excessive sniffing/tracking

Question
I have a 7 year old Maltese Poodle mix.  I have owned him since he was a puppy.  He recently has started tracking around the house, in the yard, pretty much where ever he goes.  He runs non stop sniffing the ground, wagging his tail like he is tracking something.  He seems happy , but will not settle down.  In the past few months he would exhibit this behavior for short periods of time.  It has increased to a constant thing for the past week. We have not had any new dogs or other animals that we know of in the yard.  We do not live in a wilderness area, so no wild animals are present. He seems happy, not in pain or aggressive.  I am wondering if you have any suggestions or have heard of any physical/mental problems associated with this behavior.  He is alert and doesn't seem to have any eye issues.  I have not taken him to the vet, since the only physical problems he is having is tenderness in his feet, since he is constantly moving and raw nose.  It seemed pretty funny at first, but I am becoming concerned.  Thanks for any help or advice you can give.

Answer
Dear Lisa,
Thanks for the question. The behaviors you describe are compulsive behaviors. Since it represents a sudden change in behavior, first rule out any medical issues.

Treatment involves enriching the environment, training, diet, massage, etc. If you can identify when it is more likely to occur, you can form a plan for interrupting and redirecting.

Obviously I know nothing about the current environment- sometimes stressful environments can trigger compulsive behaviors. Get a full checkup and then contact a trainer in your area. Visit http://synalia.com or http://apdt.com to search for a trainer near you.

Ask the trainer lots of questions- if he or she suggests the  use of some sort of punisher, then he or she is not the one you want for this type of case.

Good Luck.

Alan J Turner
Owner: http://howsbentley.com
Editor: http://animalnewsnetwork.org