My cocker is now 6 months old and I am still having problems walking him on the lead.  As soon as we get out the front door his nose is on the pavement and off he goes, sniffing, pulling me down the road.  Where am I going wrong?  How can I get him to walk "nicely" holding his head up?  He also picks up everything he finds on his way - not just food, cigarette boxes, sweetie papers, everything gets lifted and carried along for a couple of mins then he drops them and his nose is on the pavement again.  When he is carrying something he trots along at the side of me no problem but when the nose goes back to the pavement he pulls like mad.  I have tried giving him a toy to carry but it only lasts 2 mins and he drops it.  Today I had to remove chewing gum from his mouth (YUCK!!!) :(
Jax

Jax,

Isn't he being a dog?  My Norman's head is down from the minute we get out of the door til the minute we get home.  He zig zags, stops, starts, runs, sits, rolls and eats.  But isn't that the fun of a walk for them.  It's not as if he's in the show ring.  Let him sniff.  It's proably his favourite hobby :)

This is very much normal dog behaviour, I'm afraid! They 'see' the world through scent more than any other sense, so expecting them to go out and about without sniffing things is like expecting people to go around with their eyes shut. In gundog breeds of course the ability to scent (and carry) things has been very strongly 'designed' for - that is their whole purpose!

If you want this to stop you are going to have to make you (or something you are carrying) more important than the rest of the world. Is he food- or toy-orientated? Do you chat happily to him as you trot along?

Thanks JG, he is more toy-orientated, not too keen on treats unless its livercake!! :)  The reason I want him to walk nicely is because I was told off at training class, told that if he didn't 'heel' and concentrate on me we wouldn't be able to move up into the next class :(   He is a very excitable puppy with loads of character, and when I ask him to 'watch me' with a piece of livercake next to my face (as suggested by trainer) he just jumps up and down. 

As you say, he is still very much a puppy, and everything is exciting for him - and so it should be! I wonder why your trainer thinks a pup should behave like a mature adult? It seems a tad unreasonable to me - but then I'm not a very strict person! (I probably wouldn't like your trainer! ;) )
:)

If your training class is 'telling you off'  instead of helping you then I'd find another one.

Sally

If you don't want him to sniff the ground and pick things up when he's walking on a lead next to you then use a headcollar so you have control of his head. Shorten your lead so it's comfortable for him but not long enough for him to drop his nose to the ground.
Let him have some time to himself to sniff away when you come to a grassy bit or a field/park so he can have fun doing what he likes best :)
Lara x

Mine wears a halti and this helps to divert her attention to me, she was like a constant hoover, you name it she picked it up!

Jax,

Do you play with a ball with your cocker when he is off the lead?  Molly (working cocker, 8 months) is mad on her ball and wants to carry it home or to the park.  Since she's been doing this - and wearing a halti - she has stopped sniffing the ground.  Maybe if you can get your dog really interested in a ball when he's out, he'll start to see it as something precious that he wants to hold on to.  But sniffing is pretty much normal spaniel behaviour and if the ball or halti ideas don't work, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.  YOu will just need to keep your eyes peeled for potential nasties on the pavement :-)    I also think your trainer is being harsh, and if the training is going well in other ways, I wouldn't worry about it.  He is still only young and, as others have said, shouldn't be expected to behave like a mature adult.  I would try a halti though - being pulled down the road does not make for a pleasant walk for you, and he is only going to get bigger and stronger.  And maybe find another trainer...
Good luck :-)

My dog was like this and I found out why when he had a check up, he is blind in one eye and his sight is poor in the other, he has his head down all the time to get around.
If you are concerned about him get him checked.
Dont put him on a head collar if there are problems with his sight its not fair on him,I was going to try one with mine but because of his sight he needs to use his nose more so needs to keep his head down.

My Gordon Setter has always been the same - he is now 5 months old and getting better each time we go out- but I must admit he is food orientated - liver cake or strong cheese!! but it works, after 2 weeks of intensive effort, he will trot along by my side, nose glued to my leg - whilst I hold bit of whichever treat I'm using against my thigh - I still let him run about and sniff, but just watch incase he makes for anything I dont want him to pick up, have got to stage where a slight tug on his lead, and a firm "leave" and he will either give it a glancing sniff, or if he does pick it up, I stop walking and repeat the leave command - and he will drop whatever he has picked up. When he starts pulling have you tried just standing still, and wait till he comes back to find out why you've stopped?? that works with my lad.
He is still fairly easily distracted tho by other dogs approaching, or children - as he loves both!! Only thing I'm finding hard to stop, is grabbing little lumps of mud!!

Hi Debs you have an Irish Setter too dont you? Maybe Im getting old and confused....How have you found grooming him so far? and does he learn quickly? Im nosey because Id like a Gordon Setter. HOw was his parents hip score? This is what is slightly daunting about the Gordons as they have a red HD sign on the Dogs Today Dial a Dog. My other favourite breed is the Viszla which has better scores.

Hi Lorelei!!

