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The doghouse

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Original poster

My dog is OBSESSED with sniffing...

24 replies

Straightupp · 21/03/2022 18:46

My 4 year old pug is obsessed with sniffing when on a walk and I'm sure it can't be normal?!
I don't walk her as much as I should anymore because I just can't cope with the excessive sniffing and stopping, I am busy with work and have a young child so a walk is usually with my DC and involves me trying to push a pushchair too which makes it equally hard when we're stopping every 5 seconds. As far as I can tell she's sniffing other dogs wee as I can see it up the lamppost, the wall or the longer tufts of grass that dogs would mark against.
I'm not exaggerating, she cannot walk 5 steps without finding something to sniff and when she does she doesn't sniff and move on she just stops and continuously sniffs, a walk just consists of me gently pulling her away from sniffing the whole time and she's not a big dog but will dig her feet in to prove a point she doesn't want to move! At no point does she enjoy the act of just walking, to her a walk is solely focused on finding every patch of wee to sniff!

I know dogs naturally sniff on a walk but I have walked other dogs/observed other dogs walking and none are as bad as my dog. If she sniffed and moved on it wouldn't be so bad!

Does anybody have any insight? And apologies for the amount of times I've written sniff 🤣

OP posts:

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 21/03/2022 19:49

It's perfectly normal and incredibly healthy for dogs to sniff.

It could be worth trying to teach her to sniff on command, though. Start in the garden - scatter treats in the grass and tell her "go sniff" or "go find". Then when she's finished the treats, give her a command to "end" the sniffing - we use "all done!" and another (different) treat. Hopefully you can then move the command on to walks.

You may have to start by dropping a treat for her to find, but eventually you should be able to ease off the treats and just use the command words.

pumpkinpie01 · 21/03/2022 19:50

Sniffing tires then out , if you were going to walk for an hour and she is sniffing constantly you don't need to still be out for an hour . It's enriching for them .

Tanfastic · 21/03/2022 19:52

My dog is the same, it's bloody annoying. It's worse when we are walking near a grass verge. I feel your pain, no advice.

GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat · 21/03/2022 19:52

It's literally the best thing ever for a dog!

It's how they calm, learn, communicate, explore, it's their everything!

Let her sniff, you'll be making her so happy.

Sisisimone · 21/03/2022 19:56

Mines exactly the same, think its pretty normal

Easterbunnyiswindowshopping · 21/03/2022 20:01

Apparently it's the equivalent of us window shopping!!

TheDogsMother · 21/03/2022 20:01

Mine was the same and it seemed annoying when I had a walk planned for him. Then I reminded myself that it was his walk, the high point of his day and sniffing was something he loved to do. I understand your frustration because I felt the same but it's just dogs being dogs.

Allsorts1 · 21/03/2022 20:10

For our dog, if she wants to sniff I just let her sniff. The walk is for her, if she wants to spend it slowly sniffing then that’s her choice. It’s also great for their brains!

Obviously if we have somewhere to be then I’ll rush her along but if it’s specifically a dog walk then she gets to enjoy as much sniffing as she want.

She has been sniffing a bit more than usual, maybe it’s something to do with spring and different animal scents or something!

lemons44 · 21/03/2022 20:11

Think of it like social media for dogs. They sniff other dogs wee to know the neighbourhood gossip basically. From sniffing wee, they can literally tell what the dogs have eaten, if they are male or female, whether a dog is in heat, whether they are neutered etc. It's incredible what they know just from sniffing wee.

drinkgwineoutofamug · 21/03/2022 20:13

@lemons44

Wee mail

Idratherhaveacuppa · 21/03/2022 20:15

Yes @thedogsmother that's a really good point and one I remind my DH of regularly. It's the dogs walk.
I tend to let her have sniffy time but sometimes it just isn't practical. For example, she is fear reactive and if I can see another dog coming but she is stuck into a sniff then I'll say "let's go" and off we walk. Sometimes, I'll just stand while she sniffs one lamppost or tuft of grass for ages. And ages. Not ideal when it's freezing and she doesn't do it when it's raining. She has a 20 minute sniffy walk in the morning and a longer "exercise" walk in the afternoon.
I think it's just about letting her have her sniffy times but also knowing that 'let's go' means enough.

