What To Do If Your Dog Sniffs Your Crotch | Dog Training Nation

What to Do If Your Dog Sniffs Your Crotch

Here’s the deal. We all know dogs perceive the world using their brilliant olfactory abilities. Their sense of smell is much stronger than humans, so it’s no surprise that dogs interact with humans scent first. However, sometimes, dogs sniff your crotch. Oops!

Before dying of embarrassment, teach your dog to do something else with his nose and keep everyone’s private parts, well, private.

Why Do Dogs Sniff Your Crotch?

Dogs sniff crotches because most dogs are nose level. Plus, evidence shows dogs are able to sniff out human pheromones, which fluctuate, depending on hormonal changes. Before getting creeped out, understand that dogs are able to sniff out bladder cancer cells in urine, identify ovulating cows, locate bed bugs and the list goes on. If humans can identify it, dogs can find it. Personally, I think dogs have always been able to perform these miracles. We’re just noticing. 🙂

Dogs follow their noses. They don’t know sniffing your crotch freaks you out. Shoot, it’s part of their doggie greeting rituals.

What to Do If Your Dog Sniffs Your Crotch

Most dog owners couldn’t care less why crotch sniffing happens. They just want their dogs to stop. Instead of shooing your infamous crotch-sniffing dog away from forbidden areas, teach him to target your hand instead.

My motto is teach dogs what you want them to do rather than punishing certain dog behaviors. What if you smiled every time a visitor came over for dinner and then your mother punished you for it? Smiling is instinctual, so being punished is utterly confusing. The same logic applies to dogs.

Teach your dog to touch his nose to your hand. This dog obedience cue is called “touch” and can be used in many ways. You certainly need to teach and practice “touch” behavior before guests visit, so grab some treats and get busy.

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How to Teach Your Dog to Touch

Hold Out an Open Palm

Open the palm of your hand and hold it out with your fingers pointing sideways. Sometimes, an open-handed cop signal freaks dogs out, especially when we lean our fingers toward their face. If you think about it, when someone says “talk to the hand” or “stop talking” while pushing our open hand (fingers pointed up) in our face, it’s infuriating and intimidating. Turn your hand sideways please.

Wait for Your Dog to Touch

Hold your hand about one to two feet away from your dog’s nose and wait for him to touch his nose in your hand. Keep your hand still. Don’t move your hand toward your dog. The tiny pause is your dog wondering what to do. If your dog remains sitting, he’s confused. No worries. Hold a tiny treat in your open hand and give it to him once he touches your hand.

Mark the Behavior and Treat

Practice again and say “yes,” as you feel his nose touching your hand. By saying “yes,” you’re marking the behavior you want (nose touch hand) and follow with a treat. Continue four or five more times and end the practice session.

Test on Visitors

Making an open palm a visual cue makes it super simple to remember and for guests to learn. Continue practicing a couple of minutes per day. After a week or so, it’s time to test it out on visitors. I highly recommend using super yummy treats as rewards and placing them in small bowls next to busy door entrances.

When guests come over, ask them to hold their open palms six inches away from their crotch. This redirects your dog’s nose to their hand rather than their crotch. Now, practice a few more times, asking your guests to move their hands further away from their crotch and then end the training session.

Keep a small bowl of treats around, as you and your guest visit. If, at anytime, your dog makes a beeline for private areas, ask him to “touch” before he gets to his final destination. 🙂 After several trials with different people, your dog will learn to sniff hands instead of crotches. If your dog does sniff you or your guest’s private parts, you know what to do. This dog training exercise is very empowering for everyone!

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