Let Them Sniff

What if I told you that you do not need to run and run your dog to exercise them? That exercising their brains while out on a walk can do wonders for tiring them out. What’s even better is that it requires no equipment, other than maybe a long line if your dog’s recall isn’t as good as you would like or (as in the case of my dog) it’s safer to be able to gather them back in closer to you if something worries them?

You do not need a ball launcher to tire your dog. It doesn't matter how high drive your dog’s particular breed is, there is no need to constantly have them running flat out. While some dogs are able to cope mentally with a few repetitions of chasing the ball, others can become fixated and want ever more, more, MORE!

I'm not saying never play fetch with your dogs, but it can become all-consuming

Think about it this way – how do human athletes sometimes go about increasing fitness? They do shuttle runs – repeated runs between two points. As they keep doing this, they get fitter and able to do more. So – the more fetches (shuttle runs) your dog does, the more exercise they need to tire them out. And in the future more. And even more. Essentially, the dog is turning into an athlete. It becomes an addiction, racking up the dog’s arousal level more and more and they can become obsessed. There is also the potential for injury and joint problems, with repeated flat out runs, sharp turns, sudden halts, and jumping in the air to catch the ball, which can result in awkward landings.

Sniffing is one of the most natural behaviours for dogs. The Five Freedoms, considered the basic standard of animal welfare, includes the ‘freedom to exhibit natural behaviours’ which includes sniffing. Smell is the primary sense that dogs use to interpret and make sense of their world. Watch your dog when out for a walk and see how quickly their noses head down to the ground to start picking up scents. For a species who communicate so much via scent, think of a good sniff as their way of indulging in a scroll through their social media. Sniffing picks up the messages left by others passing by. Scent marking leaves their own contribution, their own messages for others who pass by later.

A dog's social media post (Bad pun, I know!)

Dogs have a massive amount of capacity for scent detection and processing compared to humans, evidenced by their approximately 220 million scent receptors (more in breeds developed for their scenting capacity such as the Bloodhound) compared to our 6 million. Surely, by not giving them plenty of opportunities to sniff, we are failing to use one of the greatest enrichment opportunities open to them.

So take your dog somewhere new, or somewhere they haven’t been for a while, where there is room to roam safely away from roads or livestock that may be frightened by the dog’s presence. This might be a local park, nature reserve, secure field etc. If safe to do so for everyone in the area, let your dog off lead or put them on a long line. Then just let them sniff. Let them dictate the pace. Let them follow their noses and decide the direction (again, if safe to do do).

Below are two videos of my anxious Border Collie, Finn. He stays on a long line if there is any chance of encountering others so we can safely gather him in to create distance if necessary. He does get to go off-lead but that tends to be very early in the morning when there are few people around to encounter. In the first video you can see he starts off a bit excitable, going out to the end of the line in an attempt to get to all the smells as quickly as possible. The second video is a little later in the walk, only a few minutes, and shows how much he's calmed down and is taking his time over the smells, moving much steadier between them and taking his time. This kind of at their own pace sniffing is amazing for encouraging dogs to calm and slow down. He crashed out on the sofa for a good couple of hours or more when we got home.

Some dogs find going out to different places scary. For these dogs, secure fields can be an absolute blessing if there is one near you. If not, there are still ways to give them lots of sniffing opportunity. Gather materials when out without your dog – fallen leaves and pinecones from the woods perhaps, fragments of sheep wool or animal hair caught in fences and so on. All the things we can imagine our dogs sniffing if walking in a location grab a little sample and put in a bag. Later at home we can spread these things out for our dogs who find being out in the world overwhelming to explore.

Letting dogs sniff is more than simply a fun way to let them enjoy a walk – it is one of our central responsibilities to our dogs.

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Don't forget my books, all available in ebook and the two books on reactive behaviour are also in audiobook via Amazon, Audible and iTunes. All these can be found via the link. Paperbacks may be ordered from some bookstores or purchased via Amazon. Understanding Reactive Dogs is also available for purchase as a hardback now via some Amazon stores. I have also added some new designs and items in both my Redbubble and Spring stores.