The Wonder of Dogs 10-4
Spice up a dog’s life with variety
So you’ve tried playing with your dog, and he’s just not interested. Are you boring? By limiting ourselves to a few traditional games, we simply bore our dogs. Sure, if you have a lab or a golden, he’ll retrieve ad nauseum.
Try that with a sighthound and see how far you get: throw the ball, dog runs after it, ball stops moving, dog totally loses interest, game over.
Here are some games you can play that are likely to interest your dog:
• Hide treats in clever places around the house and yard and play “Find it!”
• Play hide and seek.
• Use food release toys like Kong, Treat Stiks and Buster Cubes
• Sprinkle your dog’s kibbles around the yard a few times a week and let him hunt for his dinner.
• Blow bubbles.
• Fill a baby pool with water and toss chunks of hot dogs in it.
• Tie a toy securely to a bungee and hang it from a fence post or tree limb so the dog can tug to his heart’s content.
• Teach a variety of silly, fun tricks.
• Play the old shell game by hiding a treat under one of three cups and encouraging the dog to find it.
• Place something delicious (perhaps a hot dog) in several layers of paper bags twisted shut. Let the dog “unwrap” his gift while you supervise to make sure he eats the treat, not the bags.
• Use an empty two-to three-liter soda bottle filled with treats or for the dog to empty.
• Let him chase a laser light.
• Throw his favorite toy down a flight of stairs and let him retrieve it back up to you. Make sure you rotate your dog’s toys regularly and occasionally introduce a new one to spice up his life. Toys should be varied: chew toys, noisemakers, tuggies. Most of all, have fun together! Isn’t that why we got dogs in the first place?
Barbara Kahn is the training director at WonderDogs, Inc. E-mail her, with “Trend” in the subject line, at barb@wonderdogs.com, call 856-767-6464 or visit www.wonderdogs.com.
Try that with a sighthound and see how far you get: throw the ball, dog runs after it, ball stops moving, dog totally loses interest, game over.
Here are some games you can play that are likely to interest your dog:
• Hide treats in clever places around the house and yard and play “Find it!”
• Play hide and seek.
• Use food release toys like Kong, Treat Stiks and Buster Cubes
• Sprinkle your dog’s kibbles around the yard a few times a week and let him hunt for his dinner.
• Blow bubbles.
• Fill a baby pool with water and toss chunks of hot dogs in it.
• Tie a toy securely to a bungee and hang it from a fence post or tree limb so the dog can tug to his heart’s content.
• Teach a variety of silly, fun tricks.
• Play the old shell game by hiding a treat under one of three cups and encouraging the dog to find it.
• Place something delicious (perhaps a hot dog) in several layers of paper bags twisted shut. Let the dog “unwrap” his gift while you supervise to make sure he eats the treat, not the bags.
• Use an empty two-to three-liter soda bottle filled with treats or for the dog to empty.
• Let him chase a laser light.
• Throw his favorite toy down a flight of stairs and let him retrieve it back up to you. Make sure you rotate your dog’s toys regularly and occasionally introduce a new one to spice up his life. Toys should be varied: chew toys, noisemakers, tuggies. Most of all, have fun together! Isn’t that why we got dogs in the first place?
Barbara Kahn is the training director at WonderDogs, Inc. E-mail her, with “Trend” in the subject line, at barb@wonderdogs.com, call 856-767-6464 or visit www.wonderdogs.com.
