Any dog behaviourists on here - I need some expert help

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 kipper12 29 May 2021

Hi, here’s hoping.

I’ve had a 9 year old rescue lurcher, for just 1 year now, and I’m really struggling with him on walks.

Our problem is his almost constant sniffing which can make a 15 minute walk 30 to minutes easily.  To add to my confusion, we had around a 6 week spell around Christmas when he was much easier.  Similarly, yesterday he was brilliant today difficult.  I’ve tried engaging him with games and he can be so distracted he won’t even respond to his name. It’s to the point where im not enjoying walks, except for the odd times we get a good one.

ive had a few 1:1 sessions and now back in a local course, but that wasn’t great last week, he was so distracted even there.

im at my wits end, as he’s a lovely dog with a beautiful temperament but I’m am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that he may need to be rehoused with someone who can reach him.  I live alone and he’s been a great companion during the last 12 months of home working, but his needs come first.  

if you are a dog behaviour expert and can help, I’d be so grateful.  I don’t want to let him go, but that may be where we end up.

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 Timmd 29 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

There is a lot on google. 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dogs+which+stop+and+sniff+everything+on+w...

My approach might be to go for a 45 minute walk and allow for 15 mins of having a sniff.

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 Timmd 29 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Dogs suffer the most from behavioral issues when they are chronically bored or unstimulated. Fortunately, smelling familiar things, learning new scents, and satisfying their constant curiosity are fantastic ways to keep your dog mentally stimulated. When you go out for walks, consider switching it up from time to time and allowing your dog to take you for a walk. “Smell walks” are a great way to bond with your dog and understand the world in a different way. Instead of going for time or distance, take your dog somewhere and allow him to sniff everything to his heart’s content. Follow him around and try and guess or see what he is interacting with. By doing this at various common stopping points along your usual route, you may satisfy your dog’s curiosity enough that he stops attempting to sniff out that spot during your normal walks. You may reach a point where you feel like it has become too difficult to walk your dog because of how often he stops, and because of how much your dog resists you when you do try and pull at the leash. Sometimes, dogs become unintentionally trained to associate pulling at their leashes with reward. Since it is rewarding for a dog to sniff a familiar object, every time he pulls at the leash and also gets to smell something, the pulling behavior becomes more reinforced. In these cases, try leash training your dog not to associate pulling at the leash with getting to smell out an object. Instead of letting him sniff at the thing that he wants, slow down preemptively, stop, and turn around whenever your dog tries to go after an aromatic pit stop. After a while, your dog will learn to stop and sniff only when you are okay with it.   Other Solutions and Considerations If you have a particularly curious dog, and you want to both reward and control that curiosity, you can teach “sniff” as a command. Try verbally commanding your dog to sniff when he wants to, and when he starts to lose interest in the object, praise him for enjoying the sniff and moving on. By working the behavior into a training regimen or rewarding your dog with a short smell walk during or after a normal walk, you can use the act of sniffing a desirable object as a treat unto itself. Conversely, routinely stifling a dog’s desire to explore the scents in his environment can drive a wedge between you and your dog. If your dog ever comes to see you as an oppressive killjoy, you may risk damaging some of your dog’s playful, perky, and fun personality traits.

Read more at: https://wagwalking.com/behavior/why-do-dogs-smell-everything-on-walks

Post edited at 15:00
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OP kipper12 29 May 2021
In reply to Timmd:

Cheers, I don’t want to stop what comes naturally but I’d like to hit a happy medium.  In a previous life we had two rescue greyhounds who were so much easier to walk, they had issues around the home with counter surfing and bin diving, so I was prepared for some of this stuff but so unprepared for this, and it’s left me stuck as to what to do.

 SouthernSteve 29 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Get a vet check - don't mess around with internet comments until you know he is OK. A lurcher of 9 years has a lot of history - health and behavioural. 

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 girlymonkey 29 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Sniffing can be a way of de-stressing, which could be why some days are better than others. 

Look up absolute dogs on Facebook. Their stuff is excellent!

 Kryank 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Just out of interest how is his recall? and do you walk him off the lead at all? 

 Queenie 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

> his needs come first.  

