[yorkietalkjilly]

Sounds like Tibbe sniffing every two inches and most times I let him sniff all the exciting smells on the sidewalk from other dogs, cats & people and take his time the first pass up the block. He's a canine, been confined in the house or only his yard most of the 24-hour day, whereas the species originally roamed for miles and enjoyed hundreds of scents in the wild before mankind & dog paired up and kind of went mankind's way, so I let him enjoy himself as a dog on part of our walk. It's one of the few natural things he gets to do and he's happy as can be getting to take his time and sniff the world outside his tiny sphere. Once we've taken the time and smelled all up the block, we walk back down the other way in my way, at a good clip - and he trots along willingly, having scoped out the route already. Sometimes, we take another trip up and down just to get in more exercise or walk around the block but only after he's had his time. If I become impatient with him(and I sure do!), I try to remember that the canine species was not originally confined to living in homes and yards, limited to a few sniffs of another dog's bottom or their own poop in the back yard or the occasional trail of a squirrel. They are a noble species who for centuries ran wild, scented down & hunted prey in a pack and roamed wide & far and enjoyed the scent of lots of critters & places during the day, so giving them some time to sniff and enjoy the tiny slice of it they get now shouldn't be too costly to me most days when I remember who Tibbe really is at heart. In his mind he's a big alpha male wolf and hunter extroadinaire and all those scents are potential prey, pack members or mates or something! So, I cut him some slack. I actually mostly enjoy getting to see him give his nose that workout and getting all that information he seems to relish so! Yes, I get tired of his taking so long, a lot of times, too, but I figure he's worth it. It's one of the little things I like to do for him.