Many times, we're in a rush to take our dogs for a walk. Unfortunately, our busy lives get in the way and our dogs can quickly become lower on our priority list. Imagine if you had to sit in a room for hours without anything to do or anyone to talk to. You would need some mental stimulation to keep your energy and your spirits up.
The same goes for our dogs. Reading about the importance of sniffing and learning about how we can add sniff time into our walks will be a positive change for our dogs. They'll thank you for it!
When to let them sniff
You don’t have to let your dog sniff around as much as he wants to all the time. When Buster and I go for a run, I let him sniff and do his business for the first couple minutes, then we go. He can sniff again when we’re on our cooldown walk. But there are also times when we go for a leisurely walk, and he can sniff around a little bit more.
How it works
For Buster, he wears a different harness when we run than when we walk, and that seems to help him know the difference. When he has his running harness on, he doesn’t even try to sniff that much, he just goes. But if we’re going for a w-a-l-k, he knows that we are going slower and it’s a more relaxed experience.
It can be helpful to still have some structure around the walk, or your dog is just going to spend the whole time sniffing your neighbor’s yard. By teaching your dog to sniff on cue, they know when it’s time to walk and when they can explore. You might want to use something like “let’s go” for when you are walking and then “okay,” “sniff” or “go” for when they are allowed to go sniff around. When you’re ready to walk again, say “let’s go” and start walking. It may take your dog some time to figure it out, but they’ll get it.
We like things to move along swiftly on our walks and letting our dogs sniff for more than a few seconds can turn into a time-consuming task. I'm definitely guilty of pulling my dog away from a spot of grass if he's been sniffing it for what I deem has been too long. In my defense, sometimes it's because I think he's going to eat something he shouldn't. Nevertheless, it's important to remember that we're responsible for the mental and physical health of our doggies and letting them sniff around will lead to a happier dog and a happier human. To read more about this intriguing topic, check out Dogster.
