mental games - activities

jsabina

I am not sure if there is already another thread.. looking..
let's share the games we play with the dog? Especially mental activities, to do with him/her or to play alone..

I have:

1. kong classic - kong bone - raw bones
2. kibbles in a bottle
3. ask sit-stay, hide a treat and let him find it
4. "hide" his favourite ball under a basket.. roll in a towel.. put in somewhere difficult
5. His favourite that he discovered and always asking... throw the ball under a small table he tries to catch it on the other side :rolleyes:

that's what I can remember for now.. willing to know more to keep him busy or to have fun with him!!
(don't really want to spend 30 euros for the dog puzzle :S he destroy them in 5 minutes)

bluecherry74

Blowing bubbles! My two love to chase them. It was windy yesterday, which is the best kind of weather for chasing bubbles. We spent half an hour out in the garden, me blowing the bubbles (obviously) and Henry and Jess tearing around after them.

jsabina

bluecherry74 wrote: »

Blowing bubbles! My two love to chase them. It was windy yesterday, which is the best kind of weather for chasing bubbles. We spent half an hour out in the garden, me blowing the bubbles (obviously) and Henry and Jess tearing around after them.

nice, I was thinking about that!!
Where to buy them? You use the normal ones? There is soap?

thanks!!

bluecherry74

jsabina wrote: »

nice, I was thinking about that!!
Where to buy them? You use the normal ones? There is soap?

thanks!!

You'll get them in any toy shop and I think most of the Euro shops do them too. They make a very cheap and fun game.

jsabina

jsabina wrote: »

I am not sure if there is already another thread.. looking..

1. kong classic - kong bone - raw bones
2. kibbles in a bottle
3. ask sit-stay, hide a treat and let him find it
4. "hide" his favourite ball under a basket.. roll in a towel.. put in somewhere difficult
5. His favourite that he discovered and always asking... throw the ball under a small table he tries to catch it on the other side :rolleyes:

6. Ball under a very big box (cardboard? shipping box.. how is called) ... it took him 10 minutes to find out how to get it out.. or inside the box closing it.. easier

aonb

A bit of kibble in many layers sheets of newspaper scrumpled up into a ball - a pain to clean up afterwards, but worth it for the fun! (first time u do it, let him see you put the kibble in!)

Tie a knot in an old sock, with a bit of kibble inside

Tie an old sock around the leg of your chair, with a bit of kibble inside it - tug of war!

Heavy mat on floor - put his fav toy in the middle underneath - involves dog getting his nose under the mat...

My daughter got a present of a "How clever is your dog" test - lots of tests/puzzles/timed tasks for your dog to do, great fun - the results say our elderly dog is of very superior intelligence - our younger dog is thick as a plank (which we kind of knew!)

thegreatiam

aonb wrote: »

"How clever is your dog" test - lots of tests/puzzles/timed tasks for your dog to do, great fun - the results say our elderly dog is of very superior intelligence - our younger dog is thick as a plank (which we kind of knew!)

my mother did this on her cocker spaniel,
test was to place a blanket over the dogs head and time how long it takes to shake free.
under 5 seconds is a high score, 10 seconds for average, 20 seconds or more your dog is a dumbass.
45 minutes that cocker was under that blanket.

anniehoo

thegreatiam wrote: »

my mother did this on her cocker spaniel,
test was to place a blanket over the dogs head and time how long it takes to shake free.
under 5 seconds is a high score, 10 seconds for average, 20 seconds or more your dog is a dumbass.
45 minutes that cocker was under that blanket.

I literally LOL'd at that and slightly choked on my coffee :D

thegreatiam

we lol'd at first too when it kind of swayed under the blanket looking around morosely, before curling up and going to sleep. Its a sad day when you realise your dog is actually dumber than your pet rock.
Her other cocker was around 12 secs and our German Shepard was a 2 second wunderkind if you're interested.

oh, another game:
3 boxes, crates. with his favorite toy under one. reward for finding the toy.

jsabina

oh I use a lot to put blankets on him just for the fun :P he is expert now... sometimes is not easy to come out as they are big

today I've tried two games I've found on a website... not good for Jago, but maybe for "normal" dogs yes :P

- put peanuts cream in a cardboard roll of the toilet paper -> FAILURE... he was eating the roll not only licking... he had half of it :S

- tie with a rope two old big empty milk bottles... he will carry around having fun etc -> FAILED he started chewing and swallowing the small pieces of the plastic bottles

aonb

some more tests from "How smart is your dog":

SOCIAL LEARNING: Pick a time when your dog is sitting 8 feet away from you, but has not been explicitly told to sit/stay. Then stare intently at his face. When your dog looks at you, count silently to 3 then smile broadly. If he comes to you with tail wagging, score 5. If your dog comes slowly only comes part of the way, no tail wagging score 4. If he stands or rises from the sitting position but does not come to you, score 3. If your dog moves away from you score 2. If he pays no attention score 1.

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION: Your dog should be settled comfortably 8 feet or more from you. In the voice tones that you usually use to call your dog, call "refridgerator". If the dog shows some responsiveness to come score 3. If the dog does not come, call "movies" in the same tone. If your dog comes, score 2. If the dog still has not responded, call his name and say "come". If the dog comes or shows any tendancy to move towards you, score 5. If not call the dogs name a second time. If the dog comes, score 4. If not, score 1.

