[Lolas_Dad]

Earlier today we were at the dog park. Lola was really interacting with the other dogs by running with them, getting them to chase her and wrestling around with them.

After a while everyone left so I took Lola out because I needed the rest room. After that we were walking back in and there was a woman with her puggle walking in. Lola was walking behind her and Lola had her nose up in the air. I asked the woman if by any chance she had any dog treats in her pocket and she said that she did and she also said if you want some I can give you some.

I told her that I didn't want any but I knew she had them because Lola told me that you did. She had a surprised look and I had explained to her that no matter how many people and dogs are in the dog park or on there way as in this case Lola can pick out each and everyone who has treats in there pocket.

When she got in the park Lola was sitting right in front of her as we were talking and just kept looking up at her. It was then that I told her that the only way Lola would leave is if you give her a treat. She gave her the treat and as usual Lola walked away and then started playing with her puggle.

So is your dog the same way, knows who has treats and is always looking for a handout as Lola is?

 

[rosemaryninja]

My dogs can usually tell who is carrying treats around... they won't go over and ask for one unless I cue them to "go find", though.

 

[Spicy1_VV]

Noses are very good, can find just about whatever I hide. Treats, toys, mice, ect.

 

[hulkamaniac]

I just got a basset hound. He's 10 years old, but I really want to do some training/games with him that involve using his nose. I'd love for him to do some basic tracking like I drag a scented toy through the yard and he finds it.

 

[PatriciaLynn]

I just got a basset hound. He's 10 years old, but I really want to do some training/games with him that involve using his nose. I'd love for him to do some basic tracking like I drag a scented toy through the yard and he finds it.

Here's how I taught Champ to track. He learned amazing quick so I know your Basset will too. Take a toy and toss it a couple of feet, then tell him to "find it". Treat him when he brings it back to you with a treat or lots of atta boys or whatever you are using for praise. Do this a few times and then throw it a little farther. Keep doing this and after a few more successes, put the toy behind something like a chair where he can still see it. When he is bringing that back, take it around a corner but just barely and set it down. Tell him to Find It and he'll bring know to go where you just were. Soon, you can go farther and farther and he'll still "find it".

I can now take any of Champ's toys and show him which one I have. I have him sit and stay while I walk into several rooms, dropping the toy in one but not necessarily the last one I was in. I don't know if he tracks my scent trail or the toy itself, but he gets it every single time.

Give it a shot and you'll have your Basset tracking in no time. My childhood dog was a Basset, I love them!

 

[K9companions]

I love playing the game of 'hide and seek the treats' with Hunter. I hide the treat, while he sits and stays in another room, then I tell him to 'find your treat'. Man, he doesn't give up!

And hes really good! LOL. I'm finding it really difficult to find good places for him. I hide it on shelves, under blankets, wedged into things. He finds it quickly and I'm running out of places to hide it. ^.^ We both enjoy it.

 

[salask]

Lady pokes me with her nose, does that count as a good nose? lol
From the 3 - Lady is the one with the good nose. I can't hide anything from her... Bubba's nose is not the best - Daisy's really good but Lady by far has the better nose.

 

[omike015]

they won't go over and ask for one unless I cue them to "go find", though.

How did you train that cue?

 

[rosemaryninja]

How did you train that cue?

It's a game we play. It helps them drain their mental energy, use their nose (which they love doing) and it also lets me work on their sit-stays since they have to wait while I hide the treats in the next room.

Put the dog in a sit-stay, and then hide the treat. You have to start super easy, like letting the dog see you put the treat behind a chair 2 feet away, or similar. Then say "go find!" and when the dog gets the treat, praise like crazy.

Gradually work upwards in levels of difficulty. The more food-motivated your dog is, or the more your dog loves tracking, the faster you can move. If your dog isn't that driven and gives up more easily, increase the difficulty more slowly.

Now I can scatter a few pieces of tiny treats over the grass in my yard, let them out of the house and they manage to sniff out every single one. Whenever I say "go find!" they know it's time to put their noses to the floor, because there's food about to be found...

 

[DogGoneGood]

Coal always knows the second anyone has cheese... but I'm not sure if it's that he smells it or hears it, or maybe a combination of the two. But you can't take cheese out of the fridge without him magically appearing

Linkin was trained in Tracking and was nick named "Super Tracker" because of how quickly he picked it up. He was the youngest in the class and the best at it too! He can find ANYTHING. We've been having a problem with shrews in the house and so far Linkin's the only one (out of THREE cats) who's been able to catch them. If one was just spotted in the laundry room (where they have been hanging out) Linkin will sniff sniff sniff everywhere, especially if I tell him to 'search' until he finds it.

I've also been able to get him to find Coal. Last summer I brought Coal out into a bit of a wooded area we have (we're surrounded by dense bush but part of our back yard is cleaned out enough you can walk through it) and tie him to a tree and tell him to stay. Then I'd bring Link out and tell him "Search, find Coal!" and he'd get his nose to the ground and find him every time. Of course, sometimes Coal wasn't the best hider though

I've never tried it with treats, but I don't have any doubt Link could find them.

Last time I was at my sisters place her dog Zero was nosing at my hoodie pocket and I had to laugh when I remembered the day before I had some dog cookies in it. Unfortunately, didn't have any for the big guy when I saw him though, but he deffinately knew I had them in there at one point!

I find the dogs nose to be extremely facinating. It's amazing what dogs can find! I've heard about studies being done where they've actually used bloodhounds to find cancer on people when it's too early for a doctor to detect! :O

 

[Erick Aguilar]

Prudi has an awesome nose indeed, can smell food from miles away
Apollo on the other hand... i think he couldn't smell to save his life, then again he is just a pup and i haven't seen his nose truly ''in action'' YET.

