“HOW DO I KEEP HIM FROM STOPPING TO SNIFF?”

I commonly hear this from clients, frustrated at their dog's constant desire to sniff, to stop, on walks.  The human wants to plow through the walk like a despised chore to be completed quickly and marked off the to-do list.  The dog wants to savor every second, every step, every inhalation and sniff. How can there ever be a synchronous walk when the parties are so at odds? 

WALKING WITH KIDS

As I walked with my 4-year-old nephew, I found myself getting frustrated and irritable at how long this walk was taking.  I just wanted to finish, to get back to the car and sit down as quickly as possible.  Go from here to there with no dilly-dallying or lallygagging.   Get this over with.  

He had a very different goal.  It seemed we couldn't go more than 5 seconds without him stopping to examine a bug he'd noticed walking across the trail, a "cool" looking pinecone, a helicopter in the sky, a wildflower, a tree he thought he could climb, a new side trail he wanted to explore, a rock he wanted to examine and carefully put in his pocket for later.  I took deep breaths, trying not to be aggravated at his intentional slowness, his fixation on EVERY SINGLE OBJECT.  

And then I asked myself, who is this walk for? It's not for me.  I can walk any time, in precisely the way I want.  This walk is for him and so he should enjoy it.  Once this realization was made, it was easier for me to let go of how I thought the walk should be and to slow down and enjoy the little things with him, to enjoy him being happy. 

IN HER ELEMENT

I recently worked with a client who was incredibly annoyed at how her dog behaved on walks. The dog was stopping constantly on walks to sniff or stare off into the distance at seemingly nothing.  The owner would tug on the leash to hurry the dog up, to no avail.

Upon walking with her dog, it became immediately apparent that this dog was fascinated by scent.  She would track where other animals had walked in the grass.  She would deeply inhale the scent of their urine, breathing in the pheromones left behind.  She would push her nose deeply to the dirt, rotating her body around it to sniff from different angles.    She would raise her face into a wind, eyes squinted, nose working furiously to catch the scent of a far-off source that the new air was carrying in on the current.  This dog was so happy, so at peace, so in her element.  This was the enjoyment of walks for her, not the moving from point A to point B in a straight line as quickly as possible.  

So the next time you're on a walk with your dog, or child, and find yourself frustrated at how slowly you seem to be going, ask yourself who the walk is for.  Let them enjoy it.