Do You Allow Your Dog/s to Sniff the Ground When Outdoors?

 

 

Rocket on his way to find another pace to sniff

 

Rocket having fun sniffing

Rocket. Must have found an enticing scent

Rocket found a “lovely” scent

Rocket enjoying a good sniff

   

Several weeks ago I read that we, dog owners should allow out pet/s to enjoy themselves more- such as sniffing for all the various scents that our dog/s love. I thought that was rather odd since I just have never given sniffing much thought other than to watch my dogs have fun with their nose to the ground.   

I read this on an Internet site and their were some comments from readers that, we do not allow our pets much freedom and fun. According to the article, it was the writer’s opinion that sniffing is one huge pleasurable activity in which our dogs should be given more time to engage in and thus have more fun.  

For some dogs such as the Beagle and other hunting breeds one would think that the dog would constantly have its nose to the ground or concrete- whatever the case might be. I think most dogs- no matter the breed love to sniff.  

The comments went on to cats where some individuals believed that they were depriving their pet of the wonderment of the great outdoors. I, for one believe that is taking the subject of deprivation to whole new level. Several commenters said they had begun letting their cat go outdoors.  Guilt was the deciding factor. Apparently these people did not even begin to realize the perils of letting their cat roam around at will. From experience, I can tell you that many eons ago, my husband would let any cat go out the door that wanted out.  I then would chase the cat and bring it back inside. Sad, but true, I “lost” several cats to coyotes and two that were killed by cars.  I was finally able to add an addition to the back of the house with a large wire run and have not lost any cats since. My husband did not approve of the addition but I paid for all of it myself.   

I do not understand the justification for letting an animal roam which can not think for itself anymore than a toddler has the ability to realize all of the inherent dangers of what is lurking at just about every corner. I compare free ranging cats to letting your small child play unattended which could result in the child being kidnapped, killed, or run over by a car. Same thing goes for pet owners who let their dog  “potty” anywhere in the neighborhood or cat owners who have never considered the fact that your neighbors might just not like having a cat use their flower bed as a litter box or have paw prints that can clearly be seen going across the hood of their car.  

 I strayed from the original topic- sorry for the digression. I’ll stop with the lecture and get on with the sniffing thing. I am very lucky to live on an acre in the city. Our property was purchased many years ago when there was no one around. Now we are surrounded by homes but our acre is fenced and gated so I can let my dogs run, play, and sniff about every 2 hours or so during the day. I just happened to take some photos of Rocket my old Border Collie as he sniffed his way across our yard one day.  

Post and photography Yvonne Daniel