Sniffing Everything

[sonya]

Cinnibuns is driving me crazy. Our walks take FOREVER because she has to stop and sniff every single thing. Does she think she's a blood hound?? Honestly, most of the time it's not a bother but if it's really cold and I am wanting to get where it's warm I don't want her stopping every 12 inches. If it sticks above ground - she has to sniff it and not just a one sniff....it's all around it and up and down it. I suppose it';s my fault that I let her get away with it but, geez, give me a break every now and then. Gee, do ya think I'm not really a pack leader? She gets 3 walks daily 99% of the time unless the weather is way too cold or in a blizzard. I have a fenced in yard and she can do zoomies whenever she wants. Thanks for letting me unload......

[Yamaha_gurl]

What's her racing name? She MUST be related to my Bella...aka "A Star Blackieto"! Bella doesn't walk like a regular greyhound, more like a blood hound!

[JohnF]

Peggy will do that too.... it's a kind of obsession. Too much of that and the walk becomes my walk and on a not so long leash so that edges cannot be reached.

[ClarksMom]

Ditto here. Sometimes I swear I have scent hounds instead of sighthounds!!

[Feisty49]

Our morning walk is our exercise walk so I don't allow much sniffing. When I do the short leash, use firm words and have a no-nonsense attitude, Annie knows I mean business. Does she still try to stop every five feet? Yepper but oh well.... I keep on moving.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Feisty49

[Guest june]

I made the mistake of teaching Jazzy tracking. She caught on very quickly for a grey. She will never compete, but she sure does love sniffing on our walks now!

[Guest AngelPup]

This thread got me thinking. I don't even HAVE a greyhound yet, but I've been preparing for it...trying to be sure I have everything in place beforehand. One of the things that worries me is that if a greyhound does skip out of the house or gets loose on a walk somehow, that they may not make it back home because they are sighthounds and don't rely on sent. But, if they can be taught to track, than maybe that, in addition to recall, would be an important thing to teach them--even if it's just as a precaution. ? Thoughts ?

[Guest iclarkz]

Evie is a huge sniffer, so we walk in the street! We live in a low-traffic place, though.

[KickReturn]

This thread got me thinking. I don't even HAVE a greyhound yet, but I've been preparing for it...trying to be sure I have everything in place beforehand. One of the things that worries me is that if a greyhound does skip out of the house or gets loose on a walk somehow, that they may not make it back home because they are sighthounds and don't rely on sent. But, if they can be taught to track, than maybe that, in addition to recall, would be an important thing to teach them--even if it's just as a precaution. ? Thoughts ?

 

If you walk your Greyhound in the area where you live after several months they will learn "their territory". Whether they track their way home by scent or by noticing landmarks with their eyesight won't matter. The problem is not all Greyhounds have it in them to do this and you will never know what yours is capable of until they are out on their own and at that point it may be too late. Best to keep an eye on the door and make sure the ID collar is always on. As time goes by you may learn that your dog is not at risk to wander off. Some just don't.

[Guest larock]

Boy, she must have really paid attention during the "How to train your new owner" class. Ours graduated with honors and Ella even took a few chef classes as well, which is awesome becasue she's very helpful in the kitchen...

[Guest AngelPup]

If you walk your Greyhound in the area where you live after several months they will learn "their territory". Whether they track their way home by scent or by noticing landmarks with their eyesight won't matter. The problem is not all Greyhounds have it in them to do this and you will never know what yours is capable of until they are out on their own and at that point it may be too late. Best to keep an eye on the door and make sure the ID collar is always on. As time goes by you may learn that your dog is not at risk to wander off. Some just don't.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. I'm just used to having 'hunting' dog breeds and they so easily can find their way back from anything just using their sense of smell.

[greytpups]

This thread got me thinking. I don't even HAVE a greyhound yet, but I've been preparing for it...trying to be sure I have everything in place beforehand. One of the things that worries me is that if a greyhound does skip out of the house or gets loose on a walk somehow, that they may not make it back home because they are sighthounds and don't rely on sent. But, if they can be taught to track, than maybe that, in addition to recall, would be an important thing to teach them--even if it's just as a precaution. ? Thoughts ?

You won't need to teach your grey how to smell. They are sighthounds but they are also dogs who smell their surroundings and other dogs to gather info. However, if your grey gets loose, they don't return because they can't rely on scent to get home, rather the scent may be prey related and they get lost.

[Guest mirinaaronsmom]

Miri drives me nuts with her constant sniffing, especially when I'm short on time. I give her 25 seconds to sniff, then I tell her 'Hurry up' and she gets 5 seconds to finish up. Then I say, 'That's enough' and we move on. She learned and knows that she'll get to smell again the next time. I also only allow her to do this once per block, unless I have extra time.

 

 

This thread got me thinking. I don't even HAVE a greyhound yet, but I've been preparing for it...trying to be sure I have everything in place beforehand. One of the things that worries me is that if a greyhound does skip out of the house or gets loose on a walk somehow, that they may not make it back home because they are sighthounds and don't rely on sent. But, if they can be taught to track, than maybe that, in addition to recall, would be an important thing to teach them--even if it's just as a precaution. ? Thoughts ?

A month after I adopted my first hound, we were walking around the block and he was attacked by a mastiff. He slipped his collar and ran off. I was so scared he'd run into the busy street I live on and get killed, but when I got home, he was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. We had walked around that block every day, so he knew his way home. So initially, you could take the same walking route and they'll learn quickly where home is. After you've been together longer, you could expand your territory and by that time you'll both be familiar with the area and each other.

