My dog LOVES to sniff and mark on walks--every 10 feet it seems like he's back in the bushes again. Yes, walks can be for sniffing, but there are times when I want him to keep walking without stopping (eg when I am actually trying to go somewhere, or when he wants to sniff/mark something inappropriate). So, I set out to train "let's go," meaning, "stop that sniffing/peeing and keep walking." I thought that I could eventually use this to transition to a default "no sniffing now" heel. Here's what I did: 
1) when he started to sniff, pull him gently away and when he looked at me instead of the smell, click and treat. 
3) also click and treat when he looked at something like he *wanted* to sniff, but chose to keep walking
4) randomly treat when he was walking in heel position to reinforce the "right" behavior

So, it's now about 80% reliable that I can call him away from sniffing/marking (assuming he doesn't find a dead gopher or something). Next, I started calling him away from all smells on walks, thinking that he would get the idea that "let's go" meant "walk" not "sniff" for the whole walk. But after months of calling him away from every smell on every walk, it seems he wants to sniff just as often as ever. 

--Is he now sniffing on purpose to get a treat? 
--Is sniffing more rewarding than food (probably) so he'll always want it?
--Is there another way to teach the difference between times it's OK to sniff or not? Can I build on the work I've done in a different way? What can I try next?
user
Can I teach my dog to stop
assistant
My dog LOVES to sniff and mark on walks--every 10 feet it seems like he's back in the bushes again. Yes, walks can be for sniffing, but there are times when I want him to keep walking without stopping (eg when I am actually trying to go somewhere, or when he wants to sniff/mark something inappropriate). So, I set out to train "let's go," meaning, "stop that sniffing/peeing and keep walking." I thought that I could eventually use this to transition to a default "no sniffing now" heel. Here's what I did: 
1) when he started to sniff, pull him gently away and when he looked at me instead of the smell, click and treat. 
3) also click and treat when he looked at something like he *wanted* to sniff, but chose to keep walking
4) randomly treat when he was walking in heel position to reinforce the "right" behavior

So, it's now about 80% reliable that I can call him away from sniffing/marking (assuming he doesn't find a dead gopher or something). Next, I started calling him away from all smells on walks, thinking that he would get the idea that "let's go" meant "walk" not "sniff" for the whole walk. But after months of calling him away from every smell on every walk, it seems he wants to sniff just as often as ever. 

--Is he now sniffing on purpose to get a treat? 
--Is sniffing more rewarding than food (probably) so he'll always want it?
--Is there another way to teach the difference between times it's OK to sniff or not? Can I build on the work I've done in a different way? What can I try next?
user
Did I accidentally teach my dog to
assistant