So Myles is a pretty good loose leash walker, I still do stops and not moving forward when he does put tension on the leash moving forward. But my bigger problem is him pulling towards the side toward a scent. Nose to ground, tension on lead trying to get to a smell. How do you handle this? And how do you balance allowing them sniff time but without them pulling? So far I've been just stopping and holding leash firm, but he will persist toward the smell and results in a lot of tension on the leash. I want to give him freedom to smell things while still maintaining a loose leash. Just not sure how to achieve both.
It's tricky isn't it? We've tried no sniffing whatsoever (which, in hindsight, seems cruel as it denies the dog an activity that it finds hugely appealing). We've tried complete freedom to sniff at will (provided that there is no pulling to get to the scents) - this made for a rather haphazard walk and, although I'm sure Harv enjoyed it, didn't really appeal to me. We currently use a compromise arrangement - "go sniff" - in which sniffing is put on a cue such that at points during a walk I ask Harv to go and have a sniff. This seems to work quite well for us.
In an absolute ideal world, I wouldn't let my dog sniff on lead, but give him plenty of off lead sniff time. Trouble with that is I don't live in an ideal world and often my dog is on lead in the city. So I have a completely loose lead (a 2m lead) walk and hold the lead in one hand where Charlie is allowed to sniff, and I have a "close" walk which is by my side, head up, no sniffing, and then I hold the lead in both hands (across my front so it's shorter). "Go sniff" is the cue to move from "close" to loose lead. Charlie will sometimes pull to get to scents on a loose lead but I just stop, regardless of whether the scent is to the side, in front or back. Charlie can change sides on a loose lead, but only behind me. It took absolutely ages to proof the "close" and we are still way off where I want to be! He can mostly manage the loose lead in all circumstances now. Perhaps not for the first few minutes in a new exciting place, but he does settle down enough reasonably quickly.
Im to the best person to offer advice as Harley still pulls on lead in exciting environments. We have been working on no sniffing if she pulls. I stand still and refuse to move until the lead is loose. Sometimes it takes several minutes to move 5ft towards a smell she wants to sniff. If she really pulls I do an about turn and walk in the opposite direction. After months of perseverance we can now walk from our house to the woods (10-15 mins on lead) without her pulling and Harley being allowed to sniff whenever she wants until I say 'come on' which means that's enough sniffing, let's go. If she's on the head collar (any new areas where she has to be on lead), she isn't allowed to sniff at all. I need her attention on me as I need to manage her excitement
This is something I have struggled with for several months. Dogs have supremely sensitive noses. It seems wrong to deny them the chance to enjoy this sense. Molly is particularly keen on dog pee. Since this is designed by nature to leave all sorts of irrestible messages it is very hard to control. I am very aware of the ease with which I could train " sniff, ignore leave order, get pulled from smell, get rewarded". I have really upped the treat value recently, which I think has focused her attention on me. In general I give her about 10 seconds to enjoy her sniff before I move on. I think this has been helpful for me. I don't immediately think "oh not another smell" when she stops and am finding that she is frequently prepared to walk on after a few seconds inhaling the vapours.
Thank you for the feedback everyone. I've been doing a combination of some of these things, I think. But not consistently. Most of our walk I hold the lead with 2 hands across the front of my body making it a shorter lead and making him walk close. Our walks are along sidewalks with grass off to the side and mailboxes and various other posts that other dogs have peed on. So this is usually what he pulls toward. I have been trying to put it on cue (I say "look at me", then reward with "go sniff") since I can see these things ahead of us. But it can literally be something he wants to do about every 20 feet. He loves to sniff some pee! (side note: he has yet to "mark" in any of these places, not once has he peed where another dog has peed, what is wrong with my un-neutered male dog! ). Thank you again, you've given me some things I can try.
Like you, i have developed "dog sniffing opportunities" radar. I reckon I can spot a wee stain at about 20 paces. Worst of all is when we are walking along nicely, I am having a bit of a daydream and she catches a whiff of something. She's off like a rocket (you could call her a pee seeking missile) and I am trying to emulate a drag anchor
I was thinking about your post on my walk this morning, when Charlie decided to forget he had ever had a minute's training in his life and was a bit of a nightmare walking down a very smelly lane. His sniffing on a loose lead got out of control, so he had to walk close and stop trying to zoom round like a squash ball, bouncing off the sides of the lane.... He is asked to walk close, and my lead is quite short (it's quite short because his "close" cue is almost a proper heel) and I just do exactly the same as on a loose lead - any tension on that lead and I stop regardless if the tension is because his head goes down, forwards, to the side or back. I keep my hand in exactly the same position (just in front of my left leg) and I do not let the lead out even a cm. The lead is short enough to stop him getting to those sniffs (otherwise he would self reward). He gave it up within 2 minutes, but there would have been a time when I'd have been stood in that lane all morning. His "close" cue was trained off lead first, which really helps as it's a reasonably strong cue before being tested in the more difficult (I think) on lead situation. I also used to use a different collar and lead for "close" and "go sniff". I'd stop and change his collar and lead then say "go sniff". I know that sounds mad but it did really help get across to him that there was a difference in how I expected him to walk. Everyone does slightly different things, but the key is to get a clear picture in your head of what it is that's ok, what's not, what your cues are, and how you are going to clearly communicate to him what it is you want - and then just stick to it absolutely consistently. Day in, day out, and never change what you do.
I do no sniffing whatever. Twiglet has to be able to walk with concentration, in a straight line and no distractions - and has been learning this from day one on a lead. So free running is for sniffing, lead walking is for getting places. I wish I'd done the same with Tatze! She sometimes simply gets rooted to the spot - and isn't keen to move on, which is not the idea of our lead walking
I do agree with Mags - I think that no sniffing on lead is the clearest thing to communicate to a dog and results in the best on lead behaviour. Practicalities get in the way of that though - throughout Charlie's long rest periods with no off lead running (in total 13 months of his life) I think he would have gone quite bonkers if he hadn't been able to sniff on lead. And I think Ericka, in the US, might have quite a few restrictions on off lead time....
Yes that is my reality here in the suburbs in Texas, off lead has to be something I almost sneak in. So he has to be able to sniff on lead. Your suggestions are helpful Julie. There is a park within walking distance where I give him much more freedom to sniff about and wander around. I clip his lead to my waste and kind of just follow him around. But when we get to the sidewalk, that is where I feel like we need some boundaries. Exactly as you said, all he has to do is lower his head and he self rewards. This is when I feel like all it am doing is pulling him out of it just to regain his attention, which is not the way to handle it. Interesting thought to change his lead for close walks. Hmm. Add in the complication of 2 times a day someone else walks him (dog walker) and she thinks everything he does is cute. Sniffing all about is cute, chasing leaves is cute, staring at people is cute (I try to minimize each of these things). Thanks again for your helpful feedback!
