A scent game gives a dog a clear job: find something meaningful by following its smell. In Cesar Millan’s at-home demonstrations, that something can be food, a favorite ball, or a familiar person. The human prepares the activity, offers direction, and gives the dog room to work through the search.
The bond grows through that shared effort. Cesar emphasizes the time spent thinking about the dog, setting up a new experience, and participating in it together. Finding the reward matters, but so does the relationship that develops along the way.
His demonstrations show how the same idea changes with experience. Benson, a Pomeranian trying a new cup game, needs encouragement and a simple introduction. Junior, an experienced ball-searching dog, works through a more demanding challenge. Each dog has a different starting point, and the human’s guidance reflects that.
What Makes a Scent Game Meaningful
- Food, a favorite toy, and a familiar person can each provide motivation for a search.
- A beginner’s first session should introduce an enjoyable experience, without demanding immediate mastery.
- Watching the dog’s choices helps the human recognize progress, even before the reward is reached.
- Difficulty can increase as the dog understands the activity.
- Waiting, searching, celebrating, and releasing can all become parts of a shared game.
Begin With the Dog’s Natural Ability
Cesar begins with a distinction between nurturing a dog’s natural abilities and teaching a particular exercise. The nose already gives the dog a way to explore. The human’s role is to organize an activity that makes use of it.
Benson illustrates why this distinction matters. He already knows several activities, including dancing and swimming, yet the cup exercise is new to him. Familiar skills do not mean he will immediately understand every new task.
For this first experience, Cesar focuses on creating a positive introduction. He does not expect Benson to become an expert in one day. The early goal is for the dog and human to discover a new way of interacting.
That changes what counts as progress. A dog noticing the scent, investigating a container, or returning attention to the human gives the human something to observe. The exercise develops through those moments, rather than through a demand for a polished performance at the start.
Use a Simple Food Search to Introduce the Game
Cesar sets out three cups and places food in one of them. He numbers the cups to help himself keep track. The numbers are for the human; the dog’s task is to locate the scent.
He keeps Benson from watching the placement so that the search does not become a matter of following what the human visibly did. He also pays attention to the smells introduced during preparation. Handling the food and containers can leave scent cues that compete with the intended target.
This detail connects directly to Benson’s previous experience. Benson is used to receiving food from a person’s hand during familiar activities. In this exercise, the food is on the floor, and the human is asking for a different response. Clear preparation helps define that new task.
After Benson finds the food, Cesar changes its location. Later, he covers the cups, adding another part to the challenge. The progression makes the difference between finding a smell and reaching its source easier to see.
Notice When the Dog Has Found the Answer
During the covered-cup exercise, Benson approaches the correct cup but does not immediately work out how to reach the food. He also looks toward Cesar and returns to familiar behavior, including the dancing that has earned food before.
Cesar recognizes that the dog’s nose has already identified the right place. Benson is not investigating the empty cups in the same way. The remaining question is what to do with the cup that holds the scent.
This is an important distinction for a pet parent watching a new activity. Finding the target and completing every action needed to obtain it are different parts of the exercise. If the human pays attention only to the final reward, the dog’s earlier success can be overlooked.
Cesar responds as a coach, using encouragement while allowing Benson to continue participating. The dog’s attention moves between the object and the person. That exchange becomes part of the lesson: the human provides guidance while the dog works with the information its nose has supplied.
Increase Difficulty After Understanding Develops
The first session establishes the experience. Repetition and greater difficulty can follow as the dog becomes familiar with the task.
Cesar describes several ways a scent exercise can develop, including adding cups, changing the hiding place, or introducing more distance. These are later challenges, rather than requirements for a beginner’s first attempt.
His own demonstration follows that progression. Benson first searches for food and then encounters covered cups. The second version asks more of him, and Cesar adjusts his expectations accordingly.
For the human, the useful question is whether the dog understands the current activity. A more complicated setup has value when it builds on that understanding. Benson’s first lesson remains focused on participating in something new with Cesar, even when the response is not yet smooth or immediate.
Make Finding a Person a Shared Family Activity
A familiar person can also become the focus of a scent game. In Cesar’s demonstration, the search becomes a team activity involving the family.
He explains that the people participating need to agree on the cue and their roles. A toy can help create interest when the dog is still learning the exercise. The human then accompanies the dog without revealing the hidden person’s location, giving the nose an opportunity to guide the search.
Cesar contrasts this with simply showing the dog where someone is. The point is for the dog to pick up the scent and follow it. The accompanying human participates, but does not supply the answer.
As with the cup game, the challenge can grow once the dog understands the activity. The shared preparation matters here too. Family members are contributing to an experience built around the dog’s abilities, with each person helping the game make sense.
Let a Favorite Toy Give the Search a Purpose
Junior’s motivation is a ball. Cesar describes him as an experienced searcher who enjoys working until he finds it. Their demonstration shows how a familiar game can combine scent work with self-control.
Before the search begins, Junior waits while Cesar hides the ball. Waiting is part of the exercise, even though the ball is something the dog strongly wants. Cesar then lets him work through the search.
The room introduces its own challenge. Cesar notes that it contains several other smells, including oils and incense-related scents. Junior has to find the ball’s smell within that environment.
Junior is also older than when he first learned the game. Cesar observes that he moves more slowly, while still bringing experience to the task. His performance differs from Benson’s because this activity is already familiar to him.
The comparison keeps the focus on the individual dog. Benson is learning what the task means. Junior understands the search and is working through a more demanding setting. Cesar’s involvement changes with each dog’s experience, while the shared activity remains central.
Include the Celebration and the Finish
Finding the ball does not end Cesar’s guidance. Junior gets a brief opportunity to celebrate, followed by direction around releasing and waiting.
Cesar does not want the celebration to turn into prolonged shaking or destruction of the toy. In this demonstration, the enjoyable moment is part of a sequence that also includes giving the object up and becoming ready for what comes next.
That sequence gives the human more to notice than the search alone. How the activity begins, how the dog works, and how the pair finishes all contribute to the experience they are practicing together.
Questions About At-Home Scent Games
Does a dog need to be experienced before trying a scent game?
Benson’s demonstration begins with an unfamiliar exercise. Cesar’s priority is a positive first experience, with more repetition and difficulty coming later. The dog does not need to perform like an expert during the introduction.
What can motivate a dog to search?
The video demonstrates three possibilities: food, a favorite toy, and a familiar person. Cesar uses food with Benson and a ball with Junior, matching the activity to something each dog is interested in finding.
What if the dog identifies the right cup but cannot get the food?
Cesar separates locating the scent from working out how to access the reward. Benson’s attention to the correct covered cup shows progress, even while he still needs to learn the next part of the exercise.
How does a scent game build the human-dog bond?
Cesar connects the bond to preparation, participation, and time spent together. The human thinks about the dog, creates an activity, watches its responses, and offers guidance. The reward is one part of that shared experience.
Put Time and Attention Into the Game
Cesar’s demonstrations return to the same practical lesson: a meaningful activity begins with the human taking time to understand and engage the dog. A few cups, a favorite ball, or a family member can provide the focus, but the relationship gives the exercise its value.
The first step is to introduce a task the dog can begin to understand, then observe what happens. Benson’s early discoveries and Junior’s practiced search both show the value of a human who stays involved, recognizes progress, and allows the game to develop from the dog’s current ability.