Bello on the scent trail

 Bello has now advanced from just finding his ball in grass and trees to us laying a scent track for him.

We start by making  a scent pad or starting point.  This is the spot where I lay my hat or a scarf or something with my scent on it or if you don't have an object you can wipe for you feet on an area for a bit.  This leaves the scent of you or the item and is the starting place where Bello will pick up the scent he is supposed to be tracking.

Once the start pad is established I walk a trail away from Bello stopping ever 6 or 10 feet touching the trail with the object I want Bello to find.

After about 20 ft away from the starting or scent pad I find a place to hide or hide the object I want Bello to find.  I then return to Bello who has been waiting.  I give Bello the find command and allow him to use his nose to track the scent trail I have laid (in our case we have a trainer helping so he lays the scent track during class and I do so at home in between classes when we practice) to find the person or object I want him to find.

So far Bello has successfully found his ball in the pile of concrete rubble at Riverside park several times, on the nature trail at Riverside park, in the trees and tall grasses at Fabis park, in the trees and bushes around our own yard and around the yard at his Granny's house in Bangs.  Bello has also successfully found me hiding in the pastures at his Granny's house in Bangs and my niece in the pastures at his Granny's house in Bangs.

As he continues to advance we will change the locations he has to perform finding an object or person and the distance as well.