Dog Games: Food Foraging – The Shoebox Shuffle24 March,2015oogly

Dog games are great fun for our pups: here’s a scentwork game from The Upward Dog.

Pooches really benefit from using their noses: scenting is an activity that all dogs, big and small, can participate in. Yes, some dogs (I’m talking about you, hounds!) are more scent-centric than others, but most dogs will have fun with sniffing games.

Dog games are fun for all hounds - they love sniffing out their prize

What you need…

A willing dog

Plenty of small treats

A bone, a favourite toy, or a stuffed Kong

Several boxes (shoeboxes are perfect for small dogs)

Wrapping paper

And we’re off!

Wrap a large treat (bone, toy, or a Kong) in wrapping paper and place in one of the boxes. Cover with more paper, including small treats throughout the layers, to keep the dog interested in finding his prize. Fill another box with paper and a few more treats, and encourage your dog to this box first. Once he has had his fun with the first box, direct him to the second box to dig through and find his prize. 



Moving on…

  • Increase the number of boxes.
  • Start including boxes that only contain paper, and no treats at all; let your dog sniff out the box with the goodies!
  • Add lids to the boxes.