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Simple, flexible scent games that help your dog thrive—and give you a well-earned breather.If you've ever needed your dog to do something enriching without needing your full attention, or wanted to build your relationship through fun, sniffy games, this episode is your new best friend.In this week's episode of Enrichment for the Real World, Allie Bender and Emily Strong unpack the magic of scent work—and how it supports your dog's physical, mental, and emotional well-being and makes your life easier too. We're talking about games like “find it,” scatter feeding, and what we call the “anywhere but here” protocol, with tips for tailoring them to your specific household setup (no matter how chaotic it may be).You'll hear why scent work is more than just a fun activity—it can be used to teach your dog independence, encourage relaxation, and even build trust in tricky situations. Whether you need something that works behind a baby gate, away from food-stealing pets, or hands-free while you hop on a Zoom call, there's something here for you.TLDL (Too Long, Didn't Listen): 3 Key TakeawaysScent work is ridiculously adaptable.Whether you need to keep dogs separated, avoid food on the floor, or work behind a barrier, there's a nose game for that.Teaching “set it and forget it” is a game-changer.It takes effort up-front, but the payoff? A dog who can self-entertain while still engaging in healthy enrichment. Gold.“Find it” is the duct tape of dog training.This go-to cue can give you a pause button, channel your dog's energy, and lay the foundation for more complex games.Links & Resources from the Episode
Join me for this very interesting chat with Lucy d'Auvergne, clinical animal behaviourist and owner of very complicated collies, where she tells us her life with difficult sensitive dogs and how scentwork came into her life and allowed her to research and create a program that she called Therapeutic Scentwork for anxious dogs that struggle with every day life. “WHAT IS THERAPUTIC SCENTWORK? In therapeutic scentwork we're using a dog's natural abilities in a non-forced way to support their mental wellbeing. It's about reducing stress and building optimism and confidence in a really natural way It differs from other forms of nose-work in that it's less formally structured than scent detection, tracking or competitive scentwork. Confidence building can be a fantastic by-product of all types of nose-work – it all allows dogs to be more ‘dog' in the most fundamental way… Therapeutic scentwork takes sniffing in a slightly different direction in that we are primarily using sniffing to support and nurture the emotional needs of our dogs in a completely dog-led, individual way, within a loose structure.” Books and resources that Lucy mentions in the episode: "Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell" by Alexandra Horowitz Also you can find Lucy and some of her games by joining her Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/KnobDogsandNoses
Today we are re-sharing one of our favorite episodes, a conversation with Alexandra Horowitz. “I can drive my car off a cliff and just leave it where it lay, the most I'll get is a littering fine, and if you throw your dog off the cliff the punishment is actually pretty similar. That's because they're the same type of thing to the law. So, unless you change that status, and you have people of course, who are thinking that there should be a status of kind of living property that might give them more attributes than my car has or my chair has; and then there are individuals who think they should be given the status of legal persons, which isn't to say being people, but having rights of some sort. I think both of those are pretty intriguing offers. I think we're a little way off from doing that, but boy, either of those would be a massive improvement in our societal treatment of these creatures. “And of course, I don't think it's just restricted to dogs… It's been terrific to work with dogs for all these years, but I think this way about lots of non-human animals that we interact with, where we kind of get to use them sort of, for our sake. I would love to see some kind of sea change in thinking such that we don't get to use animals in the ways we do now, which are really abuses of animals.” – Alexandra Horowitz If you have any questions for your dog, Alexandra Horowitz is a pretty good place to start. She's spent much of her life researching and writing about what it's like to be a dog. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know; Our Dogs, Ourselves; Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell; and On Looking. She is a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she teaches seminars in canine cognition, creative nonfiction writing, and audio storytelling. As Senior Research Fellow, she heads the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard. I wish this conversation had lasted all day long as I had about five thousand more questions for Alexandra - mostly, everything I've ever wanted to ask my dog. The time that we did have together was pretty amazing and felt like an absolute gift. Visit Alexandra's Website Learn More About The Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College Alexandra's Books: Inside of A Dog Our Dogs, Ourselves Being A Dog On Looking
Whether you yawn, gasp, sniff, snore, or sigh, you're availing yourself of our very special atmosphere. It's easy to take this invisible chemical cocktail for granted, but it's not only essential to your existence: it unites you and every other life form on the planet, dead or alive. The next breath you take likely includes molecules exhaled by Julius Caesar or Eleanor Roosevelt. And for some animals, air is an information superhighway. Dogs navigate with their noses. Their sniffing snouts help them to identify their owners, detect trace amounts of drugs, and even sense some diseases. Find out what a dog's nose knows, and why no amount of bathing and dousing in perfume can mask your personal smelliness. Plus, why your own schnoz is key to not only enjoying a fine Bordeaux, but to survival of our species. Guests: Sam Kean – Science writer, author of “Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us” Ken Givich – Microbiologist, Guittard Chocolate company Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, author