Toys

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parkies
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:02 am

Toys

Post by parkies »

Hi,

I wonder if anyone has any advice.

We have a beautiful Cavalier King Charles we adopted through a rescue organisation. She is hugely treat orientated and very easy to train, however, she is not interested in toys.

We have tried Kongs stuffed with food, squeaky toys, rattly toys, plush toys, rope tugs, balls etc. We are a little careful how we play with her as we have cats and despite the fact she is fine with them I don't want to teach her to chase furry things.

She will play with a rope tug if we are there, and even then she will pounce on it more than anything else. We certainly have no problems with mouthing, she won't even get her teeth near you.

We have tried hiding treats and food and getting her to search fo them as she is very scent orientated but it is hard going as she doesn't seem to know what to do and she is still very dependent on us to point out where to sniff.

This may not seem like a huge problem but we are gradually increasing our time away from her to be able to leave her for an hour or two and without a good distraction that doesn't need us there, this is more difficult.

Anyone any suggestions?
JudyN
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Toys

Post by JudyN »

Hi, and welcome to the forum :D

How old is she, and how long have you had her for? It may be that she will just take time to learn how to play. You may need to go quite slowly, so she doesn't wonder why you are pestering her with all these strange objects, and can take it at her own pace. As she's treat oriented, would she play with a treat dispensing ball with a big opening? This may not be 'play', as such, of course, but at least she will be active.

I do wonder if some dogs don't particularly enjoy treat dispensing toys that much - I don't think mine does. Imagine how frustrating it would be if you had to get your breakfast cereal by pushing a ball around the floor with your nose! It may also be the case that she'll be better at being left if she's tired and relaxed rather than playing with something, so leaving her may be easier if you give her a long walk first rather than expect her to have to entertain herself.

Another thought is leaving her with a bully stick, pigs ear or similar which is 'food', but will keep her occupied for a fair time. I'm not sure if these are safe to feed unsupervised though - hopefully someone else can advise on that.
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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