 

Also, the first thing I teach my hounds and fosters is the 'wait' command. They always have to wait when I open the doors. If they try to scoot through before I say 'OK', I step in front of them and back them up and tell them to wait again. The walk is their reward. They've all learned that really quickly.

[PrairieProf]

That's one of the things that surprised me with Beth (my first greyhound) -- how very very scent-oriented she is as a sighthound. Well I guess all dogs are -- she's my first dog too -- but she seems more compulsive about it than many. So it's made me think of greyhounds as HOUNDS above all.

 

A training class will help you work with her on leash -- teaching "leave it" etc. But I've done a ton of classes and had Beth for 4.5 years and on our multiple walks a day I'm still hauling her away from sniffing spots. I let her sniff some, but not all the time -- the dog shouldn't get to decide when you walk on.

[Guest BlueCrab]

Trixie's sniffing on walks doesn't bother me so much since we've had to slow things down a bit due to Leyland's CHF concerns. So when she sniffs, Leyland just lolls along, which is fine unless I'm in a rush. I try to plan ahead cause there's usually no good way to speed my guys up on walks.

 

Where the sniffing does get interesting is when we take Trixie visiting. When she's in someone's house, she has to investigate everything. She's not a thief, and she's not really food motivated in the sense that's she's looking for food. She just puts her nose into everything to check it out: mother-in-law's purse, grocery bags, boxes of recycling, any bag or box that's around. She just seems very curious about everything.

[WalterWallerson]

Walter is very sniffy but he didn't become very sniffy until he spent a lot of time with my boyfriend's poodle-mix. I think to a certain extent greyhounds never really used their nose the way they do when they are retired and EVERTHING is new to them. Walter's sniffing can be aggrevating because he wants to stop & sniff every five feet, like any other dog would do and I've remedied this by giving him a verbal cue and then I redirect him. I say, "C'mon Wall" and give him a second or two to react, sometimes he does, othertimes he doesn't. If he doesn't, I tug on his leash and keep him moving on the same time saying, "C'MON WALL" in my "angry" voice. He knows the difference between pee-pee walks and Mom walks. Mom walks are for exercise and I like to keep a faster pace where pee-pee walks are for him to sniff and poop without me trying to keep any type of pace.

[Guest memadeit]

Our morning walk is our exercise walk so I don't allow much sniffing. When I do the short leash, use firm words and have a no-nonsense attitude, Annie knows I mean business. Does she still try to stop every five feet? Yepper but oh well.... I keep on moving.

 

Yup, same here. I walk them, its not play time. When the kids walk them, then its play time and they know it.

[Guest HeatherLee]

Gambler also thinks he's a bloodhound! He sniffs everything. He has calmed down a bit around our apartment complex because he's gotten used to the smells, but with so many other dogs and cats around he has to investigate everything! I let him sniff things for about 5 seconds or so to determine if he thinks he needs to pee on it (he's also not allow to pee on anything manmade lik garbage cans, poles, etc.. it looks disgusting) longer than that I usually end up clucking at him like he' a horse (i'm a horse person, the noise just comes naturally to me as a "let's get moving" noise) along with "leave it" .. voice getting firmer and pulling harder on the lead (not to hurt him of course but enough to move him along) and he's getting the idea. I gradually decrease the amount of places he's allowed to pee and sniff on walks around the complex so now he's figured out certain spots he goes. He's also getting really go with "lets go home". Maybe you could use a harness that way it would be eaier to pull them away without pulling on the neck too much and worrying about slipping out of the collar. Just dont give up.

[Guest june]

I use "lets go" when they stop too long. I'm also always telling them to "Read the headlines, not the whole paper!"

[greytpups]

I forgot to mention this...dress properly so you don't get cold. Seriously, if you are comfortable, walking may be more enjoyable and you can still teach your grey how you expect to walk.

 

There's been many threads on GT where people mention the cold and how they want to hurry up. I'm always reminded of how I wish I could go on one more walk with Bailey when people complain about walking their grey, and a simple solution is to dress warmer so you can enjoy being with them.

[Guest AngelPup]

Miri drives me nuts with her constant sniffing, especially when I'm short on time. I give her 25 seconds to sniff, then I tell her 'Hurry up' and she gets 5 seconds to finish up. Then I say, 'That's enough' and we move on. She learned and knows that she'll get to smell again the next time. I also only allow her to do this once per block, unless I have extra time.

 

 

A month after I adopted my first hound, we were walking around the block and he was attacked by a mastiff. He slipped his collar and ran off. I was so scared he'd run into the busy street I live on and get killed, but when I got home, he was sitting on the front porch waiting for me. We had walked around that block every day, so he knew his way home. So initially, you could take the same walking route and they'll learn quickly where home is. After you've been together longer, you could expand your territory and by that time you'll both be familiar with the area and each other.

 

Also, the first thing I teach my hounds and fosters is the 'wait' command. They always have to wait when I open the doors. If they try to scoot through before I say 'OK', I step in front of them and back them up and tell them to wait again. The walk is their reward. They've all learned that really quickly.

 

Great tips (sniffing time limit and wait command). It's also reassuring to hear your hound found his way home. I've heard so many times that they can rarily find their way home. I love to take walks--one of the things I'm looking forward to with our new pooch.

[Guest mld]

Dogs will sniff, its what they do! Maybe have some time set aside for them to use their noses, hide treats in the house and let them have fun finding them. I've heard that it can be very enriching for them.