I started to have kind of the same issue with Gracie this spring. Last year she would walk right along no problem. This spring when the snow melted she decided she was some kind of hound dog! We live in an area that has a lot of wild animals around at night time so I figure she was smelling all the life that was there the night before. Her nose was to the ground almost all the time. It seemed like she was stopping to sniff way more than she should. Like you I wanted her to be a dog but I don't want to spend most of the time standing waiting for her to get done investigating.
Now I give her like 10 to 20 seconds to sniff, depending on how long it has been since the last one and then I tell her "no more!" and give her a light, quick pull of her harness. She has learned she can't keep her nose in the ground as long as she would like to. I have never taught her to heel but that is an option. If you have ever been to an obedience class you may have seen how they teach a dog to walk properly on a leash. It isn't a difficult thing to do but it is a good way to walk your dog and not have to worry about them going way out in front or lagging behind. They learn the command and walk right beside you.
I know how frustrating it is. Gracie is pretty good about listening to me but her dog instincts for some reason kicked in this year. You would think that she would get tired of it but she finds it fascinating to pretend she is a hound dog. As for staring at people and things.....I would think that a word command would work for that also but it does take some practice. |