PROBLEM SOLVING: You need an empty can (e.g soup can) your dogs fav treat and a stopwatch. SHow the dog the treat and let him sniff it. With great showiness put the treat on the ground, and cover with the can. start timing and encourage your dog to get the treat. If he knocks the can away and gets the treat in 5 seconds or less, score 5. In 5-15 seconds, score 4. In 15-30 score 3. In 30-60 seconds score 2. If your dog tries once or twice sniffing around the can but does not get the treat, score 1. If he makes no effort to get the treat score 0.

I think most of these tests are as much fun for the owner as the dog(s)!

JustAThought

I play the old fashioned find the ball/ treat
Under the cup game with fido! I start with one cup & put the treat under it -
Shes to point it out for me & she gets it - after. Few of these Goes I add a Second cup & she has to choose between the two - then I add a third, and the swivel them around.
Problem is she's got so good at it she
Looks at Me in contempt if I take it out now & she's not in the Mood!

I also do it with my hands - hiding a treat & making her watch which hand & then circling the hands around each other or zig-zagging them across ECG other so she has to watch where it is & making her choose ... This one she still gets wrong a fair but sî she likes it a lot & it tires her out- great Craic!!

DeVore

What do you do when your dog knocks over the cup, scarfs the treat, grabs the cup, bounds off with the cup, runs around refusing to give the cup back and then settles down at the end of the garden and rips the cup apart.

Fun game... for him

These look like great fun to try, must do some
Didn't have a blanket so put a raincoat over osky
He knocked it straight off :pac:

Pretzill

bluewolf wrote: »

These look like great fun to try, must do some
Didn't have a blanket so put a raincoat over osky
He knocked it straight off :pac:

Our youngest bc loves playing fetch and to mix it up sometimes we hide the ball she is now taking directions when looking - far - she runs back full circle - close - she knows shes near and keeps looking till she finds it I suppose it's in her genes though she's yet to meet a sheep! She had the blanket off in seconds took it in her teeth and brought to bed with her.

aonb

DeVore wrote: »

What do you do when your dog knocks over the cup, scarfs the treat, grabs the cup, bounds off with the cup, runs around refusing to give the cup back and then settles down at the end of the garden and rips the cup apart.

Fun game... for him

sounds like a 6 - gets rid of the rotten cup that hides his treat, and makes sure his human cant pull that stupid trick again

thegreatiam

aonb wrote: »

sounds like a 6 - gets rid of the rotten cup that hides his treat, and makes sure his human cant pull that stupid trick again

yup, you got leveled by your dog there.

perhaps he is right now on the doggie forum looking for games to keep his human occupied.

pervertedcoffee

Animal Farm Foundation has a great resource on keeping dogs occupied. It's geared towards kennels where dogs can't get exercised or enough human interaction but is great for games to play with your dog, or if you have to leave them alone at any stage.

http://animalfarmfoundation.org/pages/Kennel-Enrichment

deise_boi

DeVore wrote: »

What do you do when your dog knocks over the cup, scarfs the treat, grabs the cup, bounds off with the cup, runs around refusing to give the cup back and then settles down at the end of the garden and rips the cup apart.

Fun game... for him

It happens to me ALL the time

looking_around

aonb wrote: »

some more tests from "How smart is your dog":

SOCIAL LEARNING: Pick a time when your dog is sitting 8 feet away from you, but has not been explicitly told to sit/stay. Then stare intently at his face. When your dog looks at you, count silently to 3 then smile broadly.

I love doing this, ...cause my dog literally smiles back!! (he's a chihuhua and does a growling face, with no growls at all, so you can picture :P, wags his tail and runs to me, all the time with his teet on show..)soooo cute .

__

my dog is very quick to figure out where his treats are.

Alot of these I've done/do without even thinking about XD. cool.

____
Something I like to do. Better for those with a good sense of smell/curiosity.

I tell my dog to stay, then walk to somewhere he can't see me and hide a treat or two somewhere. (generally treats -small! as the dog was never interested with toys >.> )
go back to the dog and say find!
Though he's still learning, sometimes he searches and finds, other times runs where I went, runs back to me and just stares at me >.> totally confused. Which is funny, when he gets confused he starts rolling XD

ISDW

I've fed Max in an old squash bottle tonight, minus the lid, 20 minutes in and he's still not managed to get it all out Don't forget though, if you make things like that yourself, to put a hole or two at the bottom of the bottle, otherwise there is a chance that the dog's tongue could form a vacuum if it goes into the top of the bottle and blocks it, swell up and cause major injury.

nemo32

ISDW wrote: »

I've fed Max in an old squash bottle tonight, minus the lid, 20 minutes in and he's still not managed to get it all out Don't forget though, if you make things like that yourself, to put a hole or two at the bottom of the bottle, otherwise there is a chance that the dog's tongue could form a vacuum if it goes into the top of the bottle and blocks it, swell up and cause major injury.

Problem with my pooch is after 10 mins he's chewed the plastic so much that it's coming off in pieces and he's swallowing it

jsabina

Yeah Jago is swallowing as well the pieces of plastic bottles

I am bit struggling to find good activities for him.
he is very very active dog, he is 4 months and despite a good walk, bit of training, kongs and so on he never sleeps until 23 or later :O
and wants to play do things destroy things

ISDW

nemo32 wrote: »

Problem with my pooch is after 10 mins he's chewed the plastic so much that it's coming off in pieces and he's swallowing it

yeah, I couldn't do this with all my dogs, but know that Max isn't really a chewer