Games to get your dog thinking???

We play treasure hunt with food, we also hide treats under cups and also have started toy recognition such as asking Sophie to go and fetch specific toys. She can now fetch her bone (red rubber one) and snaky snaky (what's left of a yellow rubber tuggy toy).

What non physical games do you play to get your dog thinking? All part of the training process, and not to demean. ><

Those are the ones that we use. Can't really think of anything else other than new commands.

Using a clicker to shape all kinds of behaviours is a great way to get the cogs going.

When Pigs Fly by Jane Killion is a great book to get you going with shaping

Cheers for that. We want ways to make Sophie to have to think about what she is doing which has got to help with her other issues without degrading her.

We saw on the internet at the weekend how this person balanced food on his dogs head. Whilst it taught a certain amount of discipline it was demeaning for the dog just sitting there with all the food balanced on his head

Teaching a dog to "leave" on command is good especially when they pick something up when out, holding a treat on their nose or paw for any length of time is awful, to me it is asking too much of the dog.

Have several cardboard boxes in different sizes, make sure there are no staples in them, put a treat in the smallest box and put it inside the next size up with a treat in there as well. Continue doing this with the boxes then let your dog have fun.

It does make a mess but it evens makes a Staffy tired.

Teach your dog to walk through your legs, under and over them, jump onto something on command, this does save having to pick them up at times.

We hide things under cups, play hide and seek (good for staying and recall). I don't like to demand too much from Nike! We have a pretty relaxing life!
You could try learning more challenging tricks, agility classes or going on "busy walks" in more crowded areas while maintaining her focus. Sorry..... I've not got many ideas. We sit, stay, drop, come... Play hide and seek, treats under cups.... But really, that seems to be enough for both my expectations and Nikes personality lol it's great to push mental stimulation though. I've only had Nike for a little while and we move slowly to learn things, I like her to be challenged mentally cause physically she has a few limits....
Good luck

Hee hee, love the box idea. Don't mind mess if it is easy to clear up. Will try some of the things with her, also have a look at the book ><

We will leave food on Suki's paws or in an open hand and give her the wait command. It's not meant to be demeaning at all but to teach patience and disclipline. We will also have her sit and wait once we put food in her bowl.

We use old egg boxes and hide treats inside then just place a small piece of selotape on the box to keep it shut. Rocky has great fun opening the box to get the treat out. It does keep him entertained for a few minutes.

I am all for having fun with a dog but this really upset me. I think it was the look on the dogs face

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4134479/Barking-Dog-with-snacks-on-her-head-becomes-net-hit.html

Also the dogs demeanour in the video clip.

bobs wrote:I am all for having fun with a dog but this really upset me. I think it was the look on the dogs face

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4134479/Barking-Dog-with-snacks-on-her-head-becomes-net-hit.html

Also the dogs demeanour in the video clip.

That's just sick, the dog is not happy at all to be put through that. It's just wrong.

Shaz here

We had been doing a 'leave' which Sophie is reasonably good at.

Today, I changed things around a bit. I asked her to sit on her mat nicely and stay. I was then giving her the 'leave' command and throwing a piece of food across the floor about ten feet away. After a few seconds I allowed her to go and get it. I then added in that after the food had been thrown and left, I would then call her over to me to do something simple that she already knows like touch or paw or something before she was allowed to retrieve her prize. She got the hang of that quite quickly and appeared to enjoy it

Her training/reinforcing behaviour must be rewarding and enjoyable.

Dogs don't feel shame or embarrassment so nothing can be demeaning to a dog.

Making a dog wait for a treat that's left on its head/paw is a great impulse control exercise and games/tricks like that, if taught correctly, are great fun for dogs.

It's hard to comment on the dog you linked to without being there but whilst it is a little extreme for my liking, the dog seems willing and wags his tail when his owner calls him over, he is also anticipating the reward for his 'work' which would suggest he always gets a treat after performing the trick.

The lowered head position may just be a focus/concentration thing like my lab does when waiting for his ball to be thrown...Then again, it may not but the dog obviously seems to think the following treat he's going to get is worth it otherwise he wouldn't do it.

I think, in general, as long as a dog is enjoying the tricks he's being trained to do and it's not dangerous/harmful then I don't have a problem with any trick.

I agree with what Galadriel said to be honest. I don't think dogs find such things demeaning, it's just us attributing our own qualities and feelings to dogs. I don't see why it's demeaning to leave a treat on their nose or paw and make them wait, but making them wait for their meal or telling them to leave something they're about to pick up is OK. Same with their faces; just because they look sad (or happy) doesn't mean they are, so the dog in the video may look like that, but she seems happy to do it.

I don't really do any games to get Loki thinking yet, but I'm going to start putting a treat in a box and having him sniff out what box it's in; that should be fun for him

To me it depends on how long you get your dog to wait for the treat on the nose or paw or meal. If someone put a yummy chocolate cake with cream over it and made me wait for some time I would refuse so I don't ask a dog to do it. It is one thing to put a treat on the nose or paw, ask for a short wait, than to make them wait a long time, 1 minute is a long time in this situation.

Waiting for food when it has been put down in front of a dog is different, dogs do need to have good manners, I expect my dogs to sit and wait until I put their food down then I tell them to get the food immediately it is down. To us it is good manners, or used to be to wait until everyone had their food before starting to eat it, now nobody bothers. We don't like to wait when our food is in front of us and neither do our dogs. It is what is reasonable and what isn't everyone has a different idea on what is reasonable.

Sophie has been really receptive to training / games the last couple of days. Yesterday as said we were working on her 'leave'. Just now, I have had her come and sit, then guide her through my legs to come back to a sit using the word 'round.

We have a company called Shinga Veterinary Services that sell some pretty interesting puzzle games for dogs which I really want to try for Hiccup!

munschk wrote:We have a company called Shinga Veterinary Services that sell some pretty interesting puzzle games for dogs which I really want to try for Hiccup!

Would really like to know more. Can you provide some information?

Sure thing, they're pretty pricey but I mean to get one or two (with lots of saving up in between) as they look incredible. I would also like to get some testimonials on how dogs responds to the 'toys/games'.

Here is the website: http://shingavet.co.za/

I can send you the catalogue too if you're interested. I also think their BooBooLoons which are a soft inflatable alternative to the traditional elizabethan collar are a wonderful invention.