Every dog owner has to go for walks. As your dog sniffs a fire hydrant for seven minutes, though, they can get a bit old. Even though it’s hard not to give your dog a gentle tug on its leash to speed things up, or at least sigh loudly in the hope that the dog will figure out what’s going on. Having dogs sniff is an essential part of dog life, and it’s understandable to want to move faster.
Dogs have noses that are meant to smell. The human nose has about 5 million olfactory receptors, which tell different smells apart. Dogs, on the other hand, have millions more. Because some breeds of dogs have up to 300 million olfactory receptors, the scent is at least as important as the sight for them to understand their surroundings.
A dog psychology specialist and writer of How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind, Dr. Stanley Coren, said that dogs live in a very different world from our own. “Dogs are living in a world that is very different from our own,” he said. The way they look at information is like that. If you believe the AKC, dogs have brains meant to sniff their way around. The AKC says that the part of a dog’s smell brain is 40 times bigger than ours. “One-eighth of a dog’s brain is used for smelling.”
Why does my dog keep sniffing while walking?
When you’re at the grocery store, do you look at different packages to figure out what to buy? Or do you smell the cans and boxes that are inside? I bet you would be sniffing if you were a dog because that is what dogs do. Our eyes help us understand the world around us. For owners, it’s good to know what makes a dog go out and sniff everything that comes its the way. When you put a blindfold on a person, they can’t see what’s happening around them.
The chance to smell gives your dog important information and essential mental stimulation. So, now that you understand your dog’s need to sniff, how can you better meet your pet’s needs and use those urges in a good way? Make your dog’s walk fun by giving him a lot of chances to sniff. A fire hydrant and a tree trunk aren’t things you should run through or stay away from. He needs to know what they are.
It’s just that you don’t want to spend the whole walk sniffing the same tree. As soon as you say “leave it,” say “move on.” Better still, reward your dog for walking on a loose leash or heeling by giving him a lot of sniff breaks. When it’s time for a break, teach your dog a “go sniff” cue. This way, your dog will know it’s OK to relax and sniff around.
Should you allow your dog to sniff while walking?
When dogs smell something, they think about it. What happened in a particular place, what’s going on now, if there are other dogs in the area, threats nearby, and so much more. It all comes from their noses. That’s why your dog always stops to get a good sniff. It’s a great way to keep your dog’s mind active and let him use his brain.
As for what happens on your walks, there are a few things to think about. Walks can be used for many things. Give your dog a chance to go to the bathroom, change the scenery, and exercise. This is important for your dog’s well-being. You can’t let your dog go outside when needed, and it doesn’t get mental stimulation or exercise. It will become dull, anxious, destructive, and unhealthy very quickly.
Is it wrong to let my dog sniff everything on walks?
Dogs have up to 300 million scent receptors in their noses, depending on the breed. We have five or six million. They also have a Jacobson’s organ that helps them detect odors that are usually not detectable, like pheromones. They also have a far more extensive area of their brain used to sense smell. There is a sense of smell that is at least 10,000 times better than a person’s.
It’s almost impossible to imagine how much information they get from their noses because we don’t have noses. So, for example, we might tell a friend to stop and smell the roses when we think she needs to relax and enjoy herself. But when it comes to our dogs’ walks, that’s a much better way to say it. As humans, we might want to look around to see what’s around us.
On the other hand, dogs want to smell everything their environment has to offer, just like we might want to. When you drag your dog away from an exciting smell or ask him to heel the whole way around the block, he won’t be able to enjoy the scenery fully and the mental stimulation a walk can give him.
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