Search Drive for Beginners
Sniffer dog training, otherwise known as “Nose work” is an incredibly stimulating and fun activity to learn with your dog. It’s something you can easily practice at home without needing too much space. And depending on how you practice it’s pretty low impact on both dog and owner so literally anyone can do it.
This video is the first in a three part video series about how to encourage “search drive” for beginners. Search drive is your dog’s motivation and enthusiasm for searching. Dogs are naturally good at finding things but most dogs need to practice to build the “drive” they need to search for longer and to search more thoroughly.
In these videos we will follow two handsome Aussie terriers called Bear and South as they learn to search their backyard for hidden treasures. Bear and South are complete beginners so if you and your dog are beginners too, you can follow along these videos at home.
To get started, you will need:
- A quiet search area.
- Some tasty stinky treats.
- 6 to 8 small objects that are similar (i.e. boxes, plant pots etc).
- Long line (optional).
- Decide on your cue (I like to use the word “search”).
Take a look at the video to see how to get your search drive training started, just like Bear and South. At this level you are hoping your dog will search for about a minute or so.
Practice at this level until your dog obviously knows the exercise and is blasting around checking all the objects for treats. I usually set up a search area to have my dog search it and find all (or most) of the treats. I don’t show my dog any treats they have missed but rather leave them for the next go.
Repeat a few times
When my dog has finished searching, I put her away (or tether her at a distance) so I can set up again by putting more treats out in the search area for her to find. I’ll repeat this process 3 or 4 times before my dog is full of treats or tired of training. Just like I did with Bear and South, use your dog’s meal for this exercise so you don’t feel like you are spoiling them.
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