A 'Sniffari' is a scent-based (olfactory) adventure for your dog. It can also be multi-sensory too! Your dog may explore different obstacles, surfaces, sights and sounds whilst they follow their nose.

It can be as complicated, simple, large or small as you like - you are only limited by your imagination!

The world around us is full of smells. By slowing down to let your dog stop and sniff, you also help your dog to have a natural Sniffari and give them an opportunity to exercise their natural behaviours and instincts.

Sniffing has a number of great benefits for dogs, including using a lot of your dog’s brain power.

The dog’s nose

A dog’s amazing sense of smell shapes how they experience the world. Using scent is also one of the ways they communicate. For example, it is normal behaviour for your dog to sniff another dog’s bum, smell another dog’s urine and mark with their own urine.

The dog’s nose

A dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 – 100,000 times better than a human’s.
An odour can be smelt by your dog long after it has been left there. Dogs can smell 'time'. This is why many dogs are used for roles like search and rescue.
There is an area in your dog’s nose which is dedicated to processing scent (the olfactory epithelial surface area). This area is up to 30 times bigger than the same area in a human’s nose!
This translates to approximately 200 million – 2 billion scent receptors for dogs, compared to only 5 million scent receptors for humans.
Did you know that the nose itself isn’t the only system used to process smells by your dog? Your dog also has a vomeronasal organ, located behind the dog’s incisors in the hard palate. The vomeronasal organ detects something called pheromones (which are species-specific smells). Dogs also possess an olfactory recess which is located at the rear of the nasal cavity. Humans don’t have a vomeronasal organ or an olfactory recess.
Even your dog’s brain has a larger area for processing scents than we do as humans. The area of a dog’s brain dedicated to scent analysis is a huge 40 times bigger than ours!
Dogs can identify individuals (humans and other animals) just by their scent. They can identify your characteristics and your emotions. Dogs can smell whether we are fearful, anxious, happy or sad.
Did you know that there is something called 'emotional contagion' where our dogs can smell and mirror our human emotions?
Because dogs have such an incredible sense of smell, they can also smell disease and infections. This includes cancers, epilepsy, diabetes and other infections and diseases.

Studies have shown that by giving your dog the opportunity to sniff (and letting them take their time), their heart rate decreases, and blood pressure drops. They are more relaxed. This can help with regulation and recovery from stress.
Sniffing is thought to result in dogs having a positive emotional state because dopamine levels rise. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter related to pleasure, motivation, reward, learning and movement - it has a “feel good” effect. Sniffing is naturally very rewarding for dogs; it makes them happier!
Dogs who sniff more are shown to be more optimistic. They tend to have more of a “glass half full” than “glass half empty” attitude to life.
Sniffing may help your dog to rest and sleep more. Sniffing is tiring work! Many professionals have noticed that sniffing can be more tiring for dogs than long duration or fast-paced physical exercise. Can you swap the ball or running for some sniffing?
Giving your dog choices is very confidence boosting. Letting them choose what to sniff and how long to sniff it for, can help to decrease anxiety and boost confidence.

Create your own Sniffari adventure

Take time to let your dog sniff, slow down on a walk and watch your dog’s nose as it twitches. Spend a moment thinking about just how amazing your dog’s sense of smell is. Give them time to process their environment with their primary sense.

Toy swap
Swap toys with a dog friend and rotate the toys.

Shopping sniff
Let your dog smell your shopping, bags and shoes as you come in.

Bring the outside in
Get a cardboard box and go for a walk without your dog, pick up some items and put them in the box as you walk. Grass, leaves, twigs, pebbles, soil (with landowner permission if required). When you get home, let your dog sniff the items in the box. This is also a great idea for dogs who are injured or recovering from surgery – bring the outside into them so they can catch up on the local news!

Novel items
Let your dog explore some novel (new) items. These can be from your home, garage, shed or a charity shop. Used books, clothes, shoes, flowerpots, coats and bags that you take to work or school. There are some great ideas here: https://www.facebook.com/PawzE...

