OK…..I have kind of a rant.
The point of a walk is for your dog to burn off some energy from being cooped up all day. It is to burn some calories to help them maintain a healthy weight (Significant calories can’t be burned if you are not actually covering some ground). It is to help their joints stay flexible and their muscles strong. Your dog should know you mean business – a walk is actual “motion” time
I see people doing this all of the time. As a dog walker, I can tell who’s human parents let them do this. Owners of small dogs are bigger culprits than those of big dogs.
It’s letting them stop and sniff every single thing along the way.
Don’t get me wrong, a dog needs mental stimulation too. Getting them outside to sniff around a bit gets their mental juices flowing and is important for their well being.
There is a time for each though – and those times should be distinctly separate.
If you are taking your dog “for a walk” they should be on the move. They are on your time and your agenda and they should know it. They should not be allowed to stop and sniff everything and should be walking beside you (or at the very least, walking in front of you). I am not saying that they should not sniff at all, the sniff time should be kept to a minimum though.
The time to sniff every little thing is different. It can be a purposeful journey around the block AFTER your dog has gotten the proper exercise. It can be at a dog park where they can run and play AND stop and sniff whenever they want. It can be when you let them out in the back yard.
Set your purpose when you head out the door. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to give your dog some exercise (or yourself some exercise)? Are you taking your dog on a leisurely, sensory journey? Unless you focus on one or the other, your dog is not getting the true benefit of either.
The article 6 Tips for Walking with Your Dog has some good things to say related to the issue of walk time vs. sniff time. For example, it says “After your dog has maintained the proper state of mind (relaxed walking I assume), reward him by allowing him to relieve himself and sniff around. Then you need to decide when reward time is over. It should always be less than the time spent focused on the walk”.
An excellent, less dominance-based article can be found at PetMD. The article has some really great tips on getting your dog to walk by your side. My favorite, easiest one is to “Walk at a quick pace. If your dog trots or runs, she’ll have fewer opportunities to catch a whiff of something enticing, and she’ll be less inclined to stop and eliminate every few steps. Additionally, you are far more interesting to your dog when you move quickly.”
There is a good thread on DogForums.com on how to let your dog to know that you are in walk mode.
I know some people will disagree with my opinion and I respect that. Whether you agree or disagree, I would like to hear your thoughts or tips.
Gloria says
July 10, 2012 at 3:21 AMThanks for stopping by my bloggie and leaving a comment! We always try to get lots of exercise here!
Lovies, Miss Mindy
Pennypup says
July 10, 2012 at 4:33 AMThanks for dropping by Dobermann Daze!
This is also a peeve of mine. When Kyuss and I take our daily walk, we always walk. When I first told people I didn’t let Kyuss pee anymore than twice on our walk (once when we first get outside at home and one while walking) people were shocked to say the least.
They thought I was being ‘cruel’ not letting him relieve himself wherever he pleased.
I love walking Kyuss! But I hate having to stop every 10 feet to let him sniff, so I just don’t. He got the idea pretty quickly as a pup that walks are for walking. =D
Pamela says
July 10, 2012 at 5:56 AMMy only (mild) disagreement is that I do allow sniffies in the early part of the walk. It was a great start before running with Agatha and Christie because they get it out of their system before we set off. And they were less distracted and more able to run once they got the sniffies out of the way.
That said, I agree that people don’t know how to walk. I suspect one of the major reasons some dogs pull is because people walk too d*mn slowly. It’s just plain unfair to expect animals that evolved to follow hunters across savannahs for days at a time running down antelope to meander lazily down the street. And, as the ancestors of those hunters who ran down antelope on the savannahs, it’s not so good for us either. 🙂
Marci says
July 10, 2012 at 6:06 AMI LOVE the name of your dogs!
Marci says
July 10, 2012 at 6:05 AMI agree, however, I’m not sure I follow it in practice 🙂 When Layla and I first turn left off of our street- she smells and pees a lot. After that, we are on a mission and walk. She tries to stop and I keep going so she follows. I suppose we combine the two things you talked about. It works for us. Also, if we are going on a long walk to the local park- when we get there she can sniff all she wants, then homeward bound we are back to serious walking. It works for us 🙂
Roxy the traveling dog says
July 10, 2012 at 7:10 AMWhen we go walking, it’s WALKING. I am a real fast walker and I don’t like to slow down. When I walk with the hubs we walk slower, and Torrey goes nuts trying to walk at our faster pace. Roxy however, is getting older and prefers a slow walk or easy paced hike.
