More ways to Teach Scent Discrimination

I wrote about "Teaching Scent Articles" on May 7 2009. This post is intended to be a continuation of that discussion.
Here are some more methods for teaching scent discrimination (or scent articles):

* CLICK 'N' SNIFF - CLICKER TRAINING FOR SCENT DISCRIMINATION
by Deb Jones

* SIMPLY SCENTING
by Dawn Jecs

* EXTENSION OF THE "FIND IT" GAME:
I briefly mentioned this method in my first post about "Teaching Scent Articles" on May 7 2009. For the sake of being complete I will now describe this method in more detail below. First, however, a word of caution: I taught Rosco scent discrimination using this technique and it worked well. Once the learning phase was over and Rosco was working the entire pile of articles in a formal setting he did fine for a while and than he started to make mistakes and choosing the wrong article (I suspect the articles had not aired well and he was confused by yesterday's scent on another article). What I would ordinarily do in this situation would be to simplify the exercise by going back to the last step of the teaching process. However because of how this technique is taught that is not an easy thing to do and Rosco's problems kept getting worse until I finally gave up and re-taught scent discrimination using the tie down method. So please keep in mind as you read through this technique that even though it is fun to teach, it can be hard to work with in practice, since it doesn't give you many options for simplification.
Start by:
Teaching the "find it" game as described by Carol Lea Benjamin in "Dog Training in 10 minutes".
Briefly:
(1) Leave the dog in a sit/stay, show him a cookie, let him "smell it" if you like, place the cookie on the floor a few feet from the dog, where he can see it, and release the dog to the cookie using the command "find it". Repeat step 1 a few times.
(2) Next place the cookie behind a chair, let the dog watch you place it there. Now the dog knows where the cookie is but can't see it from the spot where he is in a sit/stay. Release the dog to the cookie using "find it". Repeat step 2 a few times, also hide the cookie behind and other objects other than the chair.
(3) The next step is to hide the cookie in another room, such that the dog no longer sees where the cookie is hidden and must search for it. Do this in the same way as above. When the dog is good at this try hiding the cookie up on furniture and under couch cushions (caution: some dogs will dig).

Steps 1 -3 are described in more detail in Carol Lea Benjamin's book (once dogs know this "find it" game most really enjoy playing it. All three of mine search for cookies for hours on rainy afternoons). Once you notice that on your "find it" cue your dog is using his nose to search out the cookie you are ready for the next step.

(4) Instead of using a cookie, use a toy instead. "Scent" the toy (scent it by holding it and rubbing it for as long as you need to ensure it smells like you). I like to start by using unscented nylabones. Follow the same steps 1-3 above using the scented toy instead of the cookie.
You can do this with many different objects. Eventually you will want to use a scented metal (or leather) article. Again go through steps 1-3 above using the scented article.
(5) Now to transition to the pile. Make a "pile" of toys, that resembles the "pile" of articles used in the ring (meaning their are no more than 10 out there and they are about 6 inches apart). Place the scented article (that you have already done step 1-3 with) among the toys and ask your dog to find the scented article using the cue "find it", which your dog should already understand means "smell it out". Place the article while your dog is watching you place it and while his back is turn or he is in the next room. When you give the "find it" command your dog should know right away what he is being asked to do.
(6) Finally place the scented article among a group, or in a pile, of identical unscented articles. Your dog should easily be able to figure out what you want him to do. Now you are ready to start formalizing this behavior into something you can take into the ring.