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Canine Behavior/Excessive sniffing

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Brigitte wrote at 2011-08-31 00:47:35
the dog doesn't have a behavior issue. he smells something and he's trying to figure it out. dog's map scent to image as if reading a fingerprint...if they don't match the scent they will continue to try to read it until they identify it.  dogs also have a much more sensitive instinct to danger and it sounds like he is protecting you from what possibly he doesn't understand, but knows is danger. my dogs is doing the same thing and actually it looks like he's huffing glue. one other thing is that whatever he is smelling seems to drug him because he will also go into deep sleeps after these huffing bouts and he overall doesn't look as spry as he used to, appetite seems messed up and he can be very thirsty at times. i recently found out that we were very near an old landfil and what i'm told is that with the watertable rising, different sorts of gases are being released.  I also have sudden unexplained death of vegetation and/or grass and periods where the garden doesn't look so good and then it is bursting with green.  my ground appears to be constantly wet as well so we are now looking into drainage problems for our property.  this doesn't sound like a training issue to me. sounds like you have a good dog. trust his instinct, trust your's.

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Lee Charles Kelley

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I've been training dogs in New York City for nearly 20 years. My training approach and philosophy are based on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained--through the prey drive, inherited from the wolf. It's true that there's been a shift away from using the "wolf model" in dog training recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason. That's because trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no dominance hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (not in the traditional sense). The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (Wolves who live near garbage dumps, for example, and who don't hunt together, don't form packs.) So if wolves don't have an instinct to "follow the pack leader" or "obey the alpha wolf," how could dogs have inherited it from them?

Years ago, before I became a dog trainer, I noticed that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs I met weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were the dogs whose owners always had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. And while it might seem that my approach would only be relevant to high-drive dogs who love fetch and tug-of-war, it isn't. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.

All behavior is an expression of energy. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels satisfying to his or her instincts and emotions, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for its energy will almost always bring the dog's behavior back into alignment with its instincts

Feel free to ask me questions about any training/behavioral issue.

LCK

Experience

20 years as a dog trainer. I'm also a bestselling author, writing a series of dog-related mystery novels for Avon.

Organizations
Dog Writers Association of America

Education/Credentials
Just a natural gift I have for understanding and training dogs

Past/Present Clients
Too numerous to mention.

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