Snalkies!

Yes, you're right - I made that word up, but I love it as it's perfectly descriptive. A 'snalkie' is just a 'sniffy walk'.

So what do I mean by a snalkie, and why is it important?

What exactly does a 'snalkie' involve?

A snalkie is a sniffy walk where your dog takes the lead.

We often want to walk from point A to point B and back again, but our dogs want to follow their noses.

Dogs' sense of smell are so much better than ours, and the world of smells is how dogs see the world.

For example, a dog can smell an odour of one part in a quadrillion compared to humans who can only detect one part in a billion*.

It's important to understand that when out for a 'snalkie' you may not get very far, but your dog gets to choose where they want to sniff, and for how long.

Obviously our job is to ensure they are safe and don't put themselves in any danger, and it can be useful to have your dog on a long line or a lead for this type of walk.

So, if they want to spend a minute sniffing one blade of grass, that's ok.

Let them wander where their nose takes them; let them sniff a particular item, spot, or plant for as long as they want to.

Sniffing is good for their brains and stimulates their overall senses. A good sniff for a dog has been likened to us reading a good book!

For dogs, it is almost as important as walking or getting exercise; so, combining the two makes for a happy and tired-out dog.

We humans often get frustrated when we want to walk, but our dogs want to sniff - changing your mindset and accepting you are going for a snalkie is a good compromise.

Snalkies are great for all dogs, but particularly for large breed puppies and older dogs who cannot walk too far due to physical reasons.

Case studies

I am a great advocate of the snalkie, and the following two case studies highlight its benefits:

1. Jake, Labrador puppy

Jake's owners contacted me for help with his behaviour in the afternoons.

Lockdown and their new work-from-home regime was becoming problematic as Jake couldn't or wouldn't settle after lunch and was making it impossible for his owners to concentrate on the work required for their jobs.

As both owners were working from home, they agreed that their lunch breaks could be split so that one of them took their lunch from 12-1pm and the other took their lunch break from 1-2pm.

This gave the opportunity for Jake to be occupied for a good two hours in the middle of the day and after his morning slumbers. One of the activities I proposed during the lunch period was a 'snalkie'.

NB: Large breed puppies need care with walks as their bone growth plates do not fuse until they are approx. 12-16 months of age.

Too much running or jumping in the early months can affect development and cause problems in later life.

The general rule of thumb for large breed dogs is to calculate the walk using the following formula: 5mins x how many months old they are.

In theory, this means a four-month-old large breed puppy would get a 20-minute walk.

What is most important here is the distance, not the time, but the reason time is restricted is so that large breeds are not overwalked.

Snalkies are perfect in this regard because when your puppy is sniffing they are not actually walking so you can be out for longer than 20 minutes and potentially go a shorter distance than you would if you did a 20 minute walk with no sniffing.

Taking Jake for a lunch time snalkie really helped him to be settled in the afternoon, and his owners were then able to work through from 2-5pm without being pestered, because Jake was happily snoozing and processing all the wonderful sniffs he had been allowed to investigate.

2. Rosie, elderly Jack Russell Terrier

Rosie's owners contacted me for help when it became obvious that Rosie was experiencing a bit of Canine Cognitive Disorder (CCD), the dog equivalent of Dementia/Alzheimer's in humans.

Rosie was also suffering from arthritic joints and wasn't up to the long walks she had been able to enjoy as a younger dog.

Her behaviour at home meant she was restless, confused between night and day, and would randomly bark at seemingly nothing. Her owners wanted to know if there was anything they could do to help Rosie.

Older dogs often lose their hearing and sight just like we do when we age; however, their sense of smell doesn't seem to be affected. In fact, if anything, it seems to get better and sniffing takes on a new intensity.

I recommended a daily snalkie for Rosie (if she was up to it) and because she got a bit confused and couldn't see very well, I also recommended her owners put her on a long line so that if necessary they could prevent her from wandering off after the wrong people or going somewhere that would be detrimental to her well-being.

Rosie was given the opportunity to sniff wherever she wanted and for as long as she wanted, and whilst this often meant she didn't go very far (often round the same spots), it did give her the necessary stimulation to return home contented and nicely fatigued.

She would fall into a lovely deep sleep, often for a few hours, which helped to stop her restless pacing and random barking.

Why not try a snalkie for your dog?

These case studies show how the same exercise was beneficial to two very different types of dog at different stages of their lives.

My message to you is next time you take your dog out for a walk – try a snalkie!

Think of it as an excursion from your dog's point of view. It is a bit boring for we humans, I admit, but why not take the time to listen to the world around you (birds, the wind blowing through the trees) and do a spot of people-watching while your dog is having a good old sniff – you might be surprised what you see and hear too!

Liz Cox is a Registered Veterinary Nurse and has a Masters in Animal Behaviour and Welfare. She is a qualified scentwork trainer, having studied with Talking Dog's Scentwork and became a qualified puppy trainer with the School of Canine Science. She is the founder and head trainer of Dawlish-based dog training business The Dog Nose.

Bibliography

• Dickey, Tommy and Junqueira, Heather. "Toward the use of medical scent detection dogs for COVID-19 screening" Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, vol. 121, no. 2, 2021, pp. 141-148. https://doi.org/10.1515/jom-2020-0222