11/03/2025
Teach your dog a cue that means: put your nose to the ground and find food!
The skill “find it” can be used in multiple contexts and alleviates multiple pain points.
It’s so easy to teach and learn and once fluent, the benefits are huge. Start super easy by showing your dog a piece of food (for one quick second), say “find it” and toss the food close enough that your dog sees and/or hears the food. Your dog will likely come right back to you asking to play again. Repeat, but toss the food in the other direction, creating a nice pattern. Bonus is that you will get unprompted attention from your dog! It’s a win-win.
“Find It” might look like just tossing a treat for your dog to sniff out, but it’s a powerful cue , but it is a productive distraction.
Go step by step and go at their pace. I like to imagine it like school:
🎒 Kindergarten: treats right in front of them
📚 High school: scattered in grass or around the room, down a darkened hallway, a few pieces of food the same colour of a carpet - get creative
🎓 University: throwing a handful of food into leaves, tall grass or snow
Starting easy, building fluency, and watching that sniffer work! Because when dogs know how to use their nose to solve a puzzle, we see more confidence,
Small game. Big benefits. Let’s support those big feelings one “Find It” at a time.
Share a 👃 if your dog is building their skills one ‘Find It’ at a time.