Walking Habits?

[tra708]

this is not a major problem, but i've always wanted to ask. when you take your dog(s) for a walk, are they more interested in sniffing than actually walking and getting some excercise?? all mine really want to do is sniff, and they don't really seem to care for the actual walk. maybe this subject is not very important, but every time i take them, i think about posting this.

[OwnedBySummer]

I've taught her where she's allowed to sniff -- there's only 3 places on our walk where she's allowed. Also, I've taught her the command "be free" and I then let her walk wherever she wants, instead of beside my left knee.

[Guest Iceman41]

I have only had my hound for 8 months. I am new to greyhounds and big dogs in general.

But it's seems she likes to walk pee and poop a number of times on our walks

[krissy]

Summit is a huge marker. I think his real excitement about going for a walk is get out there and sniff stuff and pee on it. He is only allowed to stray from the sidewalk and sniff/mark when I give him the okay, which I do every block or two... depending on how far I intend for us to go, how fast I feel like walking, the purpose of the walk (exercise versus need to go out to pee one last time before bed). He does like to walk fast though, which is good because so do I. Left to his own devices when we go hiking though he is perfectly happy to stay and sniff stuff 100 metres behind me as I continue walking out of sight. I'm constantly turning around to see how far back he is. I call him, he comes and then finds something new to sniff while I walk away again. I'd love to know what smells so interesting.

[Guest FrankieWylie]

I've got one who is a "sniffer" and one who is a walker. Or, sometimes not a walker but a "You can't make me" guy.

 

We've only had them about a month, but we clearly have one of each. Charlie would be content to never walk anywhere but to pee and back inside. Magic loves to sniff all along the way. His afternoon walk he gets to sniff and I pretty much follow where he goes. It's his "free time"

[Guest goldfishngreys]

A ½ mile walk takes about 30 minutes because both of mine are constantly stopping to sniff. I allow it since I feel it’s stimulating for them (unles s they start sniffing poo or eating stuff). I don’t feel like I’m getting any exercise but it's more for the hounds so I'll do my exercises later.

[Feisty49]

I've had Annie Bella for just over 4 months. She would love to stop and sniff a lot, but our walks are for exercise for the both of us so I don't let her stop often. I tend to walk briskly and with the expectation that there will be no stopping along the way, unless she has to go P&P. If she slows down, I don't and say either "Come," or "Heel," and she usually responds. If she decides to plant herself and doesn't respond to the two commands above, I gently hold her mouth/snout in one hand, look her straight in the eyes and say very firmly, "Come now," and turn and walk. 99% of the time she starts trotting again. If we're on a meandering walk through the woods (I have 11 acres), then she can sniff and snuffle all she wants, and we do that almost every day.

[3greytjoys]

I think people leash walk their hounds for different reasons. Some hounds get a lot of play time and running exercise in their own large, fenced yards. Those hounds may not need much more than a meandering sniffing fest. Some geriatric hounds may have health restrictions preventing heavy exercise, but still need to keep up healthy blood flow.

 

We leash walk hounds for healthy exercise. Just like people need to raise heart rates during exercise, most dogs do too. We have a number of particular dog-friendly stopping points for relaxed sniffing and business, but when we're moving we're walking at a healthy, rapid pace. Of course, we pick-up after our hounds, but we try to avoid stopping on people's nice lawns. (If it were left up to the hounds, they would be sniffing and marking every single tree and every yard.) They greatly enjoy the healthy exercise, brain stimulation, and it helps them rest well later.

[silverfish]

You have to remember that dogs 'see' a landscape of smells, far more than a visual landscape. To them, the smells are the most interesting thing on a walk, unless (for our greys) there is something that might need tracking or chasing!

 

I never mind my dogs sniffing. But I do teach them a 'come along now, I've had enough' command. For Sid, it's his name, called in a high, happy voice, quickly: 'Sid-Sid!' followed by 'come along'. When they're engrossed in something like sniffing, you need to get their attention before giving a command to give them time to switch 'modes'.

 

Ranger hasn't been with us so long and he's an oldie, so he's still learning, but he's pretty good. For him I usually call 'OK, Black Dog!' which gives shorter, sharper words for him to catch. Jack's call was 'Jack-Jack', and Renie was 'Reens! Come along!'

 

What we do find is that if it's a quick outing (about 15-20 minutes) they'll want to spend a lot of it sniffing. If we go further and stay out longer, there's much more exercise being had because they've done a lot of their nose-work and they're ready to move!

 

Of course, there are days when someone interesting has gone by and they're wanting to keep their noses to the ground/bushes/lamp-posts etc more.

[Guest twogreytkids]

I have a fenced-in backyard, so my two get their exercise out there.

 

I do take them for a walk in the morning so that they can get their "sniffs" in. Since it's not for exercise, we take our time so they can check out the new smells since the day before.

 

Marcy

[DesiRayMom]

There's a lab who lives 2 doors down, a schnauzer across the street, various & sundry others who use our street for walkabouts.

Checking pee-mail is the highlight of our day.

[Guest BrianRke]

Diamond and Frank like to walk, Daytona likes to sniff. This makes it almost impossible to walk all 3 at the same time.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

Miri is a huge sniffer - drives me nuts some days. I limit her to 30 seconds per block. At 25 seconds, I say "hurry up" and then she has 5 seconds to finish her pee-mail and I say "that's enough". She's a very slow reader. (Counting to 30 gives me something to do while I'm waiting.) It's nice to take her to the dog park so she can sniff to her heart's content and Mojo and I don't have to stand around waiting.

[Jerilyn]

I call Lila the Postal Inspector because she wants to sniff every vertical surface. She usually doesn't linger in one spot too long though unless it is something really interesting. She seems to get her sniffing in at the beginning of the walk then we move along quite quickly. For us, the sniffs are just as important as the exercise. I have a fenced yard that she runs zommies in and plays in everyday so we are not relying on the walks for all her exercise..

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm sure George would love to just sniff, but I'm the one holding the leash--so we walk for exercise regardless of his personal preferences!

 

Which is not to say he doesn't get a chance to sniff. We end our daily walk at the park for "sniffabouts."

[Brandiandwe]

Brandi is a sniffer, Paige is a walker. Gradually they're beginning to meet in the middle, which is fine. And both are knackered by the end of their walks. The real difficulty I have is with the focus on other dogs and humans on our walks, when both freeze and focus and I can't move them on. We're trying treats and recall now, as well as some time spent looking. definitely different to other dogs though!

[Guest mcsheltie]

You can teach them to walk however you wish. Dogs zig-zagging around in front of me does not make me very happy.

 

I say "lets go" and that means we are in "migration mode". When I am done with the power walk I slow down and say "okay". Then they can sniff around.

[3greytjoys]

You can teach them to walk however you wish. Dogs zig-zagging around in front of me does not make me very happy.

 

I agree with mcsheltie's comment. I know a very strong, tall person who landed in the hospital with a very serious back/neck injury from falling over a Greyhound who was zig-zagging in front of the person. It really is so much safer to teach hounds to walk with their shoulder area next to a human's thigh. (Walking/heeling on the left side is commonly taught in dog training.) This position allows for easier handling and safer control, especially if a "sighthound" tries to bolt unexpectedly towards a critter the human doesn't see, or in excitement towards a child, bike or whatever. There isn't much control if a hound is walking/trotting far in front of a person at the end of a leash. A zig zag or an unexpected bolt could easily result in a human fall, and/or a loose hound trailing and tripping on a leash running up to 45 mph.