Tips on How to Encourage Your Dog’s Sense of Smell

Are you using your dog’s nose enough? I mean we all know how strong their sense of smell is, so why not use it to its full advantage. Interestingly, some dog owners even discourage sniffing.

Dogs use their noses to understand the world around them. Obviously, they cannot speak or read, so they use their noses instead.

Fun fact: A dog’s nose is said to be over a thousand times stronger than a human nose. No wonder there are drug-sniffing dogs.

Next time if you are out with your dog and they sniff, you should let them use their nose fully.

HOW TO LET YOUR DOG USE THEIR NOSE MORE FULLY

GO ON SNIFF WALKS

Take your dog on a walk, and just let them lead the way with their nose. If you don’t pick a destination, your dog will get to explore and use the freedom to use its mind and nose.

INCORPORATE GAMES THAT USE THEIR NOSE

There are so many different enhancement games that you can play with your dog. Let’s take a lot at such toys and games:

Foraging Boxes

All you need are a few different sized boxes, and put a few treats in them. Place the smaller boxes in the bigger ones. Then let your dog sniff them out.

Hide and Seek

This can be very interesting. Keep your dog in a separate room and hide treats in a few different spots around the house. Then let your dog out of the room, and let them find the treats through their strong sniffing senses.

Snuffle Mats

Place some treats or their food in a snuffle mat. Then let your dog have a go at it. You can start by leaving some of the food pieces out so your dog knows what to do.

They will enjoy sniffing and finding their food in the snuffle mat.
Key here is to encourage your dog’s sense of smell.