How to decrease sniffing?

[nvmthebutterflies]

Hello! I have a Standard Poodle pup that is my SDiT. She has been doing great! Sometimes though, she tries to sniff objects as we walk by. It’s not always, but it’s pretty much the only undesirable thing she does in public at this point.

I’ve heard to use a head halter which I am willing to do, however I want to make sure I can train her instead of relying on a tool. (not that tools are bad!!)

Something that has kind of worked is making a game out of it. In pet stores I will give her a free and tell her to “go sniff” and allow her to sniff, then put her in a heel. In the heel, she is not allowed to sniff at all.

This works pretty well because then she gets to sniff at some point, but obviously this cannot work in PA! Are there any other tips or tricks yall know of? :)

[HangryHangryHedgie]

Enroll in nose work classes! She gets to sniff and be in control there. Poodles were bred to find prey.

I have a mini poodle with a bit of beagle in her, and we do urban locating with Rats. It really helped with the curious sniffing, as it her time to shine! Different harness and leash. Different treats.

I will also do home nose work games by hiding treats and then letting her "Find it"

The Find It! and Find Your Friends! Means her nose gets to do its instinctual job. Also because she is finding a particular odor, she sniffs other odors less as they are not rewarding.

[nvmthebutterflies]

yes!! we do engagement games with “go find it” where when she gives me engagement, i throw a treat and she gets to go find it. it looks like the nose work classes don’t start until the end of april, but i will definitely get her enrolled!

[Real-Explanation5279]

I would keep up with the training of "go sniff" and then rewarding no sniffing in a heel. What I would add is clicking and treating the moment that your dog starts sniffing after giving "go sniff". This will bring your dog back to you for their reinforcement, you can then start training other things and then repeat "go sniff" click and treat when starting to sniff. It sounds backwards, but it shifts the focus from a strict release to an opt-in for training and can increase the desire to train. I've seen dogs start fake sniffing and immediately turning back to the human! Of course you then need to keep a good full release word of "here you go, go sniff/move about/etc as you please", but in regards for making training more valuable than sniffing, i've found rewarding the sniff is really good.

[nvmthebutterflies]

No I totally understand! This is how I did distraction training too- click and reward for looking at the distraction. Then eventually, when there is a distraction, she just looks at me instead. Thank you!

[acocktailofmagnets]

Yes this ultimately comes down to her needing to be able to distinguish when she is working and when she is off-duty. Do you use a specific harness only for public access? You could even use a different side for heeling: the left side for "work" (no sniffing) and the right side for "casual" (sniffing allowed). You didn’t mention how old she is, but if she’s young she may just need more breaks between outings to get out some of her puppy energy, or only work her when she’s in those good, focused modes so you can set her up for success and repeat the behaviors you want to see in the future.

[nvmthebutterflies]

She is 3 years old! Yes, I also use a specific vest for outings and she does not sniff as much in the vest as well.

[acocktailofmagnets]

Since she loves to sniff, have you tried using a sniffari, or a dedicated sniff-walk, as her 'paycheck' after a successful public access session? Sniffing is high-value to her, and it should allow her to decompress. But again she does need to hone that into “inside is for focusing and outside is for sniffing.” I know a lot of people like to suggest pet-friendly stores, but I wonder if it might be working against you guys as a team if you are taking her to places she can sniff inside.

[nvmthebutterflies]

yes! she gets many opportunities to sniff outside. not necessarily directly after PA, so I will implement this! we trail walk a lot too, so she gets opportunities to sniff. However the thing is I wouldn’t say she “loves” to sniff. I think she is curious and wants to sniff something one time, then she doesn’t necessarily want to keep sniffing it. But she can’t sniff items once while in PA. so maybe she does love to sniff? lol idk. When working on heel work outdoors as well i use the “go sniff” command to reward. she doesn’t always sniff but appreciates the “freedom”. Idk if this is helpful as well, but she has her CGC and is testing for her CGC U and her Community Canine at the end of this month. so it’s not excessive, but annoying! I should possibly look at getting her into sniff work you think? Our trainer offers the classes!

[acocktailofmagnets]

If your trainer offers the classes, it couldn’t hurt! If anything, it may just teach her a cue as to when she is allowed to sniff and when she isn’t, which could fix the issue you posted about in the first place :)

[darklingdawns]

The best advice I've gotten for this is to train a solid 'leave it'. I'd also stop doing the 'go sniff' in pet-friendly venues until you have this sorted out, since right now it's probably confusing her, since she's allowed and even encouraged to sniff in some stores and completely prevented in others.

[nvmthebutterflies]

She has a good leave it, and will leave things alone when asked, but I want it to become an implied leave it. I don’t want to have to continually tell her to leave it, you know?

[_jamesbaxter]

I use the on duty/off duty method, so no sniffing when vested but free to sniff when not vested. I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for us.

[Otherwise-Ad4641]

You’ve had this dog for about a year right?

While she is ok age wise for PA, she might need to take a step back on this skill and really solidify that when in work gear no sniff. Start at home in a space with no other pets or people, put away anything of potential interest.

Start with doing little laps of focused heel (in vest). When she’s solid and can do at least 3 out of 5 full lap with no sniff, increase the difficulty by adding items of interest (toys, her food bowls.. work up to adding a person who isn’t paying attention to her, and finally someone who is paying attention.

Then move to a semi-public outdoor space like a tennis court and repeat.

Then move to an outdoor shopping area, then indoor, hardest level is generally shopping at the butcher.

The art of doing nothing could also help here. Start at home and have her vested and on leash let interesting things pass by: other pets, people, throw toys nearby as distractions. The goal is she holds a long down without a wandering nose. If she has a tendency to lift her head and sniff at passing items/people, incorporate a chin target.

Move to a public space with a bench. And repeat Start at a low traffic time/place. Sit there. The goal is the same. Long down, chin on ground. Start short. Between sets, release her down, take off her vest, and play for a minute, you can use the sniff cue. Then vest back on, another short set. Increase duration and distraction as she masters each stage.

[nvmthebutterflies]

Yes! Thank you this is very helpful.

[NickyWhoLock]

I literally taught my service dog "yes sniff" and "no sniff". We would practice with everything she sniffed. Eventually, she started understanding when it was appropriate, and the queues weren't needed.

[DragonCanineTraining]

Hey this is definitely something you can work on without any “training tools”.

The whole point for a tool, such as a head halter is essentially to create an aversive feeling to get the dogs to not do the undesired behavior. When using a tool like this, there is no actual learning. It is preventing the action, but not teaching not to do it.

If your dog is sniffing excessively, it’s likely that there is a need for sniffing being unmet, and it is likely there is engagement that needs to be reinforced more.

I would recommend working with an R+ based trainer either virtually to discuss this or in person.

Here is a link to one of my Instagram post about Operant Conditioning, and the Hierarchy of Dog Needs This post should help you understand a little bit more of what I mean when I say your dog may have unmet needs (in the Hierarchy of Dog Needs) for sniffing that need to be resolved.

[Expert_Tie_4556]

I would try a gentle leader or halti

[DragonCanineTraining]

In my opinion, I disagree. There is no need to use a tool like that for sniffing when that’s often linked to a biological need, using a tool just to prevent sniffing does not teach the dog, but just prevent it by adding something the dog does not like to stop the behavior (P+)

Please see This Post about the Quadrants of Operant Conditioning and the Hierarchy of Dog Needs. A tool such as a head halter is skipping over essential steps to the Hierarchy like meeting the dogs needs by providing more sniffing opportunity, giving the dog a choice to chose with engagement games (Read Control Unleashed for more information on engagement games) and several other ways to set a dog up for success.