Five Simple Indoor Scent Games to Settle Your Dog

Christmas. Fireworks season. Thunderstorms. Unexpected visitors. Building work next door.

There are times when your dog's world feels unpredictable and overwhelming. When the normal routines fall apart and everything feels too much.

When your dog is restless, anxious, or bouncing off the walls during these unsettling times, the answer isn't always more physical exercise. In fact, a long walk in an already overstimulated state can sometimes make things worse.

What they need is something that engages their seeking system and helps them regulate.

Something that slows them down instead of revving them up. Something they can do safely indoors, away from the chaos.

Scent games do exactly that.

They're not complicated. You don't need special equipment or training. You just need your dog's nose and a willingness to let them use it.

Here are five indoor scent games that settle dogs quickly - especially valuable when the world outside (or inside) feels too much.

Before we get to the games, here's why this works.

When dogs use their noses, they activate their seeking system - the part of the brain that feels rewarding and satisfying. It's the opposite of the panic or frustration system. Seeking feels good. It creates focus without pressure.

Sniffing also downregulates the nervous system. The physical act of lowering their head and breathing deeply activates the parasympathetic nervous system - the rest-and-digest state. Heart rate slows. Tension releases. The whole body settles.

This is why anxious dogs benefit so much from nosework. It's not just distraction. It's genuine nervous system regulation.

During unsettling times like Christmas, when there are visitors, unusual schedules, strange noises, and disrupted routines, scent games give your dog something predictable and calming to do. They can succeed. They can focus. They can regulate.

And you can start right now, in your living room, with things you already have.

This is the simplest game, and it's remarkably effective.

Take your dog's meal (or part of it) and scatter it across the floor, in the grass, or across a room. Let them search for each piece.

Why it works: Scatter feeding slows dogs down. Instead of gulping food in ten seconds, they spend ten minutes searching. That searching activates the seeking system and keeps them in a calm, focused state.

Foxy gets scatter fed most days. She's bold and food-motivated, but she's also a worrier. Scatter feeding gives her something rewarding to do that doesn't spike her arousal. She settles beautifully afterward, often on my feet!

Eddie loved scatter feeding and he grew in confidence and self belief very quickly through it. 

How to start: Use kibble or treats. Start in a small area so they build confidence finding things easily. Gradually make it harder by spreading food over larger areas or hiding pieces under towels or behind furniture legs.

During Christmas: Scatter feed in a quiet room away from visitors. It gives your dog a break from the chaos and something calming to do.

Take a towel, sprinkle treats along it, and roll it up loosely. Let your dog unroll it with their nose and paws to find the food.

Why it works: This game requires problem-solving without pressure. Dogs can go at their own pace. There's no wrong way to do it. The combination of sniffing and gentle physical manipulation keeps them engaged but calm.

Eddie loved towel rolls because there's no pressure to perform. He could take his time, work it out, and succeed every time.

How to start: Roll the towel loosely at first. As your dog gets confident, you can roll it tighter or fold it into different shapes. You can also tie loose knots in the towel with treats inside.

During Christmas: Set this up while visitors are arriving or when there's noise elsewhere in the house. Your dog has something to focus on that isn't the doorbell.

Place treats in the cups of a muffin tin, then cover each cup with a tennis ball (or crumpled paper, or small towels). Your dog has to remove the covers to get to the food.

Why it works: This game combines scent work with gentle problem-solving. Dogs have to think, but the solution is always achievable. The success builds confidence. The sniffing settles the nervous system.

How to start: Use a muffin tin with six cups. Put treats in half the cups at first, so your dog experiences success quickly. As they get the hang of it, you can use all the cups or vary which ones contain food.

If you don't have a muffin tin, use small bowls or cups turned upside down.

During Christmas: This game keeps dogs occupied for a decent stretch of time. Perfect when you need them settled while you're cooking or hosting.

