Anyone else dog not a sniffy dog?

[OldSpeclkledHen]

My Terrier X isn't really a sniffy dog... sure he'll sniff for a bit but then it's almost like he's bored, and then just trots the rest of the walk with occasional sniffing

We go different walks (so not like it's the same walk day in/day out)

We went on a tracking course last week, and everyone else's dogs came out, nose straight down on the ground!

DDog came out and barked! He did sniff/track a bit, but nothing like the others.

We've got the second part of the tracking course next month, and I'd like to go, but not if it doesn't turn my dog on (he'd rather chase a ball - which I'm trying to steer away from) I want to do something we both enjoy 😳

Any tips/suggestions greatly appreciated 🙏 thank you

Made me chuckle that a terrier came out and barked - quelle surprise 😂

What about something like hoopers where he can charge around and then be rewarded with a game of squeaky tug of war? Probably more of a terrier activity if he's not very sniffy.

How old is your dog? Mine didn’t sniff (only ran straight ahead with me in tow 😅) the first couple of years but eventually matured and got more interested in smells of other dogs etc.

Your dog may have been air scenting rather than nose down ground scenting so less obvious that he was sniffing

Some dogs do find it hard to sniff and they are usually over aroused or over threshold for some reason. May be a bit anxious or excited by the environment.

Sniffing is fab for dogs as it does release loads of dopamine. However dopamine does need to be released for them to be able to sniff.

Speak to your instructor but if you were coming to my sessions I would be encouraging really small food searches before you began the track to get your dogs dopamine released and them calm to search. I would build on the motivation to search. All dogs are different but all dogs can build on their scent motivation.

You may find scentwork indoors a good place to start as there will be less environmental distractions.

If your dog is a terrier do they love to tug? You could be hiding tuggy toys and get him to find them. You say he loves chasing a ball - this is very high energy high adrenalin game so I would change this to hiding the ball. He will feel way better for this than the manic chasing.

Get the motivation to sniff and he will love you for it honestly!