Plan a Sniffari For Your Dog’s Enrichment

A Sniffari is a walk designed around your dog’s sense of smell rather than distance or pace–it’s a safari focused on sniffing! Instead of moving steadily from point A to point B, a Sniffari allows your dog to slow down, pause, backtrack, and investigate scents that catch their interest. Your dog leads more of the walk, choosing where to sniff and how long to linger, while you focus less on covering ground and more on letting the walk unfold naturally.

For humans, “seeing is believing.” If we don’t see something, we think there’s nothing of interest there.

For our dogs, though, you might say sniffing is believing. They know who and what has been around based upon the smells they take in one their walk.

Why Sniffaris Are Beneficial for Dog Enrichment

Sniffaris are powerful enrichment because a dog’s nose does serious mental work. When dogs sniff, they’re gathering information, making decisions, and processing their environment in a way that engages their brain deeply. This kind of mental engagement can be just as satisfying—often more so—than physical exercise alone.

Sniffing helps dogs feel calmer, more fulfilled, and better able to settle afterward, especially when walks are short or routines are limited.

By meeting a dog’s natural need to explore the world through scent, Sniffaris turn an everyday walk into enrichment that supports both emotional well-being and overall balance.

A Sniffari can happen anywhere—your own neighborhood, a park, a quiet street—and it doesn’t need to be long to be meaningful.The best Sniffari environments are places where a dog’s nose can truly do its job. A single patch of grass, tree trunk, or sidewalk edge can tell a dog who passed by, how long ago they were there, and even how they were feeling.

Where can you take your dog for a sniffari? Let’s look at some good options!

Neighborhood Streets and Sidewalks

Neighborhood walks may feel routine to us, but to a dog, they’re rich with constantly changing scent stories. Dogs can detect odors left hours—or even days—earlier, picking up information from other dogs, people, wildlife, and passing vehicles. Mailboxes, fence posts, bushes, and utility poles act like scent bulletin boards, holding layers of information waiting to be “read.” We’ve all seen our dogs enjoying sniffing fire hydrants (and leaving their “notes”!)

Slowing down in familiar areas allows dogs to fully process these scents instead of skimming past them. Even walking the same block in reverse can dramatically change the scent picture. For dogs, this kind of detailed sniffing uses significant mental energy, often making a short neighborhood Sniffari just as enriching as a much longer walk.

Parks and Green Spaces

Parks and green spaces are especially rewarding for a dog’s nose because natural surfaces tend to hold and layer scents more effectively than pavement alone. Grass, soil, fallen leaves, and tree roots all trap odors from animals, people, and weather patterns. Wind, moisture, and temperature changes constantly shift how those scents move and settle.

When dogs explore parks at a relaxed pace, they’re able to follow scent trails, pause to investigate areas of interest, and mentally map the environment. This kind of sniffing engages problem-solving skills as dogs sort through overlapping smells to decide which ones matter most.

Trails and Nature Paths

Trails offer one of the most immersive scent experiences a dog can have. Natural paths are filled with layered smells from wildlife, plants, soil, and decaying organic matter. Dogs can often follow faint scent trails left by animals long after they’ve passed through, using their noses to reconstruct what happened in the area.

Because trails naturally encourage a slower pace, dogs have time to pause, backtrack, and investigate without feeling rushed. This allows their noses to work continuously, engaging their brains in a focused but calming way. Many dogs return from trail Sniffaris noticeably more relaxed, having spent time processing the environment rather than just moving through it.

Most of our Sniffaris take place on nature paths around our property. It’s especially interesting because the dogs will be so interested in spots that, to me, hold no obvious attraction.

When I look at the photos shot by our game camera posted on the trail, though, it’s easy to see that wildlife that come through here both day and night and leave a whole roadmap of scents for the dogs to enjoy! This one trail near our home is a wildlife highway with coyotes, wild turkeys, foxes, rabbits and, on rare occasions, even a bobcat. It’s no wonder the dogs love to sniff this trail. Think of all the mental stimulation they would miss out on if I just quickly moved them along this area so that we could instead walk a particular distance that day.

Urban Areas and Downtown Streets

Urban environments may seem overwhelming at first, but they can be incredibly enriching for a dog’s nose when approached thoughtfully. City streets concentrate scents from people, food, other animals, and transportation in a relatively small space. Air currents around buildings can carry smells in unpredictable ways, creating complex scent patterns for dogs to explore.

Short, slow Sniffaris in quieter urban areas allow dogs to gather a surprising amount of information without covering much ground. Letting a dog pause near planters, doorways, or street fixtures gives their nose time to work through dense scent layers. For many dogs, this kind of focused sniffing provides mental enrichment that outweighs the stimulation of faster-paced walks.

Parking Lots and Storefront Areas

Parking lots and storefront areas are often overlooked, but they can be excellent Sniffari environments—especially on busy days. These spaces collect scents from countless visitors: people, dogs, wildlife, and food. Curbs, light poles, landscaped islands, and building edges hold scent trails that dogs can investigate in short bursts.

Because these areas are typically visited briefly, they’re ideal for dogs who benefit from quick enrichment rather than long outings. Allowing your dog to sniff thoroughly for even five or ten minutes can engage their nose and brain enough to leave them feeling content afterward.

If you’re interested in shopping with your dog, a parking lot and storefront sniff can be a great way to calm your dog before entering the store.

New Neighborhoods or Travel Destinations

When dogs visit new places, their noses play a crucial role in helping them feel oriented and safe. Sniffing allows dogs to gather information about unfamiliar surroundings, creating a mental map of the area. This can be especially grounding during travel, when their routines and environments change.

Sniffari walks in new locations give dogs control over how quickly they process unfamiliar scents. Instead of being rushed through a new space, dogs can pause, explore, and make sense of what’s around them. This often leads to calmer behavior and smoother transitions in unfamiliar settings.

When you’re visiting a new location, whether that’s a hotel, a family member’s home, a veterinary office or a coffee shop you’d like to enjoy with your dog, take some time a just let you dog get in a Sniffari of the location first.

Making Any Walk a Sniffari

You don’t need a special destination to give your dog the benefits of scent-based enrichment. By slowing your pace, pausing when your dog stops, and allowing time for investigation, you turn any walk into an opportunity for your dog’s nose to work.

Sniffing is mentally demanding in a good way. It engages memory, problem-solving, and decision-making, often leaving dogs pleasantly tired and more relaxed at home. Even short Sniffari walks can meet important mental needs—no extra distance required, making it great for tight schedules, dogs (or dog walkers!) recovering from an injury, senior dogs and dog walkers, and anyone who just wants to celebrate the super power that is the dog nose!

Paris Permenter is the award-winning author of over 30 pet and travel books and 2000 magazine articles for publishers ranging from Reader’s Digest to Simon and Schuster. Paris is a certified canine enrichment specialist with a focus on enriching your daily dog walks.

Latest posts by Paris Permenter (see all)