I have a Gordon - who is apple of my eye! have had an Irish before, she was a rescue who had loads of "issues" on top of being an Irish!!! Also had a Golden, but my Gordon is fab - has been a pain re grooming tho, has never liked being brushed, but have just about beaten that demon, now just got to get him liking having his feet trimmed!! He has learnt the important stuff incredibly easy - clean and dry after 2 nights, adores his crate - legs it in ther if I say " go to bed"!!! sit, stay, fetch - waits for his food till I tell him to eat, does his business on command - walks to heal, except when there are other dogs, kids, leaves blowing in the wind!! does anything for liver cake or cheese tho - typical bloke, feed the belly etc!!! his parents hip scores were good - but he comes from line of champions - his Dad was 9:15 and his Mum was 10:8, generation before that alot lower. Check out the breeder, look back over previous generations - my boys breeder is very very careful, all her litters have eye tests too, she has been breedingGordons for 20 odd years, and any queries etc I have I go straight back to her - she kept one of Murphy's sisters - took him back to see her a couple of weeks ago - seeing them play together made me  want another - but not for a few years tho!!!! go for a Gordon, I am a total addict now - wouldnt have anything else!

There are lots of people with working cocker spaniels who would be only too pleased for them to get their head down!  Isn't it funny how we all want different things from our dogs?  I do find that mine are worse when they are on the lead and I prefer to walk them off the lead and make them concentrate on staying to heel.  Come to think of it, they don't walk with heads down when heeling off lead.  This isn't much good in your case is it?  Sorry!

Its a typical thing with cockers jax , unfortunalty its hard to stop unless you walk in a halti or somthing . the police use cockers /springers as sniffer dogs for this very reason , they sniff everything out , i know all of mine have done it and most of the time they trip over there own ears doing it :D perfectly normal and not alot you can do but try to do some training while young .

I guess this is why working and show cockers have developed into different strains?  We know a show-type springer of very good breeding and if he goes out with mine it is like taking two different breeds of dog .  He keeps to the paths with his nose in the air while mine are deep in the undergrowth with their noses on the ground added to which he is literally twice the size of mine.

my lab as a pup did exactly the same thing.  In the end I didn't used to look what he had in his mouth but just took it out and threw it! nine times out of ten it was something gross like a used tissue or chewing gum or something but then he stopped....I don't know how, but he must have just grown out of it.  I figured that he was just excited by being out in the world and going for a walk.  He does do obedience training but can't say that I specifically concentrated on him walking properly and not picking things up.  It just sort of happend naturally.  Maybe yours will grow out of it too.  My lab has never really been a "puller" on the lead though, he just used to like hoovering the pavements! gave "Keep Britain Tidy" a whole new meaning!

Did you say your Gordon FETCHES Debs ? Oh boy! Im lost, totally. :D The Viszla was ahead of Gordon on hips and on being a Hunt Point Retrieve breed, possibly more suitable for Working Trials than the Gordon. Morse and I have  WT aspirations to keep us out of mischief, so the NO 2 dog needs to follow on. This is going to be one very hard choice.. hopefully Ill win the lottery this week and end my suspense. Im off to the Scottish Breed Show on the 27th March to help my pal on her stall and meet Gordons and their people. No rush, Morse is only 2 in September and thats the earliest we could have another one. Yours sounds a doll and not that different form Manic Morse, apart form the hair. :D

There is one lady who works Gordon Setters in Working Trials and I believe she got a TDex eventually; IMHO if you were looking for another gundog breed to compete with from the gundog group top of the list would have to be labs, several of those have won tickets and become WT Ch, the next most successful breed would be the Weimaraner who have brilliant nosework but their control can leave a great deal to be desired; there are a few Vizslas competing and Vizsla Xs, and a sprinkling of GRs, NSDTRs, GWPs, GSPs, LMs etc.

would perfume on the paws help rectify this? i read in a showing magazine that some owners use this form of method in the show ring to deter doggy smells in the ring, wonder if it could also be used when walking out on the pavement etc?? this is only what i have read.
sam

To be honest nose to ground is natural thing for a dog to want to do.  When we go for a walk we like to look at the view, a dog is much more interested in smells, and in hunting breeds it is the most interesting aspect for them.

The only way to stop ist is training, teaching them to keep head up, and walking very brislkly.

I don't drive so my dogs walk everywhere.  Now O walk five Elkhounds (even 6 if have a past pup come to stay) so I put collar up high on the neck at the start and walk briskly so they don't get a chance to sniff. :D

Thanks.  I have realised that one of my problems was that I was walking too slow!!  So today we were out there walking as fast as I could and I did notice an improvement, I just have to watch where I'm stepping as he has a nasty habit of diving in front of my feet even on a short lead.  :)
I'm sure if I keep working at it, it will come.  He is a wee sniffer dog and I'll never stop it completely (I realise that) but I would like to walk along without tripping over him and without having to stop every two mins to remove something horrible from his mouth - luckily he does open his mouth when asked to 'give'.
Jax