> he’s been a great companion during the last 12 months 

> he’s a lovely dog with a beautiful temperament

> I don’t want to let him go, but that may be where we end up.

I took on a rescue collie 9 years ago. She sounds very similar, though has always had little interest in interacting. Seems content in her own world, though. There would have to be a pretty major problem for me to have given up on her. My feelings are that dog are family.

As a 9 year old dog, he may not be easy to rehome. As well as continuing to try working through this, I'd consider getting a second dog, so that your needs can be better fulfilled. This might even help your lurcher.

If you do go down the rehoming route, please do it very mindfully.

Best of luck.

 Flinticus 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

15 min to 30 min? Really why is that such a stressor? Make time for the extra length. Nowt wrong with looking at your phone if your dog is similarly engaged with excessive sniffing. How many walks a day? 

We had a rescue collie who was much worse than that on walks. I did reconsider returning him several times as he was causing a rupture between my wife and I as well as a lot of stress on both of us. However she persuaded me to persist and he had such a lovely personality in the house. It took over a year but progress was made and he became my best friend for the next 8 years of his life.

For the time being, can you drive to a park or open area and let him do his thing while you sit and keep an eye on him?

Post edited at 09:15
 arch 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

I'm not a behaviourists, but I have had rescue Lurchers. I'd just say enjoy the walk. It's what dogs do. One thing you could try though is hiding from him, but keep him in sight. I've done this a few times and it's quite interesting to watch their reaction when they can't see you. They do appear to panic a little if they can't see you. There's also relief when they do finally find you. That might concentrate his mind a little.

Or how about running with him, that may help as well.

Please don't give up on him though, it's probably not his fault he's a rescue in the first place and after a year, surely the pair of you have bonded ??

 Timmd 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Is there is a lifestyle circumstance which makes a 15 minutes walk turning in a 30 minute one very problematic?

Post edited at 13:11
 SouthernSteve 30 May 2021
In reply to SouthernSteve:

I don't why the dislikes have come in here. This is a modern standard approach.

Is there anything physically wrong to explain the behaviour? If not then look at behavioural management/treatment. An intermittently bad tooth for instance can be very painful and also very difficult to diagnose.

 Ciro 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Give him a mix of "business walks" and "sniff walks". To train the business walks, hold a treat right in front of his nose but secure in your hand as you walk. 

Does he have a space where he can get off lead? If the business walk leads to a park where he can get off lead and sniff to his heart's content for a while, that becomes a good reward for getting to the park in an attentive manner, and he should be easier to get into the habit.

 Timmd 30 May 2021
In reply to SouthernSteve:

Humans can be irrational, or mean spirited, when it meets annon dislikers - the speculation possible is infinite. 

 upordown 30 May 2021
In reply to SouthernSteve:

Yes, I was baffled by the dislikes too. A qualified behaviourist would always ask for a vet check to rule out pain before working with a dog. Kipper12 - when you say he sniffs constantly on walks, do you mean he's sniffing like he's hunting or just dawdling and sniffing rather than wanting to make any progress? If it's the former, then it would be explainable because lurchers generally have a very strong prey drive. If he's dawdling and sniffing then he could be painful, for example, dogs with osteoarthritis tend to turn their walks into slow sniffathons because faster movement is uncomfortable. Dogs will also sniff as a displacement activity if they are conflicted or anxious. There's a helpful FB page where you could get some advice - https://www.facebook.com/groups/374160792599484 They moderate very strictly though and you need to follow the guidelines to the letter and read their posted Guides before asking a question.

Post edited at 15:15
 Timmd 30 May 2021
In reply to upordown: Seems like a shame to think about moving on a rescue dog because it stops and sniffs a lot.

OP kipper12 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Thanks all for your support, ther is a lot to take in.  I can’t see rehoming him really and now he’s back into a small class as of yesterday I feel I’ve more help and he came climbing today so all good

 Billhook 30 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

15 minute walk?  How many times a day?  

Getting the dogs hearing, or sight tested maybe.


We too have an adult  rescue dog.  Its taken just about 2 years to get to know his likes/dislikes and personality.  One thing he's still interested in is smells.  He'll ignore the dog that left one and just concentrate on the smell.  I've also noticed that he spends much more time dawdling and smelling when he realises we are heading back to home. our dog doesn't have very good hearing so I guess smelling is main form of sensory pleasure - that and peeing on every smelly spot too.  