Dachshund Nola and her mom says
July 10, 2012 at 9:03 AMI Agree completely!
Jen says
July 10, 2012 at 12:17 PMGood post!
Occasionally, I will allow Elka to stop and sniff, but this is a limited quantity of times. It really irritates me if she wants to investigate every signpost and bush, which by removal makes me irritated at people who let their male dogs MARK every signpost and bush. But, she gets a limited number of sniffs on the sidewalk portions of our walk, and otherwise, we’re moving. At the park, on the long leash, she has more opportunity, in part because she can run ahead, sniff, wait until I’ve passed, and then run to catch up. But we must keep moving! This is for me as much as her 😉
AdventureJess says
July 10, 2012 at 3:05 PMI used to use a flexi leash when walking Chester. That is how our walks mostly went – sniff, catch up, sniff catch up. Now I walk both dogs on static leads so they don’t get to do that. As long as we are moving along at a good clip, the only time they insist on stopping and sniffing is when they have to go potty….so we stop. There are also times after we have actually gotten some excercise that I stand in one place and watch them sniff with a smile on my face.
Kristine says
July 10, 2012 at 1:54 PMHonestly I think it depends on the person and the dog. Walking is one of my favourite activities and I can achieve benefit both through the exercise itself as well as through the relaxation of a leisurely stroll. While I can see multiple sniffing breaks to be annoying to a dog walker, I understand the desire to follow your dog’s nose. Depending on how much time we have and my mood, sometimes I like encouraging my dog to linger at her favourite sniffing spots. And other times I like to just keep walking or running.
Since I walk my dog for two hours every day, I need to change it up to keep it interesting for myself as well. Though I am usually not out there for my own benefit but for my dog’s, we are ultimately a team and hopefully we both have a good time.
AdventureJess says
July 10, 2012 at 2:56 PMThanks for chiming in Kristine. I do not disagree with you – only an owner knows the needs of their dog best. It sounds like you have a good mix of walking and sniffing which means your dog is well rounded. I WILL say that you have one very lucky dog indeed. Most of the dogs out there, especially small ones, do not get to walk for two hours a day. If you are only “taking your dog for a walk” 15 to 30 minutes a day, it is important to spend that time actually moving and getting some exercise.
Diane and Cosmo @To Dog With Love says
July 10, 2012 at 2:04 PMI agree! Cosmo and I don’t get very far when I allow him to sniff everything! If I want to go on a serious walk he only gets to sniff at certain times. Then “go sniff” become a sort of reward! I also think that some dogs seem to enjoy a dog walk of any sort more than others.
AdventureJess says
July 10, 2012 at 2:58 PMI wish Chester and Gretel knew “go sniff”. They just get the idea when I stop walking and stand in one place for a few minutes 🙂
Beth & 4Doxies says
July 10, 2012 at 6:43 PMI agree that they need the exercise and the human should focus them on walking and keep the sniffing to a minimum. I walk my four “hitched” together on a Pet Walker Plus on one hand loop so they can’t really stray away from each other. This helps to keep them focused. I do allow some sniffing but they usually want to just walk, too. And I do not like for other humans to let their dogs run up to mine either.
Elizabeth says
July 10, 2012 at 8:23 PMHa, my dogs walk me. I know I’m doing it wrong anyways. 🙂
Pup Fan says
July 11, 2012 at 9:28 AMIt’s so funny. I was just talking to my husband about this last night with our two new boys. I took them the other day and let them sniff constantly. He wasn’t having that and only gave them some sniff breaks. Our dog walker isn’t all about the sniff breaks either, so I was beginning to wonder about each style. Your post came at the perfect time!
AdventureJess says
July 11, 2012 at 9:32 AMThat’s too funny. I know this will probably be an ongoing debate forever. I am not saying sniff breaks are bad but I see so many people saying “I could hardly get around the block with them because they HAD to stop and sniff everything”. That irritates me because they only stop if you always let them. I am just saying that excercise is important and you should get that out of the way before the sniff fest begins 🙂
lauren says
July 11, 2012 at 9:32 AMDesmond goes on one morning walk every day and then either to the dog park or on another walk after the humans return from work. In the morning, we’re out from anywhere between 30 and 45 minutes, and I do combine leisurely walking/sniffing, walking with purpose, and sprinting/jogging in that short time.
