Teaching a dog to sniff?

[BruceLeTerror]

Sorry, prob wrong title, but my DDog has never really been a sniffy dog (and I really want him to sniff more for the positive's for him!)

On a walk, if he wants to stop and sniff, then he is very welcome, I don't hurry him. We do a mix of road walks, forests and fields/tracks (sometimes on a lead or longline or loose - nothing makes a difference) We went on a tracking course, all the other dogs noses were glued to the floor, my pup was head in the air!

How can I help him? Or are just some dogs not sniffy? (and in that case - what else can I do to help him mentally challenge and de-stress?)

He LOVES chasing squirrels and deer, but obviously that's not acceptable!

ANY advice appreciated - the internet is so overwhelming sometimes, I spend more time researching stuff than doing it - which again then isn't fair on him 😟

Thank you lovely people 😁

Have you tried hiding food in the house (dry kibble) and getting him to look for it? Try it in a small place first and then spread out. My dog loves this activity! I also hide treats in pockets and sit on the floor so she has to sniff them out. Then move kibble to a grass area or outside. That might get him using his nose more? But maybe he’s not that kind of dog! When mine went man trailing she was good at it but kept her nose in the air! So might be different breeds/personalities. As long as he’s happy???

Is he young? In my experience, they are more interested in sniffing as they slow down.

That said , you could look for scent classes nearby and see if they are suitable for your dog.

I have labs, and we would play ‘find the snacks’ on wet days ( hiding kibble
round the house and sending them out for it), likewise we would do similar in a field. Or finding a flung toy in rough grass,etc.

If his nose is in the air, he's air-scenting which is common among sighthounds, and some dogs just do it like that. I don't agree with scentwork being for older dogs - of my three Labs, one was tracking (now called man trailing) at 3, one was a working gundog at the same age, and the current one has done multiple scent discrimination since he was 18 months.

I have two dogs - one (whippet x doberman ish) loves to sniff and scent trail. The other (greyhound x saluki ish) can only sniff out treats in pockets, couldn't tell you how to scent trail if you asked him and has no interest. Its probably just how yours is tbh

Sniff on walks or sniff things out?
dor walks when he sniffs have a cue word (go sniff) when he’s sniffing and praise and reward everytime. Mine has sniffy times, when I say go sniff then he’ll come back to me and walk on, we don’t stop to sniff or have fully sniffy walks. He does it on command. In the house you can hide kibble and get him to find it.

Have you used treats or anything to encourage him in the house or garden?

The trouble with the dog world grasping onto ideas of enrichment is it becomes prescriptive. It ain't enrichment if the dog doesn't enjoy it. Suggest sniffing to my youngster and she'd think that was a total waste of a walk. Walks are for running and jumping. Tracking is very much a humans idea of how dogs should do it. Mantrailing, which is like search and rescue, let's the dog find the person in a way that makes sense to them. Air scent, ground scent, cutting off unnecessary corners, whatever finds them the misper

A dog that does not sniff will usually be a pretty stressed dog. Unless you have a sight hound and they dont give two figs for sniffing!

So it is good to encourage sniffing.

Tracking is not a human idea of how dogs should do it! Just watch the dogs that is the whole point of tracking - let the dogs do it their way.

@KeenOtter thank you, he's of mixed heritage/Heinz57 (but a DNA test suggested a lot of Whippet and Greyhound) ,... and he can spot a deer a mile off 😂😂 so I guess he's true to his breeding 🙏

We do the hide treats/toys and 'Go find!' ... only just discovered sausage is best used for that (not normal dry treats!)

As long as that's 'normal ish' I will stop comparing him to the dogs who's nose is never off the floor 🙂

OP yep if he has greyhound sight hound in him he will have other interests to sniffing.

There has been an excellent study on German Shepherds, Pugs and Greyhounds to see how they sniffed.

The Pugs were the most accurate sniffers although did not have the stamina of the German Shepherds. Love to see sniffing pugs out and about with the police!

The Greyhounds quote from the study "Nine of 10 Greyhounds did not complete acquisition training because they failed a motivation criterion"

Basically they were lying on their backs on the sofa with their legs up in the air clearly saying they did not want to play

That's hilarious. I was thinking this about my dog. There is absolutely no way he would bother his arse to sniff out a piece of kibble. Maybe a piece of steak at a push. The only thing he really shows an interest in sniffing is other dogs bums 🤣

@KeenOtter that is hilarious 😂 surprising about Pugs though - who'd have thought it with their almost non existent snoots

Comparison is the killer of joy, so I'll stop comparing him to other sniffy dogs and projecting onto him what I think he should enjoy doing 😝 and just adore him for whom he is (which I do anyways - just want a happy pup)

Thanks everyone 🙂