Sniffing: More Important Than You Think

Sniffing is just how dogs check out smells, right? Well that's part of it, but there's actually quite a lot more going on when your dog has their nose to the ground. They may be collecting information, but they could also be trying to calm themselves, reassure someone, or diffuse an escalating social situation. There's a time and a place for getting our noses up off the ground, but I think it's worthwhile to ponder what's really going on for a moment.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Zen of Sniffing

I like to think of sniffing as a dog's personal "me time", their chance to withdraw into their own head for a little while. As a major introvert, I definitely understand needing that chance to pull back and recharge. When I need to take a break from the world, I like to read a book. When Brisbane needs to take a break from the world, he sniffs the ground.

This took me a lot of years to learn, and for a long time I thought Briz was just getting distracted. Obviously he thought the smells on the ground were just more interesting than me, and I needed to work harder at being the most exciting thing in the world to my dog. This was endlessly frustrating while we were doing UKC obedience trials because mine seemed to be the only dog who couldn't keep his nose off the ground. 

At practice I would ask for attention and feed him treats constantly, but the instant he had the treat in his mouth his nose would drop to the ground again. All the other dogs could calmly sit or lay down in between exercises, mine was constantly, endlessly searching the grass. It wasn't until I had quit formal obedience that I read Control Unleashed and realized Brisbane found the whole sport to be incredibly stressful. 

Sniff Away the Stress

Photo by Erin Koski

Dogs use sniffing as a calming signal, a way to help themselves relax or tell another dog that they are not a threat. However, some dogs don't know how to use sniffing to help them unwind. 

I've been working with a young poodle mix who is generally anxious about the world around her. She responds to alarming sights and sounds by freezing in place. She's not particularly motivated by food, but absolutely loves praise.

At our last training session, her handler and I just stood with her for a while in the middle of a grassy park. We all watched some children playing at a playground at the far end, and waited for the pup to do something other than freeze and stare in horror. After almost ten minutes she dropped her nose to the ground and we told her what a magnificent dog she was for having a sniff. This immediately led to more sniffing. After another amble around the park, we walked toward the playground again. This time we got much closer to the kids before she froze. A moment later she began sniffing the grass, and we speedwalked away from the playground and declared it a victory for the day.

Sometimes a Sniff is Just a Sniff

Of course, not every sniff is an attempt to relieve stress, especially if you have a beagle or other scenthound. The world is a big, exciting place full of amazing scents that we humans will never truly understand. Some dogs do indeed need to learn to get their noses off the ground and focus on their handlers, but I think intense sniffing should be a part of most adventures. As a devout bookworm, I like to think of sniffing as reading with their noses. If my happily engaged dog suddenly abandons me to delve into a book, it's either a really good novel or there's something he needs to escape from.

Product Review: RC Pets Training Collar

The RC Pets Training Collar is a martingale with a chain loop instead of a nylon webbing loop. This is also known as a limited-slip collar, and can be used like a choke chain. It is adjustable and machine washable. This collar comes in 39 patterns and four sizes to fit dogs with necks 7-26" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the collar we used for obedience training. Brisbane and I did UKC obedience for nearly five years, and Briz does Utility obedience, which is the most advanced level. Unfortunately, he only does his obedience performance outside a showring, and at competitions and practice matches he suddenly forgets who I am and wanders off. After several years of work with zero titles or legs toward titles, or even qualifying scores, I gave up. Brisbane has his AKC Canine Good Citizen title and that's it.

Our obedience classes used positive training because aversive obedience training mostly results in dogs that look unhappy in the showring. I've read that many obedience competitors use aversive methods that include pinching ears or hitting dogs, but I would never hurt my dog like that. Brisbane's life has been blissfully free of choke chains and collar corrections.

Photo by Erin Koski

So why the chain training collar? The chain section makes a nice noise when I move the leash, allowing me to get Brisbane's attention just by jiggling or lightly tugging. A fast tug will make a distinctive zippy noise, but it won't hurt him because the collar is only tight enough to keep him from backing out of it.

A real choke chain collar correction involves a collar that gets much tighter, and a seriously forceful yank. A "collar pop" that doesn't hurt is just supposed to be a reminder that a much more painful correction can be used. Most people are using choke chains wrong. Any kind of choke or limited-slip collar can strangle your dog, but that's not a real deterrent to pulling.

Anyway, I have two of these collars. I thought mine were sizes Medium and Large, since I have a 1" wide flame-print (discontinued!) collar and a 3/4" wide Maltese cross collar. Both of these collars are at least six years old though, and it's distinctly possible that the sizes have changed since the current 3/4" collars top out at 14" and Briz has a 17" neck. I used the smaller collar for obedience classes, we tried the larger one once and Brisbane got a dewclaw caught in the chain during an off-leash exercise.

Pros: Awesome RC Pets patterns including my favorite Maltese Cross, so I can make everything match. The patterns don't fade and they continue to look awesome forever. These chains on these collars are long enough to make a good zippy noise, but not so long that the collar hangs super-loose. (I'm looking at you, Premier!) There is a separate ring on the collar for hanging tags without interfering with the chain.

Cons: The noisy chain can spook shy dogs. RC Pets advertises this collar as a pulling deterrent, demonstrating that they don't actually know how choke collars should work. Also, flame print has been discontinued.

Bottom Line: I used this collar every single day when Brisbane and I were doing obedience training. I got several years of use out of my Maltese Cross collar and it still looks great. I don't use the training collars often these days, but I still carry one in my training bag for times when I want to do some peppy heelwork with Briz. There's definitely something to be said for having a special type of collar for training time.