Leerburg Q&A | My dog is using his eyes and not his nose when doing nosework. What should I do?

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Categories: Nosework

Q.

My dog is using his eyes and not his nose when doing nosework. What should I do?

Cindy,

I bought your Nosework?DVD,?and I trained my dog. He did well in the first session, but the second session he started using his eyes to search in the drawer spots. For example, when I put the food in spot 3 after several times in spot 1 and 2 he just?immediately?went to three using his eyes and not his nose, then after that he lost interest. What should I do?

A.

If the dog is skipping to the 3rd spot you need to do a higher ratio of hides in the first spot so the dog thinks statistically it is worth their time to go check spot 1.

Depending on how tall your dog is, it may be beneficial to do your hides in the second tier of the drawers, a little higher off the ground, so the dog is less inclined to use their eyes instead of their nose.

If your dog is losing motivation to search there are several things you can do to maintain their interest. Make your sessions shorter, make your searches easier and make the reward greater.

Cindy Rhodes

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