Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Trick Dog Instructor, AKC CGC & Tricks Evaluator, Certified Service Dog Trainer & Therapy Dog Trainer, Paws in Prison Training Mentor
Search This Blog
Interactive toys and games for dogs.
Our dogs need physical exercise, we all know that. You hear all the time
about how you should be taking your dog on walks every day to meet their
exercise needs. Do you know though, that you need to meet their mental
stimulation needs as well?
A lot of our dogs stay home while we are at work or school during the
day. When we do not meet our dog's energy outlet needs, they tend to find a way
to get rid of that energy. Usually, it's by doing something we won't like, such
as playing tug with the curtains, playing with the oversized stuffed toys on
the sofa, (throw pillows) or scavenging for super yummy treats that were hidden
in that tall can thing in the kitchen (trash can).
There are ways that we can help our dogs burn energy mentally just like
we do physically. A lot of the time mental exercise can be even more exhausting
than physical exercise.
The following are interactive food toys that you can get on Amazon.
These are used to feed your dog their meals, or just a few treats.
Simply scatter some super yummies inside.
Your dog then has to sniff and search all through it to find their treat.
For most dogs, using their nose is one of the most fun things they can do. I like this one because the drawstring allows you to change the level of difficulty your dog has.
This will keep your dog busy anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. It's easy for travel, and easy to clean.
If you have a dog that is more enthusiastic about their search and discovery of yummies. Try the Knotty Ball.
This this one, you fill the pockets with treats, or food and then tie it into a knot that your dog much work out how to untie before getting any of the treats.
These toys allow you to put your dog's meals into the toy and then let them roll it around and play with it to get their food out of it. These are good toys for feeding when you are going to be gone at work for the day. Make them work their brain to problem solve for how to get their food. They figure it out quickly. Yadi has mastered and found tricks to beat most of his puzzle toys.
This is another type of treat dispenser. Your dog will need to use their feet and their nose to knock it around to get the food to be dropped out of it.
You can adjust the size of the hole to match the size of the treats/food into it.
There are also ways of using things you have laying around the house to help your dog burn some mental energy.
This is not one of my videos, however she does a good job at showing several things you can do at home with your dog.
As with anything you see on the internet. Remember to look out for your dog's safety first! Now in this video she does show you how to use an old cardboard box to put treats or food in. I have to caution you here. If you receive a lot of Amazon or online shopping orders that come in boxes.
If you do allow your dog to destroy the box to get the treats out of it. You CANNOT get mad at your dog when they tear up your packages before you can open them if the box is within their reach. Remember this is something you are teaching them to do if you play that game with them.
In the last century dog training has been under going an evolution of sorts. It wasn’t so long ago that the lexicon of dog training included words like punishment, compulsion and Intimidation. The tools of the trade where things designed to inflict pain and cruelty as a way of training dogs to do or not do things the handlers wanted. Dogs were punished with ear pinches and the like, if they didn’t perform the desired behaviors. The idea of training a dog was to break the dog of some bad habit it had. One of the forefathers of scientific study into dog behavior was Edward Thorndike (1874-1949). He studied the effect of positive reinforcement on dog behavior. Thorndike called his study the Law of Effect. His study put forth the idea that the key to understanding how to train dogs was to understand canine behavior. Behaviors that produce an effect that is desirable are ones that a dog is more likely to repeat, whereas behaviors...
But my dogs still needed training!!! Within a couple weeks everything has ground to a halt and I went from doing 25-30 appointments a week, to not having left the house in two weeks. This time, it was not because of my depression or a mental breakdown it was because of a world wide virus that is spreading across the world like wild fire. So I jumped into to brining my students into online dog training but I failed to realize that this was going to showcase a big fear that I have been hiding. That I couldn’t do it anymore. This pup right here was my soul pup. Trainers often talk about that one dog that taught them so much about being a trainer. Well that was Tazie for me. This little dog put me though the wringer of emotions and taught me everything from how to teach basics to how to care for a dog with a neurological problem. We had a wild journey that took us from Atlanta, Ga to Rochester, Ny to Birmingham, Al and finally to Jonesboro, Ar. He ...
This morning for the umpteenth time I called Yadi over to me to give him a treat in trade for whatever thing he had grabbed off the floor that belonged to one of my sons, it occurred to me that other people probably have the same thing going on in their house as well. Yadi learned early on that if he grabbed something he wasn't supposed to have, one of the boys would get really excited about it (start yelling) and play chase with him (try to get the item back) sometimes it was even me trying to get the item back. Often it resulted in him bringing things to me to show me what treasure he had found in exchange for a treat if he would give it up without a chase. So for him, this became one of the best games ever, and he loved to play it so much he trained my boys how to play it with him. He would find something that they were repeatedly told not to leave on where he could get it and make sure they saw him with it. Much like the pose in the picture....
Comments
Post a Comment