Scent Detection Blog

Toy play helps to engage and motivate dogs, and if your puppy is chewing, providing appropriate toys help prevent chomping people's hands. One of the most common errors is playing "keep away", where the handler tries to grab the toy (or the dog's collar) and the dog runs away. This can quickly become a happy game for the dog, but it's certainly inconvenient for the handler.

Keep away frequently happens because the handler focused on taking the toy away from the dog. Some of the best retrievers don't want to give up the toy. From the dog's point of view, playing with the toy is rewarding, and when you take it away it's punishment. So how do you get the toy back? 

The video above demonstrates a better strategy: toy switching, which makes tug a more interactive, cooperative game you enjoy together. It's not just about the toy, it's about playing an exciting game with you. When you focus on having fun, instead of taking the dog's reward away, it's a win-win situation.  

STEPS FOR TOY SW...

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Looking for older blog posts? Check out our wordpress blog at https://nosework.huntersheart.com/blog/

We've been sniffing since 1999, and aim to update our protocols, courses and articles, as knowledge about canine olfaction continues to grow.

Sometimes it's a struggle to adapt and keep pace. Thank you for your patience. When I graduated from the University of Toronto in 1995, I was working on a mainframe, and carrying floppy discs. I remember reading (paper) books to learn about the developing world wide web.  Online searches were long, tedious, hard work with frequently disappointing results. The scanned photo in this post is from my (paper) scrapbook from when we had only 1 dog, and 5 ferrets, each with their own lessons to teach. We've come a long way since then. 

Throughout all, my canine partners have kept life real. No matter what I'm working on, they never lose their zest for a new ...