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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!

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  • Related How do I stop my dog from eating things he finds during our walks?
    – James Jenkins
    Commented May 26, 2016 at 16:08
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    Just so you know, you're not alone. My brindle is just over 18 months now and exhibits the same behavior. Smells out anything even remotely edible (where I think so or not is not relevant) and is VERY protective of the entire neighborhood. how she reacts to other dogs has no rhyme nor reason either, some males she leaves alone, some she's extremely agitated about, same with females and spaying/neutering of her or others has no effect on her reaction to them.
    – CGCampbell
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 13:19

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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.

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  • Yes ur answer is so very right !!! I'm so stressed even before we walk out the door it's me also stressed out . I know that she's just a young pup but I can't be taking her out more then 2 x a day and the 2nd time we walk for about 30-45 minutes and another thing I've notice is she's not eating like use too but once a day an most of that timing is after the evening walk and I've notice yes she is bios rd stiff even with her toys nothing excites her but the out doors
    – Wanda jamail
    Commented May 26, 2016 at 16:56
  • Some behaviourists recommend taking a couple of days off walks, just to reset the dog's hormones. They get so high on adrenaline, they can't focus, and then each walk the stress mounts higher. You could try just gentle clicker training around the house for a couple of days, and see if it helps. Sounds like you could also do with a break!
    – Victoria
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 15:35
  • ... I edited my answer and added a suggestion that you consider doing Ttouch massage with your dog, and also a link to an article about stress in dogs and how to manage it.
    – Victoria
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 15:50
  • Irked walking my dog yesterday and I'm following the recommendations went very well but every morning she's being stubborn and showing me I'm not going to eat or do nothing unless u take me for a walk even in the rain and trying to show me nope not going to nothing but sit around here and keep whining until u do what I want . Then sense she doesn't eat she throws up just yellow stuff like acid reflux really cause she's doing this to her own self to make me feel sorry for her not going to work very hard headed and demanding please help for suggestions
    – Wanda jamail
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 15:52
  • What are you feeding her?
    – Victoria
    Commented May 27, 2016 at 15:55

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