German Shepherd/Chow Chow Mix?

We've adopted a German shepherd/chow mix and he is really intelligent. Wants to please like a shepherd, but able to think on his own like a chow.
He shows potential in being a scenting dog. I would play with him with a favorite rope toy of his, and I would hide it. He then looks like he is sniffing around for it. How would I train him and help him develop this skill?
Oh, and what can I put in his food that would help with urine spots so that it doesn't burn the grass in the yard? My cousin uses spaghetti sauce on her german shepherd/lab mix. Is there an alternative?
Answers:
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Yellow Grass and Dog Urine
Weekly Expert Pet Advice
with Dr. James Glover, Resident Expert






We have a 1 year old German Shepard, and when it goes to the bathroom outside, it turns the grass yellow. How can we prevent this? Is it something he can eat or drink to help? It is ruining our yard! (Kristen Soares, Texas)
Dog urine causes dead patches and lawn burn due to the high levels of nitrogen that is released into the lawn through the urine. Every dog owner who has a yard will be familiar with this.
Nitrogen is actually a lawn-growth stimulant that encourages lawn growth when properly applied as a fertilizer. The problem presented with dog urine is that since most dogs urinate in one spot, then will introduce large amounts of liquid nitrogen (urine) to that spot thereby causing a burning reaction and even a dead-spot in the lawn. Often the effected spot will show vigorous grass growth around the spot due to the nitrogen levels that stimulate growth around the edges. Since larger dogs usually produce larger amounts of urine, there is a direct correlation between the size of your dog and the changes of developing lawn burn and dead spots in your lawn through urination.
The best way to help prevent urine burns and dead spots is to saturate the spots with water. This will allow the excess nitrogen to leach or dilute through the lawn and reducing the concentration in one area. It is usually best to treat the areas up to 9 hours after urination and to apply at least three-time the amount of water to urine to the area. Dead spots can also be reseeded. Most lawn grasses will eventually repair itself to cover the dead areas.
Among the many reputed cures for dead-spots from dog urine are also to apply sugar to the affected areas, with the thinking that this somehow balances out the nitrogen overkill. If you have old unfinished bottles of soda this can be liberally applied to these areas, or apply a handful of corn syrup. This particular remedy is often reported to work!
I copied this info from another web site hope it helps!
oh and keep working with your dog until he becomes familiar with what you are doing. Then introduce him to other things he can go and find.Be sure to reward him for being good.

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Put a tsp of Braggs applecider vinegar in his drinking water.. It will ph the system.. Take the acid out of the urine and it won't burn up your grass anymore..

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DP gives good advice re the urine problem.
As far as the sniffer-dog training, you need to start at the bottom. He will basically need to work his way up from basic obedience to a high level before he will be ready to start training in scent tracking. Dogs doing tracking are not always used on a leash, so you need to have excellent control of the dog when it is lose. As far as I know, tracking is done through dog clubs once your dog has acheived a high level in obedience classes. If I were you, I would contact your local obedience school, and various dog clubs to get some contact details %26 advice on what you should be doing. I've seen dogs in the field doing tracking in competitions, and it looks like a lot of fun for both the owners %26 dogs, but these people are generally dog lovers who have %26 do devote a lot of their time in training both on %26 off the field.
Best of luck - I hope your dog lives up to his full potential!