Hiding freeze-dried tripe for scent games at home

Tripe for nose work at home means using small bits as the hidden reward. Break a piece into small bits, hide a few in easy spots, stay with your dog while it searches, pick up any bit it misses, and count every find against the day's treat budget.

Can you use freeze-dried tripe for nose work games?

Yes, as the reward you hide. The listing describes two uses for this tripe: a reward you break into bite-sized bits and hand out one at a time, and a topper you crumble over a meal. A find-it game is the first use with one change. Instead of handing the bit over, you put it somewhere and let your dog go and get it.

What you are hiding is one ingredient, raw beef tripe, freeze-dried. The beef comes from a farm in the United States, it is green (unbleached) tripe, and we freeze-dry it in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Raw means you wash your hands with soap and water after you handle it, so do that when the round is set up and again when you pick up.

The listing's scorecard lists the smell as strong. We are not going to tell you the smell does any work in a search, because we have no information that says so. It is simply what you will notice when you open the bag.

This page covers scent games at home, the find-it kind. If you are training for a sport, the rules, the odors and the progressions belong to your instructor, not to us.

How small should the hidden bits be?

Small. Break the piece into small bits before the round starts. Our guide to breaking up freeze-dried tripe covers the technique, so we will not repeat it here. The listing lists the piece as medium, with crunch 3 of 5, and a medium piece makes plenty of bits.

Smaller bits spread one day's share across more finds. That is arithmetic, not a training claim.

Here is one find-it round from start to finish:

• Break the day's share into small bits first, then press the bag shut
• Hide a few bits in easy spots, in plain reach of your dog
• Give your search cue and let your dog work
• Stay in the room while it searches
• Pick up any bit that was not found
• Wash your hands with soap and water

Count the bits out before the round the way you would lay out parts before a job. Nothing in this list needs special equipment.

Why stay with your dog during a search?

The bag says: "Provide fresh water at all times and supervise while feeding." Hidden treats are still feeding, only with a search in front of it, so the supervise line applies. Have water down, and stay close enough to see what your dog picks up.

Staying also gives you the chance to count. You hid a known number of bits, so you know how many should be eaten and how many are left. When your dog stops searching and the count is short, you can go and find the missing bit yourself.

If your dog is working a toy, our page on tripe for puzzle toys has its own reasons for staying in the room. That page covers toys and this one covers loose bits around the house, so there is no need to read both for the same rule.

How do finds count against the treat budget?

Every find is a treat, and the day's treats come out of one budget. To size that budget, open the calculator in our feeding guide and give it the daily calorie number from your vet or the food bag; the answer is a weight of tripe. It works at a fixed 10 percent, and a different number from your vet replaces that.

The listing does not give a piece count, so do not plan a round by counting pieces. Weigh the day's share in grams, as the calculator gives it, and split that weight into the bits you will hide. Our freeze-dried tripe page lists the label figures if you want to see where the calculator's math starts.

Rounds of hiding are treats, so they are part of the day's share, not on top of it. If you play two rounds, both come from the same share. If you also use tripe for training or at mealtime, those come out of it too.

Keep the bag pressed shut between rounds. The listing says an open bag announces itself, so seal it before you start hiding.