Fill a cardboard box with crumpled paper, old towels, or scrunched-up newspaper. Hide treats throughout. Let your dog dig through and search.

Why it works: This game gives dogs permission to use natural foraging behaviours - sniffing, digging, manipulating objects. It's deeply satisfying. The physical activity of digging through paper is repetitive and calming, not arousing.

Holly was a shut-down rescue when she arrived. Box searches were one of the first things that helped her come out of her shell. There was no pressure, no interaction with me, just the joy of searching. She could engage on her own terms.

How to start: Use a shallow box at first so it's not overwhelming. Add treats liberally so success comes easily. As your dog gains confidence, use deeper boxes or add more layers of material to search through.

During Christmas: All that wrapping paper? Perfect for box searches. Let your dog shred and search through it (supervised, obviously). It's enrichment and recycling.

Hide treats around a room while your dog waits (or isn't looking). Release them with a cue like "find it" and let them search.

Why it works: This game builds duration and focus. Dogs have to concentrate, scan the environment, and work methodically. It's mentally tiring in the best way. They settle afterward because they've genuinely worked.

Eddie loved this game even when he was very old. He could go slowly, at his own pace, and the searching gave him something positive to focus on.

How to start: Hide treats in obvious places at first - on the edge of the sofa, next to a chair leg, on a step. Make them easy to find. 

Success builds confidence. As your dog improves, hide treats in harder spots - under the edge of a rug, behind a plant pot, tucked into furniture crevices.

During Christmas: Set this up in a quiet room as a sanctuary game. While the rest of the house is busy, your dog has a calm space and a rewarding activity.

Making it too hard too soon. If your dog can't find the food easily at first, they'll get frustrated rather than settled. Start simple. Build confidence. Make it harder gradually. Read their body language, are they enjoying it or dog they lack confidence? Learn to do that here.

Using high-value treats that spike arousal. For settling games, use your dog's regular food or low-key treats. You want them engaged but calm, not bouncing with excitement.

Forgetting to let them finish. Don't call your dog away from a scent game before they've found everything. Let them complete the search. That completion is part of what settles them.

Expecting instant calm. Some dogs need a few minutes after a scent game to fully settle. They're processing, winding down. Give them that space.

Scent games work brilliantly:

• Before unsettling events (visitors arriving, fireworks starting)
• During overwhelming times (Christmas chaos, building work)
• After overstimulating experiences (to help them downregulate)
• On days when outdoor exercise isn't possible
• Any time your dog needs to settle but can't seem to switch off
• Before walks to calm the nervous system of worried dogs.
  
  

These games aren't just emergency tools. Regular scent work builds your dog's capacity to regulate. The more they practice using their seeking system to settle, the better they get at it.

During Christmas, consider making one of these games part of your daily routine. It gives your dog something predictable and calming when everything else feels unpredictable. And why not put a snuffle rug on your Christmas list - your dog will love it! 

You don't need to do all five games. Pick one. Try it today.

Start simple. Make it easy. Let your dog succeed. Create an optimist. Learn more about canine optimism here.

Watch what happens when they engage their nose. Watch their body language shift. Watch them settle.

That's the power of the seeking system. That's what happens when we give dogs appropriate ways to use their natural abilities.

And the best part? You already have everything you need.

This blog post is dedicated to Eddie, a gentle and kind little dog who I only knew for the last 18 months of his life. 

Eddie hadn't experienced scentwork or enrichment when we met, though he was very loved, that kind of activity hadn't yet reached his world. 

Eddie literally took to enrichment like a duck to water, he loved it, it lit him up! So this post is written for him and for all the other dogs who haven't yet started enrichment. Try it - it's super simple and your dog will be delighted!

Join us in Skool For Dog People, where we explore nervous system science, trauma-informed approaches, and practical enrichment that genuinely helps dogs regulate. No pressure methods, no quick fixes - just compassionate, evidence-based guidance for you and your dog.