of “Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell” Rachel Herz – Cognitive neuroscientist, Brown University, author of “Why You Eat What You Eat,” and “The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell” Originally aired December 4, 2017 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Whether you yawn, gasp, sniff, snore, or sigh, you’re availing yourself of our very special atmosphere. It’s easy to take this invisible chemical cocktail for granted, but it’s not only essential to your existence: it unites you and every other life form on the planet, dead or alive. The next breath you take likely includes molecules exhaled by Julius Caesar or Eleanor Roosevelt. And for some animals, air is an information superhighway. Dogs navigate with their noses. Their sniffing snouts help them to identify their owners, detect trace amounts of drugs, and even sense some diseases. Find out what a dog’s nose knows, and why no amount of bathing and dousing in perfume can mask your personal smelliness. Plus, why your own schnoz is key to not only enjoying a fine Bordeaux, but to survival of our species. Guests: Sam Kean – Science writer, author of “Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us” Ken Givich – Microbiologist, Guittard Chocolate company Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, author of “Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell” Rachel Herz – Cognitive neuroscientist, Brown University, author of “Why You Eat What You Eat,” and “The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell” Originally aired December 4, 2017
“I can drive my car off a cliff and just leave it where it lay, the most I'll get is a littering fine, and if you throw your dog off the cliff the punishment is actually pretty similar. That's because they're the same type of thing to the law. So, unless you change that status, and you have people of course, who are thinking that there should be a status of kind of living property that might give them more attributes than my car has or my chair has; and then there are individuals who think they should be given the status of legal persons, which isn’t to say being people, but having rights of some sort. I think both of those are pretty intriguing offers. I think we're a little ways off from doing that, but boy, either of those would be a massive improvement in our societal treatment of these creatures. And of course, I don't think it's just restricted to dogs… It's been terrific to work with dogs for all these years, but I think this way about lots of non-human animals that we interact with, were we kind of get to use them sort of, for our sake. I would love to see some kind of sea change in thinking such that we don't get to use animals in the ways we do now, which are really abuses of animals.” – Alexandra Horowitz If you have any questions for your dog, Alexandra Horowitz is a pretty good place to start. She’s spent much of her life researching and writing about what it’s like to be a dog. She is the #1 New York times bestselling author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know; Our Dogs, Ourselves, Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell; and On Looking. She is a professor at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she teaches seminars in canine cognition, creative nonfiction writing, and audio storytelling. As Senior Research Fellow, she heads the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard. I wish this conversation had lasted all day long as I had about 5 thousand more questions for Alexandra - mostly, everything I’ve ever wanted to ask my dog. Although, the time we did have together was pretty amazing and felt like an absolute gift.
Humans aren't the only animals stressed-out by social distancing. Narwhals send out echolocation clicks to locate their buddies and ease their loneliness. And a plant about to be chomped by a caterpillar knows that the world can be a scary place. In this episode, from dogs to narwhals to plants, we put aside human-centric stories to find out how other living creatures map their world, deal with stress, and communicate. Guests: Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, and author of "Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell.” Susanna Blackwell – Bio-acoustician with Greeneridge Sciences Simon Gilroy – Professor of botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Humans aren’t the only animals stressed-out by social distancing. Narwhals send out echolocation clicks to locate their buddies and ease their loneliness. And a plant about to be chomped by a caterpillar knows that the world can be a scary place. In this episode, from dogs to narwhals to plants, we put aside human-centric stories to find out how other living creatures map their world, deal with stress, and communicate. Guests: Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, and author of "Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell.” Susanna Blackwell – Bio-acoustician with Greeneridge Sciences Simon Gilroy – Professor of botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison
(Repeat) Whether you yawn, gasp, sniff, snore, or sigh, you're availing yourself of our very special atmosphere. It's easy to take this invisible chemical cocktail for granted, but it's not only essential to your existence: it unites you and every other life form on the planet, dead or alive. The next breath you take likely includes molecules exhaled by Julius Caesar or Eleanor Roosevelt. And for some animals, air is an information superhighway. Dogs navigate with their noses. Their sniffing snouts help them to identify their owners, detect trace amounts of drugs, and even sense some diseases. Find out what a dog's nose knows, and why no amount of bathing and dousing in perfume can mask your personal smelliness. Plus, why your own schnoz is key to not only enjoying a fine Bordeaux, but to survival of our species. Guests: Sam Kean – Science writer, author of “Caesar's Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us” Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, author of “Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell” Rachel Herz – Cognitive neuroscientist, Brown University, author of “Why You Eat What You Eat,” and “The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell” Ken Givich – Microbiologist, Guittard Chocolate company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
