We said exactly the same thing this year, it was intersting to see what had walked the paths before us and what Humphrey was actually following, we get a lot of racoons and foxes and wild boar, no moos though!
I‘ve read a couple of articles on scent training but haven‘t got around to doing anything other than sniffing out hidden treats and toys so far. One article was about training them to search for certain smells, they suggested starting with something like a camomile tea bag. the idea was to get them to touch with their nose, a bit like target training I would imagine, and then click and treat. You gradually move the bag further away and send them off to look for it. Next step is to introduce different tea bags and the dogs have to pick out the camomile one! Its all very theoretical, but you probably get the idea. Another Idea I read about was using the liquid from a jar of those frankfurter sausage things (
), you lay a trail with the liquid and then lay a piece of sausage at the end.
Like I say, I haven‘t actually tried either yet but would love to have a go, Humphrey‘s not very good at anything else I try to do with him but he does have a good nose!!
I‘m sure there‘re lots of things on Youtube etc. Would be interested to hear if anyone else has better ideas. Do let me know how you get on!
