18 Reasons to Indulge Your Doggo in a Decadent Sniff Walk

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 6, 2026 7:30 AM EDT

Taking your pupper out for a walk can feel like quite the hassle if they are the kind of doggo who cannot help but stop to sniff every two steps. And while this behavior might come off as ignorant of your commands, the truth is far more beneficial than you might think.

Thanks to the pawrents and pawfessionals of Reddit's r/dogs subreddit we have had the opportunity to learn about the concept of canine sniffing and we have come to find that it is one of the most beneficial things that you can be doing for your dog. Considering our pupper pals have hundreds of thousands of scent receptors in their nose, their sense of smell is actually far sharper than their vision. Meaning that when you pull your dog back on the leash because they are smelling something it can be equated to someone pulling you back from seeing something that you can only just see. An abhorrent thing to do to a pawson, let alone a pupper.

So what are our doggos doing while they sniff? Well, according to some of the posters on this thread when a dog goes sniffing they are actually catching up on the news of the day. Akin to scrolling social media, reading a book, or indeed a newspaper, their insistent sniffing is a way to find out who has been there, what they were up to and which way they went. Much like when Margret from accounting tweets about her lunch on the balcony… While other pawfessionals note that this sniffing behavior is incredibly enriching for a doggo and stimulates them mentally in a way that is natural to their physiology and biology. So if you have been deliberating about pulling on the leash or not, we invite you to dive in and find out the many reasons that you probably should be letting your darling doggo indulge in a decadent sniff walk or sniffari. 
 

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    "They love a good sniffari. That's how they get a lot of info."
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    birdsandgerbs sniffing is super important, is their primary sense. going for a walk without sniffing for a dog is like you going for a scenic walk with your eyes closed. may as well just go on a treadmill and face a wall.
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    DAdStanich They have so many scent receptors compared to humans that it genuinely makes them happy to just go out and smell things. People tugging their dogs and stopping them from smelling are legit stopping their dogs from soaking in happiness
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    burnedimage Dogs need to sniff things! That's how they see the world. My dogs have to stop and smell 100,000 things on everyone. I call it checking their pe-mail! Seeing who been up in the neighborhood! What that sassy husky up the street is up to! And they smell my groceries, too. I think that they're checking to see what kind of table scraps they're going to have the opportunity to beg for this week!
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    TheMadHatterWasHere Sniffing is incredible enriching for your dog. A very good way of getting them mentally stimulated and tired :)
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    gorgofdoom Imagine someone tried to stop you from using Reddit. We call it the socialpe dia
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  • So as you can see the benefits of letting your doggo take time to smell all the wonderful scents that other doggos and animals have left posted up around your neighborhood are massive. While it might come off as frustrating or obsessive behavior, it is just as important, or at least engaging, as scrolling the pages of your preferred social media app, catching up on the latest goings on in your social circle. Could you imagine if your parents would randomly yank your phone out of your hand while scrolling? You would not be too happy about that, we are just lucky that doggos are so docile. 
     

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    Tandom It is an important part of their sensory understanding of what's around them and maybe more important than sight or sound. Other dogs and animals mark property with their scent and this helps your dog know what's going on and who's around I will even take my dog out to places he's never been before so he can have a Scent Adventure and let him go at his own pace.
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    Current-Brain-1983 How much do you like scrolling Reddit? For a dog sniffing is like scrolling media. Especially walking, social media for dogs.
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    periwinkle 72 Sniffing is like reading book to them- they get a story of what's going on around them
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    shana104 Yep, sniffing helps calm them. I even let my dog sniff my packages or mail I bring in. I love seeing his tail wag when he sniffs random things. It's a good mental exercise too. I also randomly throw treats in the room and say "sniff" or rather point to my nose as he's going deaf, and he will happily sniff for the treats.
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    GrouchySurprise3453 Letting your dog stop and smell the... whatever for as long as they want is the best form of mental stimulation for them. If you have the time let them thoroughly explore the smells. My Cookie can spend as much as 5 minutes if something smells very interesting. Let him smell!
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  • Another brilliant reason to let your dog stop and smell. So many of us pupper pawrents are already investing in puzzle food bowls, intelligence building toys and advanced training all in the hopes of keeping our pupper’s mentally engaged. But the truth is that just by letting them indulge in a good sniff about you can be letting them get their mental fill all on their own. it’ s funny, we pawrents have become much like many parents, overbearing, overinvolved and overall not letting our puppers simply do their thing. Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing. 
     

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    Cool Share2602 They love a good sniffari. That's how they get a lot of info.
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    subbychub Dogs mainly experience the world through scent, so letting them sniff is definitely beneficial. Keep letting him sniff your stuff, it's like exercise for their brains
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    HarmlessPeasant Every once in a while I pull out a drawer or open a box in my room and go through its contents with my dog. She lays down next to me, I show her stuff and she sniffs them. Sometimes I show her how something works and she just listens as if she was actually interested :D I also let her sniff the packages we get delivered, since she usually alerts to the delivery too.
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    Wickedb hoftheuk When a dog sniffs, it's like us walking into a dept store, except for us it's a mainly visual experience. They get a massive amount of input from their nose, like we tend to from our eyes and ears. So yes, your dog is getting all kinds of info from random stuff.
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    pupperoni42 Absolutely! Experts say that a slow, sniffing walk is more beneficial to dog's health and happiness than serious physical exercise. Our dog has arthritis now but is only 6. He'll often request to just meander slowly to the park, sniffing everything along the way. Then he wants to just sit in the park and watch the people and dogs and sit on the hill smelling everything that bl vs by.
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    lagomhosting I think sniffing is how they sort noise from signal. Mine relaxes once he's checked everything. It's a small ritual, but it works.
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    Throwawayhey129 Yeah it's the main joy for them On walks not the actual walking
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    Monkey-But -316 Yes, they can't read so...
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