When my little dog, Daisy, was younger, we went for miles-long walks. But after she turned 10, she stopped wanting to go the distance. She only wanted to give everything she encountered a nice, long sniff.
It now takes us about 22 minutes to walk to the end of our block and back. I figure it's her outside time, so we might as well spend it the way she wants. I listen to music with earbuds and marvel at how she'll spend the length of an entire song sniffing a decorative rock.
It turns out Daisy's sniff time is as valuable as a regular walk. In recent years, scientists have learned that sniffing provides dogs with significant mental stimulation that can be as exhausting and beneficial as a long walk.
Why Do Dogs Sniff Everything?
When my little Daisy slowly sniffs her way down the block, she is collecting olfactory information that researchers have found gives dogs a "three-dimensional image of the surrounding world across time."
