# How do you train the Shell game (scent)?



## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I'm using Donna Hill's Mind Games for Dogs: Shell Scent Game.

I'm struggling. My dog was fine using her paw and nose to touch the first container. I made holes in the container and held them up to her nose. I'm using Zuke's rabbit minis which she loves and she hasn't had them in weeks so I thought they would be a strong draw - it's a fresh bag and I can easily smell them.

Problem - when I introduced the second container, she didn't get the idea that she had to pick by scent - instead she is picking up which ever container is closest to her and ignoring the second (I haven't introduced the third container because clearly she isn't ready).






HELP!!!!!


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

It took Noelle a little while to figure out there were treats in only one container. When we played the game, she selected the wrong container, got bored and left. 

I increased the stinky level of the treat in the container, which helped Noelle clue in on it. Noelle thinks sardines are yummy. (Not so yummy when she has fish breath, though) Liverwurst was another good treat. Smelly, stinky, overwhelmingly good treats went in the right container. 

Another thing I did was adding an adversive smell to the wrong container. A few drops of vinegar on a cotton ball was in the wrong container. That cup smells awful. This smells like awesome! It didn't take Noelle long to realize this was a fun game. We got up to 12 containers. 

Now, I was paring this game with low blood sugar scent, but it was still a fun game for her. I had to stop when Noelle went to the container instead of me when she smelled low. But, maybe we'll play again just for fun on a rainy day. Or, I could eat some kind of garbage food, get my blood sugar to soar, and train Noelle to respond to high blood glucose. Mmm, donuts. 

I hope this helped!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Click-N-Treat, I'm glad you responded because I know you were successful training Noel as a service dog.

Okay, I thought I had something smelly enough - but I will go and buy a can of sardines. And I would never have though to adding an adversive smell. I can certainly add a few drops of white vinegar to a cotton ball. That's a good tip.

Thanks so much


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

When training with the adversive smell, make sure you offer the good treat container 10 times first, then hold up the adversive, let the dog sniff, then offer the good container for a treat. Otherwise, you could accidentally train the dog that anything in a container is awful.

I held up the container to Noelle's nose, opened it, let her lick the treat out. Put in a new treat, held it up for her to sniff again. It took a few tries before she could do it on the floor. I ended up using two muffin tins to hold my containers.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Thanks. I bought oil free sardines and stuck them in my container with holes so she could smell. Babykins definitely was now more interested in that container. I got out the clicker for training and rewarded her with a tiny amount of sardines. I think I'll have to have several sessions of just the food filled container. I did try introducing the empty one but she seemed confused so we'll wait for the next step.

Click-N-Treat, I thought your use of muffin tins was clever. I'm using some containers from fast food that have been through the dishwasher and sat in the cupboard for several years. I hope that they haven't retained smells that I'm not aware off but she can smell?


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## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Ahem, Babykins can smell a drop of blood in an Olympic size swimming pool. Her nose is so much better than yours it will bend your brain.

NOVA - Official Website | Dogs' Dazzling Sense of Smell

Dogs' sense of smell overpowers our own by orders of magnitude—it's 10, 000 to 100,000 times as acute, scientists say. "Let's suppose they're just 10,000 times better," says James Walker, former director of the Sensory Research Institute at Florida State University, who, with several colleagues, came up with that jaw-dropping estimate during a rigorously designed, oft-cited study. "If you make the analogy to vision, what you and I can see at a third of a mile, a dog could see more than 3,000 miles away and still see as well."

Or, let me put it this way. You're standing in Chicago and able to see a stop light change from red to green in Los Angeles. Can Babykins still smell what is in your containers? She can smell what was in your containers, who filled your containers at the store, the truck exhaust during that stop over in Albuquerque when they were trucked to the store, where your containers were manufactured, the manufacturer's dog...


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