As you probably already know, dogs well being and mental health are dependent on physical exercise. By playing with your dog, you will stimulate and exercise your dog in a constructive way. You’ll have some fun too!
To excite, encourage and engage your dog, you should try these five games with your dog.
Hide and Seek or Hide the Treat with your dog
An excellent brain game for the dogs is Hide the Treat, which will trigger them to use their problem-solving skills. Hide the item in a hidden and challenging place. Create a trail with scent by rubbing it on some areas along the way.
Indicate when the dog gets closer or further away from the treat by using “hot” and “cold” as language. Try to get a little excited when indicating “warm” and calmer when indicating “cold” by changing your tone. This exercise will build up your dogs listening skills.
Like Hide the Treat, Hide and Seek uses his scent-tracking abilities. Plus, it gives him the opportunity to practice commands like “stay” and “come.”
Have your dog stay while you hide. Once you’re in position, tell him to come and give him lots of praise when he finds you. If he doesn’t know “stay” yet, have someone distract him until you call.
Chase the Prey
What could be more rewarding for your dog than training his instincts in a game of Chase the Prey? In this practice, the dog will prepare, in a controlled way, the impulse of grabbing the Prey.
By using a long pipe or stick with an attached rope and a toy at the end, you can learn your dog to focus on the toy by dragging it slowly and stop in intervals.
Let the dog catch the toy occasionally, so he doesn’t lose the interest. You can also train your dog’s impulse control by letting him sit still until you command him to grab the toy. This exercise will train your dog’s intellect.
Fetch
If you have a very active dog which demands a lot of physical activities, you can play fetch with him. It is an effortless way to train your dog’s instincts to run.
You can use any object to throw away. Use a ball or my favorite, frisbee, which can travel far and also can change altitude depending on the wind. This is a challenge for your dog’s intellect since it must determine when to jump to catch the frisbee.
The fetch exercise is a perfect example on a mentally and physically demanding challenge for your dog as well as for yourselves.
Tug of War
A perfect game you can exercise both indoor and outdoor is Tug of War. Use can use a short and thick rope which the dog can bite and pull. If you don’t have such a thing, you can purchase a toy in your nearest dogs store.
Together with different commands where you, for example, tell your dog to drop the item, this can be a gratifying game. Occasionally, let the dog win, so he doesn’t lose interest. This will also boost his self-confidence.
Agility Training
The king of all dog training is probably Agility. This is the ultimate exercise for your dog’s brain and physical being.
You can set up a course in a field or your backyard. Use items from your garage or yard. Use sticks or pipes as cones. Find old boxes which your dog can crawl through or jump over.
Set up a wide plank and use a stool to balance it on. Let your dog walk over this slowly. This exercise will challenge him for sure! After each workout, reward your dog with some treat. But not too much though!
These exercises will beat any walk around the block. They will especially train your dog mentally. You will have a happier dog without any frustration. Many of these games you can practice both indoor and outdoor, so you have something for any weather.
But don’t overdo things, since your dog can become overstimulated. Do all exercises with reason and end the games while your spirit is on the top. This will make your dog look forward to your next session with him.
