Setting up a find-it game with freeze-dried salmon

Salmon treats for nose work at home start with the smallest bits you can break from a piece. Hide a few in plain sight, let your dog search while you watch, then pick up anything left behind. The listing says the pieces break into small, quick rewards, and the bag asks you to supervise while feeding.

How do you use salmon treats for nose work games?

This page is about hiding games you run with your hands: a few bits, one room, and a dog that goes looking. It is not about sport nose work, and we have no rulebook to quote for that. Snuffle mats and treat balls are a different game, and the puzzle toys guide covers them.

Two honest limits before the method. First, we make no claim about how easy salmon is to find by nose. The smell guide says what we can about the smell, and that is where it stays. Second, we make no claim about what a hiding game does for a dog. What we can pass along is the store's own rating: 4 of 5 for training value on its scorecard, the score behind its calling salmon a high value reward. The store wrote that rating; no dog was measured for it.

What size piece works for a find-it game?

Small. The listing says: "The pieces are medium sized and break into small, quick rewards." For a find it game with dog treats, break a medium piece into bits you can still see from standing height, and leave the finest crumbs in the pouch. Crumbs on a rug are hard for you to pick up afterward, and picking up is part of the game. The listing's own use for crumbs is over kibble or a raw meal as a topper, so nothing goes to waste.

We do not give a number of pieces per game. No per-piece weight or pieces per pouch is stated anywhere we can quote, so a count would be a guess. Break what you plan to hide, hide it, and put the rest away. The bag says: "Reseal the pouch once it is open and store it cool and dry."

How do you set up a first scent game at home?

Treat the first round as a test drive around the block, not a road trip. One room, easy spots, and you in the room the whole time.

1. Break a medium piece into small bits over the open pouch.
2. Show your dog one bit, set it down in plain view, and let the dog take it.
3. Place a few more bits in easy spots at nose height: a chair leg, a doormat, the edge of a rug.
4. Let your dog search while you watch from the same room.
5. Pick up anything that was not found.
6. Reseal the pouch and wash your hands.

The watching is not optional, and it is not our idea. The bag says: "Provide fresh water and supervise while feeding." A hiding game is feeding spread across a room, so the label's line covers the whole game from the first bit to the last.

The salmon is raw before it is freeze-dried, and the hand washing at the end of the list is the label's instruction rather than a flourish of ours. The bag says: "Wash your hands after handling it." For more on raw handling, see the product page, and put any question about your own dog to your veterinarian.

How much salmon goes into one game?

The same amount as any other treat that day, because a hiding game is still treats. Scent games with salmon treats come out of the same budget as a training session or a topper. Our product page carries a treat budget calculator; its default is 10 percent of the daily calories you type in, and it answers in salmon by weight rather than pieces. Your veterinarian sets the real share, and the calculator is written for dogs.

The label puts the pouch's energy at about 85.6 kcal per ounce across its 1.5 oz; the calculator turns that into your dog's figure. If you play more than one round in a day, the rounds add up against that same weight. Hide and seek treats for dogs are treats first and a game second. Our other pages are on the guides hub.