Beginning Scentwork – Article Indication

The type of scentwork I do is all about incorporating searching and scentwork into walks – to make them more enriching, fun and fulfilling for your dogs (especially ones that like to run off on a sniff-adventure).

This is NOT perfect scentwork for competitions where you might use a freeze indication (where the dog freezes when it detects a scent). It’s not the type of scentwork for when a dog is learning to differentiate between scents – although you could totally do that.

Instead, this type of scentwork is designed to be used in large spaces, where the dog is searching for one particular thing. That ‘thing’ is the article. My dogs search for either a red Kong (because they ALL smell the same so I can buy different ones and my dogs will still search for them), or my scent (such as a glove, or my keys, or a plastic thing I’ve been holding).

I will hide these items on walks, and build my dogs up to covering large spaces (think big fields or hedgerows), so my dogs get lots of running, sniffing and movement in with doing their scentwork. I might do about 4 or 5 ‘hides’ in a walk, and that keeps my sniffy spaniel engaged with me, working for me, but still having a good walk.

I tried some of the more formal scentwork training and found it too limiting for me – I like my dogs being active, being pushy and being drivey – and I’m not a perfect, careful person who can be bothered with little pots and tweezers to prevent contamination of scents between my hands and articles. I want to stuff a Kong in my pocket, and go for a walk.

So you have to find your scentwork and train that way. But if you want to do some scentwork on walks, maybe fix a few behaviour issues along the way with it (I stopped one dog from sheep chasing using this, and another from nervous hypervigilance through scentwork searching), then have a try.

Here’s a video showing the very first step: indicating on an article

Indicating on an article means:

Indicating: Basically showing you that they’ve found something

Article: The thing you’re searching for (i.e. the Kong)

How to teach an indication

Teaching the Basics of Scent Work and Article Indication for Dogs

1. Choosing the Right Article

Before starting scent work, it’s important to decide which article (item) your dog will search for. Here’s what I recommend if you don’t have a specific thing you’re wanting to search for. Certain scentwork organisations specify certain target scents such as cloves, gun oil etc. But you have to be very careful that you don’t contaminate other items with this scent if you choose something like that:

• Red Kong: I use Red Kongs because they have a consistent scent, unlike other Kong colours which have slightly different smells (apparently). By using Red Kongs, I can easily buy multiple ones and use them interchangeably.
• Cutting the Kong: I also cut the Kong into small pieces, which allows me to hide them in different environments, such as in walls or boxes. This increases the variety of training scenarios for the dog, and means you can buy two red kongs, use a full one for training and hiding in a field and a cut up one for hiding in stone walls and so on.
• Your scent: You could take an item and hold it and then use that as the item to search for, and the dog is essentially searching for your scent (well, they’re searching for the scent of the item PLUS your scent, so you’ll need to change the item at times to show the dog they are searching for your scent specifically). I have a process for ‘putting my dog onto different items’ whereby I restart the nose targeting shown in the video a few times before searching.

2. Introducing the Scent Article and Indicating on It

Once you’ve chosen your item, the next step is teaching your dog to indicate when they find it. Indicating is the process by which your dog indicates to you that they’ve found something. I choose a ‘lie down’ position with the dog touching the item with its nose. This is because I can see them drop to a lie down in a big space. Again, some scentwork trainers prefer freezes, or for the dog to back off from the item completely (for example, a bomb detection dog wouldn’t last long if it kept touching the items it was searching for!)

Here’s how I approach teaching the indication:

• Down Position: Start the dog in a lay down position and present the item to them when they’re lay down. If your dog doesn’t easily go into a down, then choose another position or indication that will be more comfortable. I prefer choosing something that is ‘natural’ for my dog so for my spaniel, a down is his ‘go-to’ super move.
• Presentation: Start by presenting the article to your dog. Hold it behind your back then bring it out, and let them sniff it. The second they touch the item with their nose, mark it with your marker word “Yes” or “Good” etc, and feed them.
• Reinforcement: It’s important to bring the treat to the item, so your dog associates the item with a treat. This creates a strong connection in their brain between touching the article and receiving a reward.

3. Building the Searching Behavior

Now that the dog understands the concept, we need to build the behavior. Here’s how to progress:

• Repeat and Shape: Do multiple repetitions of presenting the item while your dog is lay down in front of you, rewarding the dog every time they touch the article with their nose. If they don’t touch it, withhold the reward and wait for them to engage with it, or re-present the item from behind your back.
• Present the item at arm’s length: Once your dog is consistently targeting the item with their nose, hold the item on the floor instead. If the dog seems unsure, reset the scenario by placing the article behind your back and then bringing it out again. Then move to putting the item on the floor at arm’s length for your dog to move towards.

4. Advancing

Once the dog is comfortable with the basics, we can move on to more advanced techniques:

• Increasing Distance: Start placing the article further away, still holding it. The dog will have to move towards it to indicate, which helps build their search skills. If your dog doesn’t move, then it means it still doesn’t understand that the only way it gets the treat is by targeting the item. Go back to Step 2.
• Avoiding Biting or Pawing the Item: Ensure your dog doesn’t start biting or picking up the article, or pawing it. If they do this, then remove the item immediately, and re-present it, or if they are pawing the item, wait until the dog stops, touches it with their nose and then be quick to reward.

5. Practical Tips for Progression

Here are some extra tips to help you progress with your dog’s scent work training:

• Progress to an increased distance in view: With your dog in a wait or on lead tied up, place the item somewhere in view of the dog and then give them an indication to go and search for it (I use “Find” and a hand gesture).
• Progress to hiding inside out of view

6. Moving Outside with Scentwork

Once your dog is consistently indicating on the article in the house, you can start changing the picture to outside:

• A new location is a new game: Once you move outside, I’d recommend to going back to presenting the article a number of times like in the first step, then gradually increase the distance. Don’t assume your dog will make the connection that we’re playing the same game as in the house.
• The ‘difficulties’ of working outside: Scentwork is like a game with different levels, and wind direction, obstructions that will block the scent cone and distractions all add to the different levels as you advance. Start easy, close by, at dog head height with the wind blowing from behind the article towards your dog, so that the scent travels easily from item >> dog’s nose.

7. Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Here are some common mistakes and tips for overcoming them:

• Rushing the Process: Don’t skip steps or rush through the basics. Every new challenge you introduce should be paired with plenty of repetitions to solidify your dog’s understanding of what it should be doing. If they’re not consistently targeting the item with their nose, or just watching where your treats are, then they don’t understand and you need to go back a step. Most issues happen when people rush ahead then when their dog hits a challenge, they don’t know how to fix it.
• Don’t have the treats in view: If your dog is just staring at your hand with the treats, then make sure that you don’t have the treat in view of your dog (have them in a training pouch or behind your back or in your pocket).
• Don’t train for too long: 20 repetitions in each training session is enough (probably two minutes max). If your dog loses interest quickly, then just do 5 repetitions to start.