# Sniffing during Obedience Class



## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

How many of you have issues with your male dog sniffing the ground continuously during your obedience class? During our obedience class, Tucker just can't seem to keep his nose off the ground- just too many good smells from all the dogs in the previous classes. He is still intact at 8 months, and we are trying to make it to 15 months before we get him fixed. He did really well in class, and graduated tonight. The instructors were pleased with the dramatic improvement in his training- although he just isn't mature enough yet to handle the class for CGC, which is the next class. Just wondered how those of you with intact young males managed to keep their noses off the ground. He is fine when sitting and during stays, but when we were walking on lead, his nose is glued to the ground. On walks at home, we make sure to place ourselves between the grass and him, to prevent this, but when we walk in the woods, it is an issue. Would a gentle leader help with this, instead of the easy walk harness we are using now? Will this be less of an issue once he is neutered?


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

What reason are you giving him to make him *want* to keep his nose up off the ground? Dogs live to please themselves, so if we don't give them a reason to think it's more fun NOT to sniff, then they're likely to want to sniff!


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

PS - Congrats on completing your first obedience class!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Does he know the command "watch me"? If you teach that, making sure that he is rewarded occasionally for doing so, he will stop with the nose on the ground. Once he knows "watch me", if he's sniffing and you tell him "watch me", if he continues to sniff a pop on the leash is quite in order.
My male is 19 months, intact, and only sniffs the ground when he's on "his own time", never on my time.
It's just a matter of training.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Trace is 8 months...and has really come into his own as far as sniffing -
When he is off leash his time is his own....
He doesnt walk with his nose to the ground - I walk too fast to allow him the luxury. In class I spend the time between exercises working on watch and straight sits (plus a few simple fun tricks to keep him interested). Again while walking, I walk fast and only reward when his head is off the ground - not only off the ground but held high...
Again a clicker is invaluable for pin-pointing these fine behaviors...

It is really easy to create a 'sniff-watchme-reward' or a 'sniff-come-sit-reward' chain....so be very aware of any patterns you might be accidentally creating.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Phillyfisher said:


> He did really well in class, and graduated tonight. The instructors were pleased with the dramatic improvement in his training- although he just isn't mature enough yet to handle the class for CGC, which is the next class.


Maybe he could actually do the CGC class? Tally did the CGC class at 8 months, and it made all the difference in his maturity and manners. It gives a nice, concrete goal to keep improving the skills he just learned.


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## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> What reason are you giving him to make him *want* to keep his nose up off the ground? Dogs live to please themselves, so if we don't give them a reason to think it's more fun NOT to sniff, then they're likely to want to sniff!



Good point- he did very well with keeping focus with his stays and other commands, it was when we were leash walking that his nose would go to the ground. When we walk at home we have much better attention from him. In class we do a "autocheck-in" segment where we let the dogs wander on lead and look for any sign that they turn to us for guidance. We then immediately say "YES!" and treat. Well this is not Tucker's strong suit- his nose goes to the ground, so we know we need to watch for this behavior more at home and reward it there before we can expect it in class. 

We were really proud of his progress- he has come a long way. He went from not wanting to go into a down, to being the first one last night to complete his down-stay for time. And his nose was OFF the ground during it, thank you very much!

Ljilly28- CGC is definitely our next goal. I think we are going to skip a session to build up his skills at home first, and then re-run the same class to make sure he is ready for the CGC class. 

Any suggestions on how to make him think walking on lead is better than sniffing are welcome. He is not really taking treats for walking well at home. Prehaps we need to up his reward?


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

what kind of treats do you use? sometimes you have to up the ante and give better treats!


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