Originally Posted by
shellbell
I've trained Tux to find antler sheds. We had already been doing nosework and barn hunt for a couple years so he caught on quick. It is pretty easy to do IMO even if your dog has never done nosework. My trainer prefers using a real antler shed as opposed to the kits and rubber ones they sell at Bass Pro. Basically just toss the antler on the ground in plain sight, the dog is apt to go check it out and sniff so immediately praise and treat when they go near it. If clicker trained you can use a clicker. Keep doing this and they eventually catch on that an antler = food. And then you start hiding it better and upping the difficulty; partially cover with leaves, hide it a bit elevated, etc. If there is a certain behavior you want them to use to indicate they've found it you can start waiting them out and praise and treat when they offer that behavior. For example Tux will swipe his paw when he finds what he is looking for. With it being antlers, a couple times he would actually pick them up in his mouth which was fine, but he mostly would use his paw swiping indicator.