(Repeat) Whether you yawn, gasp, sniff, snore, or sigh, you’re availing yourself of our very special atmosphere. It’s easy to take this invisible chemical cocktail for granted, but it’s not only essential to your existence: it unites you and every other life form on the planet, dead or alive. The next breath you take likely includes molecules exhaled by Julius Caesar or Eleanor Roosevelt. And for some animals, air is an information superhighway. Dogs navigate with their noses. Their sniffing snouts help them to identify their owners, detect trace amounts of drugs, and even sense some diseases. Find out what a dog’s nose knows, and why no amount of bathing and dousing in perfume can mask your personal smelliness. Plus, why your own schnoz is key to not only enjoying a fine Bordeaux, but to survival of our species. Guests: Sam Kean – Science writer, author of “Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us” Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, author of “Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell” Rachel Herz – Cognitive neuroscientist, Brown University, author of “Why You Eat What You Eat,” and “The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell” Ken Givich – Microbiologist, Guittard Chocolate company
Alexandra Horowitz is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Barnard College in New York. We talk about the umwelt of dogs, teaching nonfiction writing, and what I learned about walking my black lab Jayden. For more information: Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell by Alexandra Horowitz Watch Shigeru Miyamoto measure things for The Tonight Show by Owen S. Good
For this week’s Please Explain, we’re following dogs as they sniff their way through the world with their incredible sense of smell. Alexandra Horowitz, who teaches canine cognition and creative nonfiction at Barnard College and runs the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab, explores the abilities of a dog’s nose, how it’s evolved, how it’s being put to use and how we can improve our own sense of smell. Her latest book is Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell. Note: Jonathan Capehart guest-hosted this segment of "The Leonard Lopate Show."
The Dog Show #407 – December 14, 2016 What is it like to experience the world as a dog? “The first step is to get in touch with your own sense of smell”, says author and scientist, Dr. Alexandra Horowitz. … Read More
Scribner is delighted to announce the publication, on October 4, 2016, of Alexandra Horowitz’s BEING A DOG: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell. In her New York Times bestselling Inside of a Dog (2009), Horowitz revealed the often surprising evolutionary reasons behind why dogs behave the way they do; in BEING A DOG, she explores what dogs know in even greater depth, following their lead to learn about the dog’s spectacular nose and how we mere humans can improve our under-used sense of smell. The result is a revelation about the world that we share. In BEING A DOG, readers will learn how well a dog can smell versus how well a human can smell. We humans are what Alexandra and her fellow scientists call microsmatic, i.e. “poor smellers,” compared to dogs. We have a mere six million olfactory receptor cells in our noses, whereas dogs have between 200 million and a billion, depending on the breed. Here’s another comparison: Human beings have three receptor genes that allow us to see all the colors of the world. Dogs have some 800 receptor genes just for smell. In theory, they can smell billions of different odors. We therefore have a very difficult time understanding what dogs can do with their noses because most of us can’t even tell if what burnt in the kitchen this morning was the coffee or the toast. So what, exactly, can dogs smell? Amyl acetate is the chemical that gives bananas their smell. Dogs can smell one drop of the chemical in a trillion drops of water. Dogs smell earthquakes before they happen, and rainstorms miles away. They have been trained to find explosives, land-mines, chemical accelerants, missing people, underwater cadavers, drugs of every type, counterfeit goods, illicit cell phones in prison and imported shark fins in suitcases, dry rot, termites, fire ants, bed bugs, truffles under the ground, and dairy cows in estrous. They smell what you had for breakfast and whether a cat touched your leg yesterday. They can smell cancer, both inside human beings and in lab samples. They can smell their way home, the time that has passed since a flower closed up, and the body under the rubble. BEING A DOG delves into all of these remarkable abilities and more, revealing a whole world of experiences we miss every day. Horowitz, inspired by her dogs, tries to be a better smeller. She spends days smelling everything her dogs smell. And she volunteers at an olfaction lab at Rockefeller University (sniffing hundreds of bottles of scents per session.) It is not that we humans can’t smell; it’s that we largely don’t. Based on the biological facts alone, the major determining factor in whether we smell an odor or not seems to be just this: whether we bother to try and smell it. Writing with scientific rigor and her trademark wit, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs – and smelling – forever. Readers will finish this charming and informative book feeling that they have broken free of human constraints and understood smell as never before; that they have, however fleetingly, been a dog. Alexandra Horowitz is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know and On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation. She teaches at Barnard College, where she runs the Dog Cognition Lab. She lives with her family and two large, highly sniffy dogs in New York City. Visit her website: alexandrahorowitz.ne More praise for BEING A DOG: “I’m not entirely certain whether Alexandra Horowitz’s BEING A DOG has made me want to buy a dog or morph into one—but I do know that it was magical. Horowitz has crafted an utterly engrossing, witty, finely-observed narrative that will make you look at the power of the nose in a wholly new way.”—Maria Konnikova, author of The Confidence Game and Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes