Mary Allen
Play is good – both for humans and dogs. Here are 5 fun and inspiring games that will amuse both dog and owner – or even the whole family!
1. Hide the toy
Play for a while with the dog’s favorite toy. Show the dog that you have the toy. Then hide it somewhere in the room. Say Look and let the dog sniff out the toy. Praise and reward by playing more. In the beginning, you can let the dog see where you are hiding the toy, but pretty soon you can let the dog look all by itself.
2. Hide several toys outside
If you have a garden, it is a really great game to play outdoors. If you do not have a garden, you can go to a pasture or other fenced area. Tie the dog so that it sees what you are doing. Show that you have fun toys with you. Go out into the garden, stroll around and hide a toy here, a toy there. Then release the dog, say Find and let the dog find the right thing. For each item found, the reward is a moment of play. This is a competition branch for those who compete in use, but since dogs usually think it is great fun, it is something you can do every day.
The point is that the dog should look for toys with human weathering on them and bring them to you.
3. Balance
A dog feels good about balancing. Therefore, train it to balance over logs, jump on rocks or walk over a plank that you have laid firmly over two low rocks. You can perform this game in all possible places: on park benches, on sandpits, and other suitable obstacles.
In the beginning, the dog may think it’s scary, so you need to be involved and encourage and reward. Soon the dog will realize that it is exciting and that it expects a reward when it has performed its task.
4. Play hide and seek
Search is a utility but something that all dogs love. In human language, it is simply called hide and seek, but when the dog searches, it uses its nose instead of sight.
You simply put the dog on a path (it can command Sit, so use it). Let it be seen when a family member runs out into the woods or garden and hides. Say Search and let the dog look for the one who is hiding. Eventually, you can “wall off” the area so that it becomes more difficult to follow the tracks. You do this by walking across the area where the dog is to search. You can also let several people hide. Each time the dog finds someone, reward by praising and playing or giving candy.
If you want to make the exercise even more difficult, you can teach the dog to signal that it has found someone by barking. (See below.)
5. Teach the dog to bark
Teaching a dog to bark on command does not have to be very difficult, but is in fact an exercise that teases. Take the dog’s favorite toy in your hand. Show the dog that you have it and “tease” a little. Feel free to turn your head away so that you do not make eye contact and say Sssskall. The dog will do anything to access his toy. It will scratch you with its paw, it will try to jump up and take the toy, but since nothing helps, it will be frustrating. Keep saying Ssskall. Eventually, the dog will bark. Praise and reward by playing with the toy. If the dog is not interested in objects, you can use candy instead. This may take more or less a long time to train, but eventually, you will notice that the dog starts barking just by saying Sss…
Of course, it is also important to teach the dog what Silent means. When you think the dog has finished barking, then you can say Silent and reward by giving the toy.