Find Your Spark! Day 3

Ready for more fun? Today's game allows you to sit back and relax while your dog learns, builds confidence, and tires themself out!

If you aren't already a member, be sure to join the FB Group where you'll see fun videos and pictures of others playing with their pups.

Today's game is one of my favourite activities for dogs with:

• low confidence,
• body handling issues,
• a need for physical stimulation,
• higher prey drive,
• sound sensitivity, or
• busy guardians who would like an easy way to provide enrichment.

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Snifftacles!

Sniftacles are Sniffing Obstacle Courses =) We need one or more boxes or containers of some sort, and some things to put in the boxes.

Here's Clark, a shy puppy playing with a single box. Notice how the box moves, which worries him a little, but he conquers that fear, mainly because he is in control of the movement.

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Here is Riker learning to navigate a box with flaps:

Beginner Level

When introducing the game we use empty boxes. Only add things as our dog's understanding and confidence increases.

Intermediate Level

Put only a few things in the box such as:

• packing paper.
• dog toys.
• empty plastic tubs from your recycling.
• an old t-shirt.

Advanced Level

Items to put in boxes:

• plastic water bottles with gravel or coins in them (lid on, be wary if your dog is one to ingest random things).
• tin pie plates
• egg cartons
• more stuff. I.e. more things for your dog to push and sort through.

Expert Level

Instead of adding more stuff, we can change how we organize and present boxes:

• cover the box with a towel.
• place a cookie sheet on the box.
• stack boxes on top of each other or inside of each other.
• place boxes on chairs and under tables

Echo and Arlo are working on boxes that help with sound sensitivity:

Pepper is an Expert Level Snifftacle-er! In fact, her guardian invented the Snifftacle name =)

And another ... just because =)

Just like all of the other games, all species can play. Here are my horses with their first Snifftacle =D (This video is processing a bit strangely - if it doesn't work, here's a link to see it on FB)

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Real Life Applications

When your dog is used to playing Snifftacles at home, you can use them out and about to help your dog feel comfortable in new situations. The beauty of this game is that it presents the dogs with an opportunity to SNIFF... a natural displacement behaviour.

Anxious dogs only have a few ways to tell us. They might shut down, they might growl or worse, they might run away. Snifftacles encourage them to sniff. Sniffing helps our dogs relax and gives them something to do while they take in and evaluate the environment.

By giving our dogs an easy, low pressure activity, it takes the pressure off for them to interact with the scary vet tech, or that man walking down the street, or the skateboards and bikes at the skate park, or that dog walking by the agility arena.

Pepper struggles with confidence outside of her home, so here she is practicing in an empty lot adjacent to walking trails. She worked at this, taking in the sounds and sights for 20 minutes!

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Here's Rebel playing at the agility arena.

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And rebel again playing at the vet clinic:

Have Fun!

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The Next Leash Reactivity Deep Dive Begins Jan 2025

Check out the LEASH REACTIVITY DEEP-DIVE, my group mentorship program in which I spend 8 weeks with a small group of people struggling with leash reactivity. Submit videos, ask questions, and meet awesome people and dogs.

You'll receive daily support and feedback on your training for 8 whole weeks. This is a fantastic way to jump start your training and to get some real progress for both your dog and yourself. Build your dog's skills and confidence, as well as your own!

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New here?

Wondering what you've missed out on? You can find the previous emails filled with training tips here.