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Nosework HOMEWARD TRAILS RESOURCE LIBRARY: DOGS!

Becky, all images on the site should have a caption AND an alt Tag!

Nosework is a great activity to promote mental health in dogs. It empowers the dog to make own decisions and have those decisions lead to success which will allow the dog to thrive. It is an activity that is easy to set up but provides a lot of mental stimulation that will help the dog destress and also build conscious engagement with the surrounding environment as well as build focus. Dogs usually loves this activity and it makes them happy and relaxed. This is also an exercise that gives us an excellent opportunity to pair it with sounds, other dogs, people, novel visuals or whatever else the dog has concerns about, as a way of building good associations.

Positive Dog Solutions

info@positivedogsolutions.com

202-630-0249

www.positivedogsolutions.com

Boxes

Introduce the dog to the boxes

Put 4-5 boxes on the floor and put high-value treats in one (hot dogs or lunch meat)

Repeat above until it is super easy for the dog and s/he knows exactly what to do when seeing the boxes

Expand

Expand the hunt

Put out 6-8 boxes on the floor and put high-value treats in 2-3 of them

Put the boxes wider apart so the search area becomes bigger

Challenges

Add challenges to the hunt

Put boxes on top of each other so the dog must push one box off the other

Put a box where they must figure out how to get to it (narrow space behind couch, etc.)

Put one of the bait boxes at an elevated location (on a chair)

Distractions

Add distractions to the hunt

Put other objects among the boxes as a distraction

Put food on a paper plate or other item – hidden – so that the food may now be found on a different object

Hide the boxes/ plate of food along the parameters of a room to increase the search space

Change
Context
Do the box game in different rooms. In the back yard, in a different location.
Keep
In Mind

Give the dog total free reign (off or on leash). Always make it easier if the dog struggles. You can put out just a couple of boxes to start with.

If you need to help the do it in an indirect way by walking toward the area the food is or toss something in that direction. We want the dog to learn to problem solve alone

If the dog is timid you can do “find it,” “Catch” or other games in the area first, but make sure once the dog is ready to search the boxes that those other games go away in nosework area.

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    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.