Fun Nose Work and Scent Training!
Easter Egg Hunt for Your Dog – Fun Nose Work and Scent Training!
Written by: Lexie Chow Edited By: Victoria Regan
Easter egg hunts are a fun tradition enjoyed by many families. Now you can enjoy them with your furry family members too! Here’s some simple steps on how to get set up an Easter egg hunt for your own dog(s)…
Supplies Needed
- Collar
- Leash
- Harness (not essential)
- Treats
- Plastic Easter Eggs
Location
Seek out an area in which to have your doggy Easter egg hunt. Somewhere open and flat would be ideal for any beginners. Choose a place where there is low distraction, and minimal interaction with others, if your dog isn’t focused chances are, they won’t find they’re Easter treats! Your own backyard would be a great place to start.
Safety
After you’ve chosen an adequate location, check the area to make sure there isn’t any left over easter chocolate, or candies from any previous hunts, OR anything potentially dangerous that your dog could get in to. If your dog is the type to pick up anything and eat it, we would opt out of the traditional plastic eggs and just hide plain treats. If your dog is food aggressive or a resource guarder, we would suggest doing the hunt alone. Ensure your dog is on leash for this hunt, you will want a strong leash. Retractable leashes will NOT be suitable. Even if you’re dog has great recall, for this nose work need to be done on-leash only.
This way you can have more control with the leash, making sure your dog doesn’t pick up or try to eat the plastic Easter egg.
Treats
For the purpose of this egg hunt choosing the right treat is important. You don’t want to pick a treat that your dog isn’t motivated for, ideally you will want to choose a treat that is very aromatic for your dog (a high value treat). Training treats are often perfect for this, they are bite-sized and moist, making them a little more pungent than regular dry biscuits. Also, it’s important to keep in mind the size of treats, while doing an egg hunt your dog will be eating multiple treats, so you don’t want to choose larger treats. If your dog is on a diet or you don’t have treats, they’re regular kibble will suffice. Ultimately, any treat will work, but might not be as effective in terms of scent and motivation.
Getting Started
Now that you have a location and have ensured it’s safe, it’s time to get down to business! Get your dog ready with the appropriate gear mentioned above. Have their Collar and leash on and ready to go, as well as a harness if you have one, but keep the leash clipped to the collar for now. If you don’t have a harness don’t worry as it’s not essential. If using plastic Easter eggs to hide your dogs’ treats in, have them pre-filled with the treats and ready to go, but leaving one egg empty, we will use this to teach them nose work indications.
Steps to Teaching Nose Work with Easter Eggs
STEP 1
Start by taking out some treats and showing your dog, get them sitting in front of you in a sit-stay. Let them smell the treats and have one for some motivation.
STEP 2
Show them the empty easter egg and let them sniff it, take out a treat and show them that the treat goes into the plastic egg. Keeping the egg open with the treat inside let them sniff and take the treat, praise them when they smell the treat.
STEP 3
Repeat step 2, but this time closing the egg when showing it to them. When they start sniffing the closed egg, praise them and open it to reveal the treat, let them take the treat. Repeat this step 3x to establish curiosity.
STEP 4
Once they understand that the treat is in the egg, place the egg on the ground a few feet away and use a command word such as “find it” or “search” encourage your dog to walk up to it. As soon as they sniff it praise them and give them the treat in the egg. Repeat this 10x.
STEP 5
Now that they know the objective is to find the egg you can start placing it further away and continue using the command word when looking for it. It is VERY important to praise them when they “find” the egg. You can switch the leash to the harness at this step.
STEP 6
Once they can easily locate the egg, the hunt is on! You can hide the rest of the pre-filled eggs around the area and make it more challenging for your dog. Try hiding eggs behind something like a tree, in tall grass, in a bush, or higher up then they can reach. When hunting for the eggs continue to use your command word and praise them when they find the eggs!
STEP 7
HAVE FUN!!!! HAPPY HUNTING!!
If you tried this out with your own dog, we would love you to share your experience or any pictures you took. You can post on our Valley Canine Training Facebook page and share your Dog’s Easter Egg Hunt!
