Dog not listening when sniffing

[spirito]

German shepherd mix; will be 2 in April. Has great command recognition when in distracting environments (i.e dog park, store) but not so much during our neighborhood walks.

I think he gets really lost in the smells, to the point my words are just noise. I can get his attention by yelling but would prefer not having to resort that all the time. Any tips?

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[deesweetz]

@spirito I believe a dogs olfactory bulb works in front of their thalamus so he literally probably isn't hearing you.

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen dogs thus engaged or in auditory exclusion because the thalamus is directing all the dogs sensory input to his eyes.

As I understand it they need some sort of Neuro stimulus to overcome that auditory exclusion.

People freak out and say my dog isn't behaving"when in fact it probably doesn't even hear you.

 

[marco4444]

@spirito Yep, scent overrides everything else. The best thing is to double down on focus exercises. Usually you can get to the point where you just need a small interruption to get him focused back on you.

He may also be more invested in the smells on his usual walk, it's his territory so to speak and he wants to know who's around.