Puppy won't stop sniffing the ground while walking

[pamcaid]

I have a 5-month-old Corgi and she loves to stop and sniff everything. I know many of you said let them sniff but I live in the city so the part from my house to the dog walking course is very noisy and busy. The thing is she loves to sniff while walking and she is short (corgi), and these few days she even licks the ground and makes me feel very confused. She usually does very well when I call her back and look at me and walk a little then I treat her but after 10 steps she goes back sniffing on the ground again. I use a harness because she doesn't want to walk and I did have to pull her if we are in the middle of the crossing or from her eating poo or go chase a bird. I looked at all Reddit post and I will try to :

- use a collar so to stop her sniffing everything on the ground

- teach her "go sniff" command :

Is there any other recommendation?

 

[tommyhere]

@pamcaid

• Teach leash pressure. I had better luck with the collar.
• Teach a command that it’s time to move on, I use “let’s go!”
• get higher value treats. Try low-fat cheese, freeze dried minnows, freeze dried chicken hearts, anchovy paste, etc. Or maybe a long toy like this
• if you’re concerned about eating things off the ground, a muzzle will prevent that. Otherwise you just have to be more diligent which is difficult when you have so much taking your attention on walks. Muzzle training could also be useful for the vet if your dog is in pain, it’s a good skill to just have

Sniffing is really enriching and is probably working her brain more than the physical act itself. She’ll get less distracted by the environment over time, in the meantime I would focus on making yourself high value in the distracting areas and the leash pressure. If you need to run an errand, leave her behind for now and build up her walking skills.

 

[pamcaid]

@tommyhere Thank you I will try using a collar… it’s just sometimes when we have to cross the traffic she just lie down and I have to drag her
I know she likes meeting other dogs but maybe not walking itself anyways I will bring her out more and get her used to outside