The Grazing Game
The Grazing Game is so simple but powerful enough to change behavior and emotions. The easiest, scientifically endorsed methods to train and socialize your dog involve food. If we couldn’t go to the grocery store and bring home bags of groceries, we would be asking, “Who’s got the food? What can I do for the people who have the food!”
The power of food
Use your dog's daily ration of food calories to train basic skills and to help him overcome socialization difficulties. Food can be used as a reward, to enhance emotional connections and dispel fear. It can effectively focus, redirect, distract, and calm a hyperactive, fearful, or noise-phobic dog, and safely treat all types of aggression.
Who can play grazing games?
Dogs are born scavengers. Setting up grazing opportunities gives your dog a job he likes that keeps him engaged and doing something appropriate. Grazing Games are naturally occurring species-specific activities your dog is designed to enjoy. They're both mentally and physically stimulating for your dog. All dogs including puppies, geriatric, grieving, and dogs recovering from injuries find grazing fun.
Here’re some of my favorite Grazing Games:
- Scatter Breakfast and/or Dinner. No need to feed from a bowl. That’s something humans, not dogs like to do. Your dog will find every last piece of premium-quality kibble you’ve thrown out on the patio, walkways, or lawn while you read the newspaper and have your coffee.
- Use Food to Change Emotions. Desensitize fear of the yard, car, location, noise, person, or another dog, by scattering high-value food paired with a low-intensity version of the feared stimulus.
- Separation Anxiety/Housetraining. Pet parents sometimes mistake a separation anxiety issue for a housetraining problem. If you suspect your dog may be afraid to go outside without you, scatter kibble for grazing in the yard – just not on the elimination area.
- Housetraining Accidents. Scatter treats over thoroughly cleaned urination and defection areas. Dogs don’t like to eliminate where they eat.
- Crate training. Scatter food over the floor of the crate to help diffuse fearfulness.
- Environmental Enhancement. Grazing makes almost any environment feel safer and more interesting.
Animal behavior icons from B.F. Skinner to Pavlov and progressive zoos worldwide, control very large and potentially dangerous animals by using the power of food judiciously and wisely. Your dog is easy by comparison!
