Dog and Wolfdog Calming Signals: Sniffing

Yes dogs sniff, but not all sniffing is for the aroma or for wolfdogs… the irresistible stink.

I have a calming signal sniffer though it took time to figure out what was going on.

During our daily hikes, my dog would be trotting happily along beside me, then BAM… she would come to a complete leg-locked halt and start sniffing.

Eventually, I began to see a pattern. We passed many people on the trail. Sometimes she would do her sniff thing other times not.
I still don’t know why some people send off a vibe that starts her sniffing, but I do know she only does this when a person or groups approaches us. For normal sniffs she moves along with me. She must sense something I don’t.

My fix was to use a treat to distract her from sniffing, use the command “let’s go” and trot past the trigger. I don’t need a treat anymore, just the command when I see her ears go into attention mode.

But sniffing as a calming signal makes perfect sense. You see a threat coming, so you pretend to do something that makes you look too busy to react.

Sniffing is a hard signal to identify because dogs do it all the time, but you can tell the difference between regular sniffing and a calming signal once you see a pattern, then it's important to identify the trigger, so you can relieve any distress.

However, like any behavior, calming signals have the potential to become pathological in nature when they disrupt daily activities or effect health. Seek professional help or talk to your veterinarian if this is the case.