I like to use the leisurely part as our warm-up, then we walk with purpose until it’s time for sprinting. In between sprints, we go back to leisure/sniffing. As we’re heading home, I like to attempt jogging. I say “attempt” because Desmond pretty much has two speeds: greyhound run and basset hound lounge. So, trying to jog before he gets energy out is impossible. 🙂
All that being said, I am working on putting sniffing on cue so it can be used as a reward.
AdventureJess says
July 11, 2012 at 9:34 AMI am glad that you make it a point to get some excercise in too. Also, you have a very lucky dog…TWO walks or adventures a day. I wish all dogs got that 🙂
AdventureJess says
July 11, 2012 at 9:36 AMPS….I stopped by and wanted to comment on your island dog park post but couldn’t find the comment button 🙁
lauren says
July 13, 2012 at 9:11 AMYeah, that’s a weird thing about my blog that I can’t figure out how to fix. The link to comments is the time stamp at the bottom of the post or the post title at the top. There’s no actual link/button that says “comments”. And I have no clue what I did that made it go away!
Julie says
July 11, 2012 at 8:59 PMNow that Cali is 13 it’s hard to get her to walk at any kind of an energetic pace. She loves her walks but she is so darn stubborn now!! It’s more of a “mosey” – but I feel like I’m still keeping her moving. Too many people stop walking their older dogs and you need to keep those joints moving!!
I was a dog walker too – I was there to get the dogs exercise and I meant business 🙂
AdventureJess says
July 11, 2012 at 9:01 PMYeah, its like with people. If you stop moving when you get old your muscles deteriorate and your joints freeze up….although you DO move slower when you are old 🙂
houndstooth says
July 12, 2012 at 9:22 AMWe try to keep a balance. I let the dogs sniff some in the beginning. It’s part of the warm up for them. We have certain spots on our walks after that which are sanctioned sniffing spots. It’s good for me since I have a tendency towards passing out if I overdo things and I think sniffing is important for them, too! That being said, I don’t think they need to sniff every single blade of grass and they don’t get away with that.
AdventureJess says
July 12, 2012 at 10:28 AMThat is my only point really – they shouldn’t be able to sniff every little thing every little time. Each owner knows what “pattern” of the two are best for themselves and their dogs.
Montecristo Travels says
July 13, 2012 at 8:17 AMI am all of 2.7 pounds. I think I fall in the most abused category when it comes to this issue. I am lucky, I get two seperate 1 hour walks. They include a good balance of sniff and walk or … in my case sniff, prance or trot. During the week I get to go to the park where I pee, sniff and off we go! With my sniff fest at the marina at teh half way point!
On weekends we go to the hills and hike, in the winter I follow the snowshoes … for this I am off leash and I am allowed to pace myself. If I stop to sniff – I know I am going to have to catch up! I love those sprints!
Where my rant would start is taking it further. Small dogs like myself need exercise, heck I do agility! PLEASE stop carrying us around, believing that we can’t manage more than 5 min. and … do NOT get me started on healthy young pups in strollers … I might cause a scene.
AdventureJess says
July 13, 2012 at 9:04 AMHear, hear! It is especially disappointing when the young pup in the stroller is overweight. I know that out-of-shapers need to start in small increments to build up fitness and stamina but it makes me wonder if the dog actually gets any exercise. I have a few dogs in my Dachshund Club that use strollers but they bring it to put them in when they get too tired of walking.
2 brwon dawgs says
July 16, 2012 at 10:01 AMIf we are walking to get “the business” done then sniffing is key. Otherwise our dogs must be tortured because they really only get to sniff in their own yard and when they are out hunting or looking for a mark while hunt testing. but we rarely walk in the summer because we have such a heavy training schedule.
Jessica says
May 9, 2013 at 8:31 AMWhat a great blog! I’m so happy to see other active small dogs out there.
I once had a dog trainer tell me that you could associate a command (like “sniff”) with stopping to take a sniff break during a walk. This is sort of the same idea, only you are choosing when to take a sniff break. However, in practice, this was almost impossible because when you feel like taking a break, of course that patch of grass is not interesting at all. The most interesting grass happens just when you are hitting your stride in walking, and suddenly an irresistible scent hits the dog’s nose! I guess it is all about balance.
Jessica Rhae says
May 9, 2013 at 11:35 AMYes…ANY patch of grass you say it is ok to sniff is boring. Only forbidden space is interesting 🙂 In theory it is a great idea though. You would be training your dog to know when it was ok to lollygag and when they should be on a mission.