Our last dog didn't spend a lot of time  smelling until she started to loose her hearing and as she got older she'd spend a huge amount of time smelling.

Either way Its what most dogs do. 

 

 SAF 31 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Is he on or off lead?

My beddy X likes to sniff which means I can't run with him on the lead. I have found somewhere i can safely run with him off lead, so he sniffs then sees I've gone off ahead of him and charges ahead of me to start sniffing again. It works well. The only downside being I can't wear headphones as I like to be able to hear him and hear other people approaching and have a general awareness of what he is up to.

Also use a harness so if you decide to move him along you're not pulling on his neck. Harnesses with front attachments for training are handy for strong willed dogs.

Edited to add.

Lurchers like wide open space to sprint, and i think if they aren't getting this they can just go on a go slow and sniff as they are not really designed for a human walking pace.

Post edited at 10:15
 fmck 31 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

My dog didn't even like going for a walk with me. I used to release him on the beach and he would just F**k off. I would just go back to the car and drive several miles along the beach and catch him at the other end.

Eventually we would go for a walk separately and meet back up at the car at home time.

He seems to of warmed to me now and is always within a set distance from me. 

 Forest Dump 31 May 2021
In reply to fmck:

That's made my day, I hope it's true!

We rehomed a rescued that never once made a fuss of us as we came in the door, wouldn't even move from her bed or look at us sometimes...

And then, after 30 minutes to an hr a switch would go in her brain and she'd make a fuss

 timjones 31 May 2021
In reply to kipper12:

Why is it a problem?

If you are excercising a dog you are doing it for their benefit, not your own.

 fmck 31 May 2021
In reply to Forest Dump:

> That's made my day, I hope it's true.

Definitely. He is my second Border Terrier and the two of them are complete opposites. I often say it's like we buried the last one in pet cemetery as he is identical in looks just totally mental. 

He has calmed down but it's taken years. Every time I left house without him he would go mental. He would then search for something belonging to me and piss all over it. 

We used to struggle to stop him escaping. We had 4/5 foot wire fence around the garden that was tent pegged into the ground. He was still managing to escape and we couldn't understand how so decided to spy on him. He actually had found a bit of high ground that if he dived horizontally he could just get over the lower section. He actually would end up stuck in the hedge and wriggle until he dropped to the bottom and off.

 Forest Dump 31 May 2021
In reply to fmck:

Border Terrier? That explains it all!

 StuDoig 01 Jun 2021
In reply to kipper12:

We have a rescued pointer that's very similar.  totally nose orientated when out on walks.  We spent c.3 years working with trainers and though massively improved she still has some of the issues you've talked about.  A few pointer pointers from our experience:

1) Look for gun dog trainers used to working with long range / distance breeds rather than kennel club / generic type trainers, we found this made a massive difference.

2) If possible have the training outdoors in progressively more distracting environments - what a huge breakthrough it felt like when we got ours to sit and wait nicely in the middle of the woods!

3) Find locations with less distractions for walks (for us the local beach) and do a good dollop of training on the walk - re-enforces and also helps keep them focused.

4) Let them sniff.  So long as you don't think they'll take off over the horizon, let them have a sniff and explore.  It's hugely stimulating for them and what they are bred / made for!  A lot of breeds just won't happily sit to heel for a long walk.

5) Consider some really stinky rewards!  We used to put hare scent on a ball and roll it around for her to follow as a reward during training sessions - use what they like to reward their good behaviour.  We eventually also found that ours responded brilliantly to a cat toy stuffed with catnip..........

Rescues can always be a challenge, ours had the seemingly contradictory combo of ignoring us during walks and separation anxiety if left on her own for any period of time!  Interestingly speaking to a dog behaviorist she thought it possible that since our dog had been abandoned 3 times before we took her, it wasn't that she was ignoring us on walks, it was that she was desperately trying to find prey to prove her "worth".  She doe's have a really strong work drive according to the gun dog trainers we used so may be some mileage in that idea.

Anyway, good luck!

Cheers,

Stu


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