Why is sniffing so important for dogs?
Victoria Moen
2025-06-26 21:59:52
Count answers: 9
Sniffing is hugely beneficial for dogs and essential for their wellbeing. It’s stimulating too - experts tell us just 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent to an hour’s walk in terms of enrichment for your dog. As humans, we are very visual, but for dogs smells are everything. Sniffing is your dog’s way of making sense of the world around them - and it provides lots of mental stimulation, which can help keep their brain healthy as well as their body. Giving them time to sniff is almost as important as the physical exercise they get from a walk. Pay attention to the things your dog likes to sniff the most. We bet when you see how much joy it brings them, you’ll be much more inclined to let them have time to sniff more frequently.
Stefan Eichmann
2025-06-26 21:08:19
Count answers: 14
It’s enjoyable, in the same way that we look around us and take pleasure in that, our dogs sniff and take equal joy in that. Secondly it is a way to find out about the environment and what it might contain - and if it is safe. They are picking up information left by other dogs and they are processing all this ever-changing information about the area and its inhabitants while we think they are just wasting time sniffing. For active dogs, or for dogs who start their walks totally uncontrollable and either pulling on the lead in their excitement, or else whizzing around all over the place, time spent sniffing can take the edge off their unfocussed energy. For worried reactive dogs, sniffing can help them feel more secure - as they have spent time working out what is out there and whether it needs to be worried about or whether, far more likely, it is safe. Perhaps more importantly, for all dogs a chance to sniff fulfils a major part of their sensory needs - as much as physical and mental exercise does and as much as play does. Sniffing makes them happy and gives them an outlet for their hard-wired natural behaviours.
Dominique Witting
2025-06-26 20:43:42
Count answers: 13
Dogs have incredibly sensitive noses with up to 300 million scent receptors. When you compare this to a human’s 6 million, we start to see why dogs enjoy sniffing so much. That’s why these slower walks, where a dog can stop and smell the flowers can be more pleasurable for your dog as they can glean so much information from a smell and it’s incredibly enriching for them. Sniffing activates and exercises the brain and can make them feel just as tired as after a fast-paced walk. If you’ve ever had to study for an exam, it’s similar to that kind of tiredness. Think of sniffing for dogs like social media for us humans, it’s how they get their news. Sniffing can also be very calming for dogs. A meandering, sniff session on a long-leash can release the mood-boosting chemical in their brain called dopamine.
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