Recall with scent work

Recall problems

Owners can find recall difficult due to their dog being distracted by the environment. The distractions could be people, other dogs, birds, or just following a natural scent. This is despite the fact that the dog may have a good relationship with their owner and be happy to take treats.

Scent work

Scent work / nose work involves your dog searching for a scent which they are rewarded for finding. The scent may be food with the reward being the food found. The scent could alternatively be something novel (e.g. catnip or specific essential oils) which is rewarded with food once the scent is found.

Scent work is a great activity since the dog uses its nose which is linked to the olfactory bulb in their brain. Using their brain will tire a dog out much more than just using their legs.

Recall using scent work

It would seem intuitive that coming back for a treat is rewarding, however for a highly motivated dog having to work for that treat can be even more rewarding.

Case study: Mabel the Cockapoo

Mable can get very distracted by everything in her environment including other dogs and birds. She can also get distracted following a natural scent.

This groundwork training session aimed to get Mabel more focused around her handler by utilising her interest in following a scent.

Getting her to use her nose (and therefore her brain) makes recall more interesting and makes being around her handler more rewarding.

This is the first time Mabel has done scent work so was learning the process as she went along.

Exercise one: Recall and follow the treat

In this exercise the treat is thrown out when the dog comes back so that she has to use her nose to find it.. Working for the treat in this way is more rewarding than just being given it.

Exercise two: Recall and find the treat

In this exercise when the dog comes back, she is sent out to search for the treat. The treat is hidden when the dog is not looking. The dog is asked to sit when she comes back to give the exercise some structure, so she is ready to look for the treat when the cue ‘find it’ is given.

Note how easily Mabel gets distracted even once she has come back. She becomes more focused as the session progresses.

Exercise three: Recall and follow the treat toy to release the treat

In this exercise when the dog comes back, the Clam toy, which contains a treat, is thrown out. The dog must therefore follow the toy and then work at getting the treat from the toy.

Note how Mabel becomes distracted by a dog in the distance but then goes back to trying to get the treat from the Clam toy.

Summary

  • Coming back for a treat is rewarding.  Mabel using her nose to find the treat can be even more rewarding.
  • Scent work exercises are focused around the handler.  This helps strengthen the dog-handler bond. 
  • Mabel using her nose will tire her out much more than just using her legs.

Products used

Groundwork

Groundwork training is where I help train your dog for you. This can be the perfect solution if you are stuck on a specific behavioural problem and don’t know how to move on.

Mike Garner is a dog trainer and behaviourist at Rainbow Dogs in Brighton & Hove, Sussex.

Follow Rainbow Dogs on Facebook.

My dog training method

I often get asked what is my dog training “method”? Is it reward-based, positive, dominance, science-based …?

How I train a dog

I want to reply that it’s a bit of science, a bit of fun, and a bit of making it up as I go along.

Science-based dog training

… but the question probably means “do I use dominance-based or science-based training”?

That’s an easy answer since dominance-based training is really just mumbo-jumbo!

Punishment and / or reward

Once that question is out the way the next question might be, do I use reward, punishment or a combination of both to train dogs?

The answer to this question could be a little more confusing since the science of behaviourism allows for the use of punishment to change behaviour!

A brief history of dog training science

During the development of Psychology, experiments on animals established that if you provided specific consequences (rewarding or punishing) to a behaviour then the behaviour may increase or decrease in future. The science of behaviourism was born. It did little, however, to consider what the animal was thinking or feeling since it only considered the behaviour.

Dog cognition

Understanding what an animal is thinking (cognition) is very difficult (even in humans) and what it is feeling even more so.

Modern Psychology not only studies behaviour but also cognition (perception and processing of information “thinking”) AND emotion.

Dog emotion

Considering emotion is important because it is a factor that influences behaviour greatly in both us and our dogs.

How would you feel…

Imagine you try to learn a totally new skill, especially something you don’t have a natural aptitude for (e.g. dancing or a new language). You go to the first class, the teacher asks you to lead with your left foot or to conjugate a verb. You lead with your right foot or get your verb endings wrong.

How does your teacher respond? How do your feel? Embarrassed, angry, defensive, frustrated?

What is your dog thinking and feeling

How would your emotional state affect your next attempt? Would you even come back to the next class if you had a bad experience?

Now imagine you are training your dog to sit. The dog has learnt this perfectly in your living room. At the roadside you ask the dog to sit but he doesn’t do it even though he knows how to. Why not, and what do you do next?

You could push your dog into position or yank up on the lead. Did that work? Yes!

It sounds like you have just used pain or discomfort to train him to sit by the roadside. But… what about his emotions?

The question should have been why did the dog sit at home but not at the roadside? At home he had practised sitting many times and hopefully been rewarded for it with treats, toys or even just a happy “good boy”. He also faced few distractions and hopefully felt safe at home. Outside there are other considerations. Cognition being the first. Could he hear you properly over the traffic noise? Were you standing by his side rather than in front of him like you do at home? These “perception” factors make the task much harder for your dog.

The second consideration is emotion. Is your dog fearful or perhaps just overwhelmed by the sight and sound of the traffic as you ask him to sit by the curb? Misunderstanding your dog’s emotions at this point is likely to lead you to feel frustrated and emotional yourself. Take a step back and think about why you dog is not doing what you asked. He may have understood what you wanted but is his emotional state preventing him from responding as you wanted?

So, what would I do in that situation?

I refer you back to my training method of “…. a bit of making it up as I go along.”

Be adaptable! In this case I might simply ask the dog to sit a step back from the curb to give him space from the traffic. If that doesn’t work, I might practice on a quiet street with no traffic. If that doesn’t work then perhaps the behaviour at home was not as good as I thought it was so I would go back to practising there first.

Don’t assume that if your dog does not respond as you want, he is being “stubborn”. He may not understand you or may be stuck in an emotional state.

Using punishment may worsen your dog’s emotional state and cause him to lose trust in your relationship generally. He may then shut down and become reluctant to try new things.

About me

I set up Rainbow Dogs in 2004 and started studying for a degree in Psychology as a mature student soon after.

I use science-based and reward-based positive training methods since they work whilst keeping your dog in a healthy emotional state.

I try to consider the thoughts and feelings of my clients as well as their dogs during my training sessions.

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Mike Garner is a dog trainer and behaviourist at Rainbow Dogs in Brighton & Hove, Sussex.

Follow Rainbow Dogs on Facebook.