Entertaining Your Dog At Home: Games

Games are another way you can keep your dog entertained and mentally stimulated. It’s a great way to relieve boredom or get rid of some of the extra energy that your dog has. You never know when you might be stuck indoors; whether it’s too hot, too cold, too dark outside or a pandemic. Games will be fun for both you and your pet.

Fetch

Fetch is a classic game. It is both mentally and physically stimulating and, if the dog is good at it, we don’t have to move too much. However not all dogs get it straight away and some need a little help bringing the toy back. Here’s a few tips for teaching fetch.

1. Get your dog really excited by the toy. Do a bit of tug and wave it around so they are following it in your hand. Don’t worry if they are jumping up at the moment, we want them excited and energetic

2. Throw the toy a very short distance away. Have your dog on lead at this point so if they try to run off with it they can’t go far.

3. As soon as your dog picks up the toy, be super excited and energetic. The dog should look at you but you can move to their line of sight. Be excited and clapping and run backwards getting the dog to move after you. Dogs love chase, but we want them to chase us rather than the other way around.

4. Take the toy from the dog. They may drop it for you or you can teach them a let go. If you have a dog that doesn’t give up toys easily you can have swap for treats or have another toy ready.

Repeat this until they run towards you with the toy consistently. Then you can start throwing the toy further. The further the dog has to get back to you the more likely they are to stray so keep up the excitement and the energy to encourage them to come back.

Hide and seek

I love hide and seek! I used to play it with my dog all the time. It’s really easy, all your dog needs to know is sit and wait and you can build that up in the game.

1. Put your dog in the sit position and ask them to wait. Alternatively you can have another person distract the dog while you hide.

2. Move away and hide. I suggest staying in the same room to start as it might be difficult for the dog to hold the wait if you leave the room. Hide behind the door or curtain etc.

3. Call your dog to you. When they find you, give them a big fuss and a treat so they know they did a good job and then start again.

As your dog learns the game you can make it harder by hiding in other rooms. It’s a great game that uses their nose, brains and body.

Find the treat

Similar to hide and seek but uses treats instead of people.

1. Drop a few treats on the floor that are easy to see and tell your dog to ‘find it’. Point out the treats if they are struggling. Repeat this step until they start looking for treats when you say find it.

2. Gradually increase the difficulty. Start by dropping treats behind the dog or secretly in the corner or on a chair. Make sure the dog is finding all the treats and not getting frustrated

3. Eventually you will be able to hide treats around a room and then let the dog in say ‘find it’. They should spend the next few minutes looking for treats in the room.

There are lots of ways you could use this game. You could have a few boxes in the room and put treats in one of them, the dog has to sniff out which one has the treats in. It’s great for getting them sniffing and thinking. Be creative and have fun.

Puzzle Toys

There are so many toys and games you can buy for your dog, including kong wobblers, treat dispenser, puzzle feeders etc. Your dog has to experiment and learn how to get the treats out. They are a great way to keep your dog busy and excellent mental stimulation. However it can be frustrating if your dog can’t figure the puzzle out so watch them and help them if they need it. You can buy these toys or you can make them at home!

1. Muffin Tray Puzzle - Put treats in the muffin tray and top them with tennis balls or tissue. When your dog removes the top they get a treat. Alternatively flip the tray over and put treats between the muffin bumps, your dog will have a great time trying to get the treats.

2. Plastic bottles - Using an empty and clean milk or juice bottle you can cut out a small whole or two, slightly bigger than the treats. Put a handful of treats in the bottle and give to your dog. As they knock the bottle around treats will fall out.

3. Old tennis ball - have you got an old tennis all your dog has cracked? Carefully split it open and pop a few treats inside

Try out a few of these games and see which ones your dog likes. Remember to keep it easy to start and build up the difficulty. These games could keep your dog busy and out of trouble for a long time. Have fun!