Scents
You can get herbs, plants and other odours for your dog to smell. Remember how incredibly sensitive your dog’s sense of smell is – so you only need a tiny amount! These can include things like thyme, catnip, rosemary, lavender, peppermint, chamomile. Make sure you pick safe things for your dog to smell.

Flavoured water
You can flavour some water for your dogs to smell and drink (if they want to). Remember, these don’t have to be strong. Your dog has one of the best senses of smell on the planet. Be careful with allergies and do your research first. There are some great ideas here: https://www.facebook.com/PawzE...

Essential oils, herbs and waters
There are companies that specialise in safe products for dogs to smell and interact with. You can find out more here: https://www.ingrahamshop.com/

Find it
Find out how to start scent work with a simple “find it” game here: https://www.veterinary-practic...

Cardboard boxes
Sprinkle your dog’s kibble or other food into a bag full of carboard and old newspaper. Let their nose sniff to find the food. https://www.bluecross.org.uk/a...

Snuffle mats and scatter feeding
Use a snuffle mat or scatter feed for part of one of your dogs’ meals (they shouldn’t have to work for all of their food, but because dogs are scavengers, they will love to sniff out some of one of their meals). https://www.bluecross.org.uk/a...

Let your dog choose the route
They know where all of the good smells are, let them choose the route sometimes (providing it’s safe to do so).

Go at your dog’s pace
So they can take their time gathering as much information as they need before they move on. Remember, it’s their walk, not yours.

Walk where it’s interesting
The edges of fields, mown paths, tufts of grass. Walk where there are lots of items and different heights of grass, shrubs and trees for your dog to interact with and sniff. Change your locations sometimes, think about going to the beach, the woods, parks, rivers and streams.

Explore other environments
You can also go to pet friendly garden centres, charity shops and markets. All of Raystede’s charity shops are pet friendly. Dogs are always very welcome to come and explore the sights and smells of our charity shops (maybe you’ll find some new items or second-hand toys to take home for them) https://www.raystede.org/visit-us/shop/

Loose lead
Remember to have a loose lead (a nice smile or dip in the lead) so that your dog isn’t getting frustrated and has the choice over where they go. This can help to decrease their heart rate.

Expert tip: A slightly longer lead (minimum of 6ft up to a maximum of 15ft) attached to a harness can really help to keep the lead loose and let them walk at their pace. Let’s be honest, someone pulling us back from our phones, television or books would make it really hard for us to concentrate on what we were reading or watching. We might also find it annoying or frustrating.

Odours aren’t just on the ground
Let your dog climb (if it’s safe for them) on items like tree stumps, mounds etc. Let them explore to follow scents with their noses - be aware that many smells are not just on the floor.

Find it
Help them out by scatter feeding or playing “find it!” out and about so that your dog starts to learn to sniff and engage with their environment. You can hide toys as well! Please be careful of other dogs around, throwing food around or being exciting can draw other dogs in – be careful over disagreements over food or toys.

Watch your dog
Watch your dog choose the items and areas they want to sniff. Can you see their breathing change? Do you notice how they slow down and pull less on their lead? Let your dog choose what they want to smell, you can just quietly watch them and let them enjoy catching up on the news.

Click the link below for more sniffing adventure ideas and enrichment activities from the '100 Days of Enrichment Challenge'.

More information and resources

Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell. (Alexandra Horowitz)
Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. (Alexandra Horowitz)
Inside of a Dog -- Young Readers Edition: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. (Alexandra Horowitz)

Olfaction in the canine cognitive and emotional processes: From behavioural and neural viewpoints to measurement possibilities (2024). Päivi Berg, Tapio Mappes, Miiamaaria V. Kujala (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763423004967)

Take your dog on a Sniffari adventure

What's a Sniffari?

The dog’s nose

The dog’s nose

Did you know?

What are the benefits of sniffing?

Create your own Sniffari adventure

Sniffari activities at home

Sniffari activities on a walk

More information and resources

Books

Scientific Articles

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