 

[omike015]

It's a game we play. It helps them drain their mental energy, use their nose (which they love doing) and it also lets me work on their sit-stays since they have to wait while I hide the treats in the next room.

Put the dog in a sit-stay, and then hide the treat. You have to start super easy, like letting the dog see you put the treat behind a chair 2 feet away, or similar. Then say "go find!" and when the dog gets the treat, praise like crazy.

Gradually work upwards in levels of difficulty. The more food-motivated your dog is, or the more your dog loves tracking, the faster you can move. If your dog isn't that driven and gives up more easily, increase the difficulty more slowly.

Now I can scatter a few pieces of tiny treats over the grass in my yard, let them out of the house and they manage to sniff out every single one. Whenever I say "go find!" they know it's time to put their noses to the floor, because there's food about to be found...

He's food motivated to a fault. He's constantly sniffing about for food or treats. All over the house, on people, even burying his nose into the carpet and licking up the smallest of crumbs. Always. It is even worse on days when he doesn't finish his food, because then he's hungry the rest of the day. It makes any type of training really difficult, as once he gets whiff of the treat, he's so focused on getting it, that he doesn't pay attention to any commands. Will this method help that? Or should I try to solve that issue before starting this?

 

[rosemaryninja]

It may help. I use "go find" as a reward in itself. For example, we'll be training for about five minutes, and it'll be five minutes of strings of commands... then I'll say "okay, go find!" and then they'll take off to the grassy portion of the yard, tails a-waggin'. After a bit of sniffing I'll recall them back to me (also a great way to teach recall from a distraction) and we'll do another five minutes. It's sort of like a little break for them.

Why doesn't he finish his food?

 

[omike015]

Why doesn't he finish his food?

Some days he does, others he doesn't. I don't coddle him. I just put the food down and walk away. He'll usually come to me before finishing, I'll tell him in a cheerful voice, "Go eat." Sometimes he'll go back and finish, other times he'll go back and only eat a bit more.

 

[DogGoneGood]

Some days he does, others he doesn't. I don't coddle him. I just put the food down and walk away. He'll usually come to me before finishing, I'll tell him in a cheerful voice, "Go eat." Sometimes he'll go back and finish, other times he'll go back and only eat a bit more.

Does he ever get scraps? I know my boys sometimes don't eat their breakfast and delay their dinner because they're holding out for scraps. They get them quite often, but not EVERY night (it depends on what we eat), but they think they should get them with every meal

When they do this I generally just put thier dish up (so no one else eats it) and then try again later. To encourage them to eat their food I started only giving them scraps AFTER they eat their kibble, rather than with it. This seems to work.

If that's the problem, and you want to train him to search, I'd take away ANY scraps and start using kibble as treats. Either that or don't give him scraps when he doesn't eat his kibble, only when he does.

Just my two cents worth anyway

 

[omike015]

Does he ever get scraps? I know my boys sometimes don't eat their breakfast and delay their dinner because they're holding out for scraps. They get them quite often, but not EVERY night (it depends on what we eat), but they think they should get them with every meal

Nope. The only "people food" I've given him has been a little sliver of turkey (once) and the occassional baby carrot.

When they do this I generally just put thier dish up (so no one else eats it) and then try again later. To encourage them to eat their food I started only giving them scraps AFTER they eat their kibble, rather than with it. This seems to work.

If that's the problem, and you want to train him to search, I'd take away ANY scraps and start using kibble as treats. Either that or don't give him scraps when he doesn't eat his kibble, only when he does.

I use kibble as treats more than anything. He seems to like it better.

 

[KBLover]

Wally's nose is good, and probably tired with how much he sniffs.

I'd think he was a hound if I didn't know better!

Speaking of the "Find it!" game I like playing with Wally (like one other poster said - it's on a "cue" to let him start the game), I was setting it up just now after doing some impromptu training (reviewing the walking between my legs trick and trying to teach him to bow and doing some targeting of my hand and also with the rope toy). He found on bit of broiled steak (what I was rewarding him with this time) and he was hunting for the next one when he just stopped. It was like he was frozen.

Turns out I must have given him brain drain because he just sorta sat there and then sorta slumped into an awkward looking curl and has been knocked out sleep since!

Sometimes I forget just how much energy it costs a dog to do mental work.

 

[rosemaryninja]

Some days he does, others he doesn't. I don't coddle him. I just put the food down and walk away. He'll usually come to me before finishing, I'll tell him in a cheerful voice, "Go eat." Sometimes he'll go back and finish, other times he'll go back and only eat a bit more.

Wow. A hound that doesn't finish his food. That's something I've never heard of before... How many times does he eat a day, and how much of it does he eat?

 

[omike015]

Wow. A hound that doesn't finish his food. That's something I've never heard of before... How many times does he eat a day, and how much of it does he eat?

I feed him once a day. I give him the amount recommended on the bag for his age/size/weight. On days he doesn't finish, he'll typically eat around 2/3 of it.

 

[Lil Red Express]

I will tell you a really neat game . Snow is finally gone here and after reading this post , I got my neighbor to come over with his cat , who will follow him every where . I kept Red inside while this was being done. With a 1/3 acre fenced in he walked all over the property with his cat in tow and made a map of where he had traveled so I would know . About an hour after he left he dropped the map off at the front door and I let Red out back and he caught the scent right away and with nose to the ground he made that entire circuit where the cat had walked , without flaw . It was really amazing to watch. Its probably nothing special but I thought it was really cool how accurately he followed the trail . He just turned 6 months old yesterday . Not bad for a youngster.

I just got a basset hound. He's 10 years old, but I really want to do some training/games with him that involve using his nose. I'd love for him to do some basic tracking like I drag a scented toy through the yard and he finds it.