19/12/2025
Item Searches
Following on from our post on intentional hide placement, let’s look at item searches and what they mean for you and your dog.
What are “item hides”?
An item hide is when the target odour is placed on, in, or under an item within the search area.
• On: attached to the outside surface of an item (for example, on a chair leg, on the outside of a bag or box).
• In: inside the item or within a contained space (for example, in a box, a pocket, a drawer or a container).
• Under: placed beneath the item so the item becomes part of the picture (for example, under a plant pot, a traffic cone, or a mat).
Why “items” can be a really good thing
• Motivation and clarity: the dog learns the game is worth playing, and that finding odour pays.
• Practical sourcing experience: they offer the chance of lots of repetitions in a clear and easy to understand set up for the dog and handler.
• Confidence in new places: obvious objects can help the dog switch into “work mode” and start searching, especially in unfamiliar environments.
And yes - plenty of real-world setups and trials include item-led searches, so this skill absolutely matters.
The bit to keep in mind
Dogs learn from what has worked before. If most hides in training are on items, the dog will naturally prioritise items first - because that has been the most productive strategy in their experience.
Over time, a item heavy search history can create a strong expectation that:
• odour will be found on, in, or under objects, and
• the space itself is less likely to pay off (because it has not been reinforced as often).
That does not mean the dog is wrong. It means the dog is learning exactly what the hide history has been teaching.
The takeaway:
Item hides are useful. The goal is balance - so your dog learns that odour can be on items and it can be in the environment itself.
If this post was helpful, stay tuned - next we will be covering “area hides”: what they teach, why they matter, and how to use them to balance out your dog’s search blueprint.
