Sniffing games let dogs use the sense they rely on most heavily to explore the world. They can be simple enough for beginners and flexible enough to make gradually more challenging.
Before you start
Use rewards your dog values, begin in a quiet area, and make the first searches obvious. The goal is successful searching—not testing whether your dog can fail.
1. Treat toss
Toss one treat a short distance and cue your dog to find it.
2. Scatter search
Scatter a few pieces of food across a small safe area.
3. One-room hide
Hide several treats around one room at easy nose height.
4. Box choice
Use three open boxes and place food in one.
5. Cup search
Place food beneath one sturdy cup while your dog watches, then let them investigate.
6. Towel sniff
Loosely fold a towel around a few treats. Supervise and skip this game for dogs that swallow fabric.
7. Toy search
Hide a favorite toy partly in view and encourage your dog to find it.
8. Scent trail
Create a short trail leading to a reward.
9. Hallway search
Place treats along a hallway, gradually increasing distance between them.
10. Find a person
Have a family member hide nearby and reward the dog for finding them.
11. Garden scatter
In a secure, safe yard, scatter part of a meal in grass.
12. Cardboard landscape
Use open boxes and paper packing material that your dog can safely investigate under supervision.
13. Room-to-room search
Once one-room searches are easy, use two connected rooms.
14. Named-object search
Teach one object name and ask your dog to locate that object among familiar items.
15. Beginner scent container game
Place food in one ventilated dog-safe container among several identical empty containers and let your dog investigate without correction.
How to make sniffing games harder
Change only one variable at a time: distance, number of hiding spots, environmental distractions, height, or number of empty containers. Increasing several variables at once often creates frustration.
How long should scent games last?
End sessions while your dog still wants to continue. Several short searches are usually easier to learn from than one long difficult session.
For more low-cost ideas, visit our DIY dog enrichment guide or read about sniff walks.