“Every time I take my dogs for a walk, they spend the entire time with their noses sniffing and dragging on the ground!”
Scent Marking Is Dog Training
Your sniffing Dog(s) inherited a very keen sense of smell from wolves. Dog behavior has since developed into a complex social structure over the 30,000 years since separating from the Wolf. This becomes apparent while Dog Training, when your dog can’t help from taking a sniff or two.
When taking walks while leash training, dogs can ascertain lots of information about the other dog behavior. They smell who left their “mark” in this environment or territory. That information reveals a lot about the animals in other territories as well.
Believe it or not… Marking may actually be making some sort of statement or even Graffiti! Dogs who smell the scent while walking by, can discern a lot about their fellow canines or of their foes. Now you know why your dog is sniffing its way through the neighborhood.
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“These messages can tell your dog how many other dogs are in the immediate area. Messages like… whether a female is in heat, or what he or she had for lunch, and when they were last in the area,” says Carlo Siracusa, director of the Small Animal Behavior Service at the veterinary hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
When you think about it… That’s a LOT of distractions…isn’t it? And those are just the ones Dogs can Smell on the ground and in the air when dog training on walks!
Dogs Don’t Clearly Get What You Don’t Clearly Teach!
How Many Sounds Can You Think of That Your Dog Reacts To
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- Doorbell
- Neighborhood Cat Fight
- Dog Fight
- Postman’s truck arriving
- Another Dog Barking
- A person Talking a few houses down
- Another Dog being Walked
- A Squirrel Chattering around in a tree
- A person Mowing their Lawn across the street
- Someone Arrives Home in their Car
- A person arriving home on their Motorcycle
- A Person Arriving on their Bike
- Kids on Skateboards
- A woman Pushing a baby carriage on the sidewalk
Sounds carried by the wind are filled with a Lot of distractions for dogs!
Consider Most of the Items in the Previous List Again
There are clearly similar things that dogs can also overreact to, like Sights!
“My Dog Reacts to Everything He Sees“
Visual Distractions When Dog Training
Dogs Mostly Overreact to the World Around Them
A dog owner must find a way to stand out long enough to register in the dogs ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) type brain. When dog training, dogs react to so many things, that they really don’t have time to contemplate Why they react that way!
Dog’s aren’t generally interested in or have the inclination to do anything their owners want them to do. As humans and dog owners, we have a responsibility during leash training to protect our pets. When leash training, owners need to regulate them enough to save their lives and protect their health and well-being.
Please stop thinking of your dog as your protector. This is where most dog owners get into trouble and let their dogs protect them. The owners eventually realize that they may have created a monster by not giving their dog rules and boundaries from a qualified leader. Correctly leash training your pet can clearly facilitate a harmonious and symbiotic relationship in the home and on walks.
Fresno Dog Owners Learn to Positively Motivate Their Dog
When Dog Training, the trick is to keep Dogs Interested and well rewarded. Encouragement, is always better than food treats. Always help the dog be motivated into learning new information. That is the art of teaching a dog How to learn to listen to you! This is what I call my STOP SIT & WAIT Method! Dogs may eventually get what they want, but first they must do something for me…and that’s… Stop Sit & Wait.
Behavior Training for Dogs and Their People
When dogs follow a command from their owner while leash training, they should always get something they may have wanted. It could be a kind word or nice pet or a treat or a verbal good dog. As a dog owner, you already know that dogs want to sniff something like a bush. They will super intensely sniff that bush for an hour if you let them (picture a CSI investigator on a murder investigation).
Dogs get most of their information through their noses. When leash training, dogs feel the intense instinctual drive to sniff everything in their path. The owner needs to exert some control over if and when and for how long they allow the sniffing to happen.
Remember that it is Your Walk and you get to choose where you want to go and NOT where it wants to drag you. Dogs want to lead and will lead you if you do not lead them. Basic training for dogs and their people. Be who your dog looks up to! It’s the Way of a Dog!
