Question
I have a red hair, smooth coat, Dachshund, now 11 months old. I have grown to despise walking her; she eats any thing on walks, even rocks and bugs. She's leaves pine needles, but otherwise it doesn't seem to matter; if it's laying there, she'll pick it up.
I've been working on her about this since she was 9 weeks old. It's never made a difference. Even taking her out to potty, she does the same thing, looking for anything. It could be a fly flying around, whatever, it will distract her from doing her business. It's very bad. She is my third Dachshund. I've never had one like her before. While walking, she never looks around, but her head is always down, sniffing and searching. I'm wore out.
Also, she seems to go "crazy" when she sees other people or a dog or cat. It doesn't mater what. It is like she has A.D.D or A.D.H.D. or other mental problems. Please, please help me, I'm going crazy!
Answer
This dog sounds very stressed. Constant sniffing is often a sign that the dog is trying to defuse tension. Excessive interest in objects, and overreacting to other dogs and people can also be a sign of a highly stressed dog.
Ideally, you'd get a professional who can see your dog's behaviour and interpret it to help you understand it properly, but I understand that finances can make that hard.
With an easily distracted dog, it's very easy to get worried yourself and have your voice show your stress, but the key thing is to try to stay really calm, don't raise your voice, and have lots of patience. (I've recently been through this myself with an awkward sighthound, so I really sympathise)
There's a really good Youtube channel from Kikopup which I think may help.
Here's a good place to start: introducing clicker training.
Here is a series of videos about building attention And here's her series about working with shy dogs - I'm not sure if your dog is shy, but that much sniffing and obsessive behaviour is often a sign of shyness.
You might also want to look into Ttouch massage.
Here's an excellent article about stress in dogs that I think may help you.
Answered By - Victoria