JustMaggie · 21/03/2022 20:50

We have a beagle. We don't do walks, it's a "sniffari". I used to fight it but now I just let her do her beagley thing. So long as she's not going somewhere dangerous I just let her lead the way and we stop for however long she wants to sniff. Some days we don't really get very far!

CatSpeakForDummies · 21/03/2022 20:58

Mine loves a sniff but she loves carrying a stick and showing it off more, we go much faster if she's got a stick - worth a try?

XelaM · 21/03/2022 23:14

Aww let her sniff 🤗 We also have a pug who likes to sniff (although he also likes to pull!)

Just let her do what she wants on her walk, unless you have somewhere to be.

Geppili · 21/03/2022 23:27

The sniffs are the best bit of a walk!

forressttheouut · 22/03/2022 08:55

sniffing is really good for them, but you can teach them to keep moving. take some treats out when she wants to sniff let her do so for a few seconds and then give whatever command you want to use to get her to move along my dogs know when I say chip chop they should carry on walking. They have been taught this as they come out running or on long 10km+ walks with me and its bloody annoying not being able to keep a pace. I would suggest you don't teach this with the view of never letting her sniff on walks. Mine spend about half of long walks off lead and also if I am just walking them rather than wanting to run or do a long hike they are allowed to sniff to their hearts content

Original poster

Straightupp · 22/03/2022 11:54

Thank you for the messages! Now feeling massively guilty that i've been annoyed about it.

I think to be honest it is the fact that i walk her when i have a destination to get to alot of the time e.g the school run so i don't have the time to let her sniff away. Or i have a route planned in my head and if i stopped to let her sniff it would take me ages to complete it! I need to remember the walk is for her benefit and if she wants to spend half the time sniffing the wall at the end of our driveway that's fine :D

She is far better off lead and will happily follow me or run around, in fact if she does find something nice to smell she will give up on it if she spots i've gotten too far away. But downside to that is that her recall can be terrible if other dogs are about so i can only let her off lead somewhere secluded.

@Idratherhaveacuppa @forressttheouut i think that's what i need to work on is that when we do need to carry on walking she needs to listen to my command, at present i could stand saying lets go for 5 hours to no avail lol.

OP posts:

Original poster

Straightupp · 22/03/2022 11:57

@JustMaggie love the sniffari, i always say to her can you please walk with your feet and not your nose. I feel like i'm walking a giant nose on a lead

OP posts:

Idratherhaveacuppa · 22/03/2022 12:11

A treat pouch is a valuable tool! Mine loves food beyond anything else (except her dad 🙄) and sometimes when I say "let's go!" she gets a little bit of something nice from the pouch of good stuff!

SheldonesqueTheBstard · 22/03/2022 12:17

We have a sniffari.
If we can’t get far due to injuries/weather etc, then sniffari is the next best thing.

Not unheard of to have an hour out and less than 2 miles walked. And she’s as happy with that as a morning at the river.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 22/03/2022 12:19

Can we swap? I have a sighthound who simply freezes if she thinks she sees 'prey' (aka literally anything moving, anywhere) and she also regularly goes into a kind of trance state, staring dreamily into the middle distance. I've had to pick her up and carry her to a new location, just to re-set her. At least if she was sniffing I'd know she was getting something out of the experience!

SirSniffsAlot · 23/03/2022 09:13

A pug that loves sniffing and sometimes doesn't listen to you?

I'd be tempted to turn that into the best game ever. One where she needs you to access the reward at the end of the sniff. Become her partner in crime, not the boring one who stops her fun

Some ideas here...

moderndogmagazine.com/articles/8-fun-scent-games-your-dog-will-love/80052

Roodog · 23/03/2022 20:07

My husband gets really frustrated with our greyhound who can take forever to cover any distance because he sniffs so much. But you can tell how much he loved it. Now husband goes by himself if he wants an energetic walk! I also find he gets the sniffing out of his system (a bit) after a while and walks on more. Because of his prey drive and appalling recall he's always on lead, so we just have to stop when he stops.

WellThatsMeScrewed · 24/03/2022 20:27

I could have written your post. My dog is sooooooo slow as sniffing every blade of grass. As I result I avoid taking him on school runs it’s just too stressful and I feel cruel dragging him along. We do most walks off lead but now if we’re doing a lead walk I make sure I have my headphones in with a podcast as other wise it is soooooo boring.

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