Sniffing
Dogs like to sniff! For some dog guardians this will come as no surprise. All the Beagle owners out there Im looking at you, but sniffing is important for all breeds not just our scent hounds. Sniffing opportunities can help tire an energetic puppy, calm a highly aroused adolescent dog, reassure and comfort an anxious pooch and generally benefit your furry friends behaviour.
Dogs have a remarkable sense of smell, and they use their noses to explore and interact with the world around them. With an estimated 300 million olfactory receptors in their nasal cavity (Brooks et al., 2015) compared with our 2-5 million (Szetei et al., 2003) a dogs nose provides them with an amazing sensory experience. A dog sees the world through their nose. We have harnessed this powerful tool for our advantage in many situations: drug and bomb detection, search and rescue, invasive weed identification in sensitive environments the list goes on.
This makes sniffing an essential part of a dog's natural behaviour, opportunities to sniff and investigate with their nose has mental and physical benefits for our pet dogs. When a dog sniffs, they are gathering information about their surroundings, such as identifying familiar and unfamiliar scents and detecting potential threats or opportunities. This activity is mentally stimulating and all this information being taking in requires processing in the brain, the mental work of doing this is tiring.
In addition to providing mental stimulation, sniffing also has calming benefits. When a dog sniffs, they release endorphins, which are natural chemicals that can help them feel relaxed and happy. This is why you may notice your dog being more relaxed and content after a good sniffing session.
Quick wins - Without too much extra planning or thinking here are two quick ways to incorporate more sniffing time into your dogs day.
Next time you pop on your dogs lead and head out for a walk make a commitment to allow them as long as they want to sniff the gate post, the tree two doors down, the weed growing between the pavement cracks. It has been suggested that a 15 minute sniffing walk can tire you dog as much as a walk twice the length with no sniffing.
Rather than feed your dog their meal in a bowl tonight consider a scatter feed of dry food across the lawn, or placing their raw meal in a box or two from recycling and dotting them round the garden for their nose to find.
Sniffing is an essential part of a dog's natural behaviour, providing mental and physical benefits. By incorporating sniffing into your dog's daily routine, you can provide them with mental stimulation and help them feel more relaxed and content.
Sniffing Fun Pack
Snuffle mats are a dog toy designed to meet this behavioural need in dogs. The provide a convenient, compact sniffing opportunity great for those rainy days when outside isn’t an option or helping a dog settle in a crate or playpen, they are also a great portable sniffing opportunity for your dog. Roll it up and take it with you to help your dog settle and calm in a new environment. Check out Puppy Portal’s ‘Sniffing Fun Pack’ to help you maximise your dogs sniffing opportunities.
