With approximately 300 million olfactory receptors, your dog's nose and his sense of smell are the main pathways through the that our friend is able to perceive his surroundings. We are talking about the most important sense and the one that lasts the longest, since in elderly and senile dogs, smell is the least degraded ability.
Stimulating your dog's sense of smell will help you improve your bond with him and keep him he althy, in addition, through various games your pet will relax, avoiding stress and anxiety in a fun way. You want to know more? In this AnimalWised article we show you some smell games for dogs
1. The sown
This game is one of the most used tricks to make a dog in full state of relaxation and well-being while training your sense of smell.
We are talking about searching or sowing, a practice that consists of spreading some feed or treats for dogs in an outdoor space. Your pet will have a great time exploring her environment freely and searching for a tasty treat. This game is also ideal for relaxing those dogs suffering stress or anxiety
It is advisable to play this game of smell outdoors, such as a wooded area, for example, where the dog may have to work harder to find the pieces of food.
two. Hide and seek with prizes
Stimulating the sense of smell properly is something beneficial for any dog, although tracking breeds such as beagles or terriers will enjoy these activities immensely.
Playing hide and seek will also be very beneficial for improving your dog's obedience, since in this case, as long as your dog already integrated this command, we recommend that you start game time with a "Search!" If your dog doesn't know this command yet, starting to play this game will help him understand it in an easier and more fun way.
You can carry it out inside or outside your home, and for this we recommend that you use odorous food or feed that you must hide in an accessible corner for your pet.
Next, invite your dog to sniff around his treasure and when he has found his reward, we recommend that you positively reinforce the search with lots of love. Once your dog has assimilated this exercise, you can increase the degree of difficulty by hiding the food in unexpected places.
3. The prize in hand
This game can not only be played with dog-safe food but it is also a good idea to usea small toy that your pet knows very well and therefore can recognize perfectly by smell.
- Handle the food (or the toy) with both hands, in this way we will achieve that some of the smell remains impregnated in both hands.
- Hide the chosen prize or toy in one of your clenched fists, the other must obviously be empty.
- Show him your closed hands and let him sniff. You should never be able to see the prize.
- Your dog will indicate with his paw or nose the hand in which you are hiding the treat.
- Open and win, but if he points to the wrong hand, open it, show him it's empty and start the game again.
It is normal that at first or sometimes your dog can make mistakes, but he will learn to playover time and sharpen his sense of smell something very positive about him. You can increase the degree of difficulty by playing the shell game for dogs.
Play is essential for your dog
Dogs are very sociable animals, they need to relate to their environment to be well and games are an excellent way to enable this communication.
Just as walks, feeding or veterinary care should be very present in your pet's life, keep in mind that play is also very important and that for keep your sense of smell and mind stimulated you should do these activities regularly.
