Caring for dogs

Think from the dogs perspective

The Dog Listener

Walking the dogs

Are these walks for you or for him? If they are for him, let him take them at his own pace. Senses — including smell — deteriorate with age, and he probably needs to spend longer sniffing to get the same stimulation as he used to. Smell is an extremely important sense to dogs; a full third of the canine brain is dedicated to the olfactory system. If he is sitting around bored all day while you are at work, these walks may be his only opportunity to exercise his brain — and that’s extremely important for mental health, especially in old age. It’s extremely enriching and engaging to allow dogs to sniff during walks. Here’s a quote from a relevant article:

Even though a sniffing session is slower than the average dog walk, it’s about quality, not quantity. Dogs sniffing is a great form of canine mental stimulation, and it increases their respiration rate, so it’s a tiring activity. “I don’t think the length of time is as important as the quality of the walk. Dogs can get a whole lot of sniffing done in 20 to 30 minutes and be just as tired as an hour walk without sniffing,” says [Staci] Lemke [registered veterinarian].

They sniff too much!

• Use a different leash or harness, depending on what kind of walk you want. For example, have a harness that has two possible attachment points. (One on the chest, one on the back.) The trainer suggested that the chest-attachment be used for “exercise” walks, and that the back-attachment used for “sniffari” walks! The chest-attachment would make it naturally uncomfortable for the dog to lead or pull, and would provide a gentle, but more firm, tug when we kept going without them. On the other hand, the back-attachment makes it far more natural for the dog to lead, and to roam around a bit more freely. You could also just use a different leash or harness entirely, of course!
• Have a command for sniffing, and for getting a move-on. Our trainer recommended using a command, like “Go sniff!” or “Sniffari!” or something, when you want the dog to sniff. This will be in addition to commands like “Come on!” or “Hurry up!”, because it’s important that the dog be taught that sniffing is an acceptable behavior. because then they’ll start to feel like they don’t have permission to sniff around. (It’s very similar to the idea behind training dogs to “Speak!” to reduce barking) But, it’s also useful because, obviously, it lets you designate a ‘correct’ place and time to sniff. Here’s a great article on how to train for this.
• Have a time limit. This is actually something I’ve discovered for myself, and it works great. I’ve trained my dog that when I start counting down from 10, when we reach 1, we’re going to get moving again. He pretty consistently pulls away from whatever he’s sniffing either at 8 (if it’s low-interest) or 4 (if it’s high-interest), but almost never lets it reach 1, unless it’s EXTREMELY high-interest. Even if you don’t have any verbal command associated with this, just having some sort of mental idea of how long to allow them to sniff helps you remain objective, fair, and teach the dog that some sniffing is okay when out and about, but not too much. Because they’ll begin to internalize that time limit too!

So something I do with my dogs a couple times a week is take them an an extra leisurely stroll. I bring a folding chair and a book, and I will take them to a smell-worthy spot and let them sniff to their hearts’ content (usually 5-10 minutes if it’s a really smelly spot, longer if they also find a bug to stalk or something). Then when they are thoroughly finished, we move to a different spot.

Seems continually sad

Maybe he is experiencing chronic pain? Could a vet prescribe him a painkiller and see if his mood improves?

He may dealing with trauma (from having previously been attacked) or with early dementia. Maybe the vet could try putting him on an anxiety treatment plan? These days, there are a lot of medications for addressing mental health in dogs.

He could be experiencing loneliness after moving from a larger household into a smaller household where you are the only other being he interacts with. Are there any neighborhood kids you could pay to come give him attention? Pay pocket change to visit pets after school (before they got home from work), just to play with them and talk to them while doing homework. Or do you know people or other dogs he gets along with? Maybe he could have regular visits with them.