The Sniff Walk — Should You?

There’s a lot of talk in the dog world about the sniff walk and why you should let your dog sniff on their walks. So is this sage advice? Should you simply allow your dog to do what they’d like on walks in an effort to improve their enrichment? Will our dogs only enjoy their walks if we let them sniff the entire time? As with most things in dogdom, there is no right or wrong answer, but rather how you might decide what the right choice is for YOUR dog. As usual, there are valid arguments on both sides of the equation, so the decision should be weighed thoroughly and then made by each individual dog owner. There is rarely, if ever, a one-size-fits-all solution in dogs, so let’s answer today’s question after we talk through a few of the arguments. When is it okay to allow sniffing and when is it not?

Sniffing is NOT the Only way Your Dog Can Enjoy a Walk

First, let’s discuss this fallacy. Sniffing is NOT the only way your dog will be stimulated on their walks. Yes, dogs love to sniff. The average dog has nearly 300 million olfactory receptors compared to a measly 6 million in humans, so it is arguably their strongest sense. Of course it’s going to be the first one we notice them use and likely the first one they do use when trying to identify things. Truly though, unless you are walking your dog around the same block day in and day…