By: The Charlee Bear Workers
With canine enrichment changing into a extra widespread matter through the years, everyone seems to be looking out for brand new, partaking methods to maintain their pets entertained. Scent work is a superb and underutilized strategy to fulfill a pet’s enrichment wants and construct confidence. Not solely is scent work mentally stimulating for canines, however it additionally offers an outlet for them to burn off extra vitality in a approach that’s productive and strengthens the bond between themselves and their homeowners. And one of the best half is that any breed of canine can do it!
With a number of totally different scent work coaching workouts on the market, it may be tough to know the place to start out. Right here’s a listing of easy actions your shoppers can check out at residence with their pups to get them began on their scent work coaching journey!
1. Muffin Tin Puzzle
For this straightforward scent work exercise, all of your consumer will want is a muffin tin, some tasty canine treats and tennis balls. Whereas out of their canine’s sight, the consumer ought to place one deal with in two to 3 totally different holes within the muffin tin after which cowl every of the holes with a tennis ball. Afterwards, the consumer can place the tin on the ground and permit their pet to smell to attempt to discover which tennis balls have a deal with hidden beneath them. For this train, we advocate utilizing Charlee Bear’s Grain Free Crunch treats as a result of they’re a light-weight snack which might be lower than 3 energy every, which means this exercise will be repeated as many occasions as wanted with out having to fret about extreme rewarding!
As soon as the consumer’s canine efficiently finds a deal with beneath the tennis ball, they need to be praised to positively reinforce this conduct. Not solely will this exercise assist forestall boredom, however it’s additionally a fantastic, fast psychological train that every one canines can take pleasure in.
2. Disguise and Search with Treats
This exercise is the most straightforward and environment friendly of all because it solely requires one factor – some scrumptious smelling canine treats! An incredible deal with possibility for this exercise is Charlee Bear’s Meaty Bites. These treats are freeze-dried to protect their aroma and taste and are provided in quite a lot of animal protein choices like salmon, hen or beef, making them a snack that’s each yummy and simple to trace by their scent. Merely take the deal with and contact or drag it throughout objects round the home and conceal it someplace the canine can’t instantly spot. Shoppers ought to make it possible for their canine isn’t in the identical room as them whereas they’re creating the scent path and be certain that the path is linear in order that it leads on to the deal with.
This train is flexible as a result of it may be achieved each indoors and outdoor with any close by objects, and your shoppers’ canines are positive to really feel achieved after they discover the mouth-watering snack! With follow, shoppers can start to extend the problem degree reminiscent of hiding the deal with inside of things or making the scent path much less linear.
3. Shell Recreation
Everybody has performed the traditional shell recreation wherein three cups are shuffled round and somebody has to guess which cup has a hidden merchandise beneath it. Do you know that canines can have enjoyable taking part in this recreation too?! All that’s wanted are some canine treats and two bowls. To begin, shoppers ought to enable the canine to see the deal with be positioned beneath one of many bowls. Then, the consumer can shuffle the bowls round a few occasions earlier than permitting the canine to smell to try to discover which one has a deal with hidden beneath. If the consumer’s pet factors its nostril or paws on the incorrect bowl, the consumer ought to carry it to point out that there’s no deal with beneath it, after which enable the canine to smell the opposite bowl and obtain the hidden snack.
This exercise will take some follow, as many canines might not be capable of instantly establish which bowl has a deal with beneath it after it’s been shuffled. However as your consumer’s canine begins to get the dangle of it, extra bowls will be added for a better degree of issue.
As seen by this listing of workouts, scent work may be very versatile and will be achieved with objects which might be simply present in any consumer’s residence, making it the right go-to coaching exercise for individuals who wish to add some enrichment to their pup’s day by day routine. Whereas scent work is helpful for canines as a result of it permits them to faucet into their searching instincts and really feel a way of accomplishment, it’s additionally nice for shoppers who wish to enhance on the communication and connection they share with their pets!
