use
Scent activities give dogs something else to focus on when faced with distractions e.g. other dogs, people, traffic, wildlife, noises, etc.
Reactive, anxious or easily distracted dogs are often hyper alert, hyper sensitive, and so asking them to stand still and look at their trigger, or asking them to sit is harder than we realise. Sniffing and searching comes more naturally.
A good physical workout for stretching, balance and core strength.
Focus your dog’s mind using their natural senses.
Method
- Prepare some small treats before you leave the house. Squishable food such as cheese or pate works well!
- Squish the treats into a log, fence, tree, or whatever safe obstacle is available in the environment.
- Place the food at different heights.
- Ensure there are some treats down low in case your dog is not confident enough to stretch or climb, or if it’s uncomfortable for them to do so. Give your dog plenty of choices. If they are stressed by a trigger, make this exercise as easy as possible so that they can succeed.
- Allow your dog to sniff and discover at their own pace (you can add a cue e.g. ‘find it’ if desired). Point or give gentle encouragement to help when needed.
What to do next
- Have a go with your own dog and film it if you can
- Share your answers in the private Facebook Group with the hashtags #day3 #AdventureQuest
- If you don’t use Facebook, send your training via email. Please note that we can’t reply to emails but we will log your evidence towards your badge.
