To play Find It with a dog, set aside a portion of your dog's normal daily food ration and progress through two simple stages in the same safe, easily reachable spots: in Stage 1 (Visible Placement), let your dog watch you place a piece of food in plain sight on the floor and give a consistent invitation like “Where is it?”—finding and eating that piece completes the round; in Stage 2 (Out-of-Sight Placement), conceal the placement step only after your dog reliably understands the cue, changing what your dog sees without wedging food into tight or unreachable gaps.
| Game Stage | What Your Dog Sees | Where the Food Goes | What Completes the Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1: Visible placement (Start here) | Your dog watches you hold the piece of food and set it down in plain view. | An open, flat, easy-to-reach spot on the floor a few steps away. | You say “Where is it?”, your dog walks over, finds and eats that single portion—attempt complete. |
| Stage 2: Concealed placement (After Stage 1 is easy) | Your dog waits briefly or looks away while you place the food out of direct line of sight. | Equally safe, open, reachable floor level (e.g., just behind a table leg or chair corner—never wedged into tight crevices). | Your dog follows your cue, sniffs out and eats the portion, or pauses if tired (collect any uneaten pieces at the end). |
Prepare an accessible find from the normal ration
Measure out a handful of kibble or treats from your dog's regular daily food allowance rather than adding extra meals. PDSA's dog activity guide notes that food-finding games should come out of the daily ration and that every hiding spot must be safe and easy for your dog to reach.
Pick a tidy room where you can easily spot and retrieve any leftover pieces afterward. Never place food near household hazards, behind electrical cords, or wedged inside narrow furniture gaps where a paw or nose could get stuck.
Stage 1: Let the dog watch the placement
The Blue Cross play guide introduces scent and search games by letting the dog watch an item being placed in an easy spot first before inviting them to find it. Using pieces of your dog's dinner works the exact same way.
Show your dog the piece of food, place it openly on the floor a short distance away while they watch, and give a cheerful, consistent cue such as “Where is it?” or “Find it!” As soon as your dog walks over and eats that piece, the round is complete—there is no timer to beat.
Stage 2: Conceal the placement only after success
Once your dog eagerly connects your verbal cue with searching for the visible food, Blue Cross suggests increasing the challenge slightly by placing the food while your dog is not watching (for example, just around the corner of a sofa or behind a chair leg).
Change only the visual clue while keeping the physical spot just as safe and easy to reach on the floor. This open-room search game is a separate activity from packing kibble into a fabric puzzle; if you also use a foraging mat, see our guide to a snuffle mat's loading instructions.
Finish while interested and reset the room
If your dog seems confused or gives up on a hidden piece, Blue Cross's training guidance recommends pausing and returning to an easier visible placement on the next turn so the game stays rewarding.
As Blue Cross's play leaflet emphasizes, never force a dog to play and always end the game while your dog is still happy and engaged. Let your dog walk away whenever they choose, then check every spot you used and pick up any leftover food pieces—Find It is a relaxed enrichment activity, never a scent-work exam or a reason to withhold the rest of your dog's meal.
