Contributed by Angie Lewis, Alaska Animal Advocates
Exercising your dog’s brain is as important as exercising his body. Very often, negative behaviors occur because a dog is bored. No different than humans. Basic dog training is a great way to challenge your dog and make him smarter.
Any amount of time spent training your dog is well spent. A good place to begin is to teach your dog to make eye contact with you. Then move on to more complex tricks or skills.
One of the best ways to stimulate your dog is to take him for a walk, going to new places to challenge him even more. Exposing your dog to new smells and sights is sure to please him.
Games are really cool to use for enhancing a dog’s life. “Hot & Cold” is lots of fun. Hide a toy or a treat. Encourage your dog to find the item, using a calm, monotonous voice when he is getting further from the treat and then a more excited voice when he is getting closer.
Put smaller treats in plastic soda or water bottles, put through a rod that has been secured to a wooden base. Your dog has to use his snout or paw to turn bottles upside down, thereby releasing the treat.
Use storage bowls, stacked together, and place treats inside a couple of them. Your dog has to dig through the bowls to find the treats. Hiding treats throughout the house is lots of fun for dogs as well. Under furniture, pillows, tables, etc. There are many puzzle toys available online and in pet stores. These challenge your pup to search for treats.
If you can, set up an obstacle course using household things – furniture, a garbage, cabinets. Encourage your dog to weave through these items. Have him go faster, without knocking anything down.
“Hide and Seek” is one of my favorite games to play with my dog. The person has to hide and the dog must search for him. “Peek a Boo” is a game I play with my dog almost on a daily basis. My dog never seems to tire of it.
Remember that your dog’s brain needs to be exercised as much as his body. The games described are just a few of the options available. Use your imagination – just about anything you could play with a child would work for a dog. Modify as needed and a good time will be guaranteed for all!