Find It Box Game
Getting your dog to use his nose to find hidden treasure is a great way to stimulate his brain and teach him to use all his senses. Starting out, you'll want to set your dog up for success so he understands the game and doesn't get too discouraged. Begin with something simple. Put your dog in a sit-stay, and hide a treat or favorite toy in a box, even letting him watch you hide it. Then give him the release cue to go find the toy. Reward your dog big-time for his success in finding the hidden treasure.
Once your dog understands the game, ramp up the difficulty. There are loads of ways to use boxes for food enrichment games, in this example we wrapped biscuits in old wallpaper scraps. This fame can work with most foods, however can be very messy with raw food!
You can also make the game really hard by using multiple cardboard boxes! Set up 10-20 cardboard boxes of different sizes and, without your dog seeing, place the food in only one box. There are so many variations on this game that it will have you playing different versions for years to come.
We played this game with little Sophie, now she's a whizz at sniffing out food so we used multiple paper packets, some with food, some empty!
Check out our Facebook page for a video of Sophie in action. Please do share you photos and videos with us too!
