Ideas for mind games

Horace's Mum · Post by **Horace's Mum** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 6:44 pm

Right, I have an increasingly keen dog that needs to learn, and I am running out of ideas! It seems the more I teach him, the more he wants. When the weather is good it is fine because we practise our agility obedience, but when it is pouring down with rain I need to do things inside with him (he does still get his walk, we just don't spend all day outside!). So far we have done the usual obedience stuff, we are learning some heelwork to music type moves, he has dried tripe hunts in the living room, and he has at least one food toy per day (kong etc). He is not excessively toy orientated unless you are going t play tug, which has to be limited otherwise he gets too mouthy. I need some good games to play, bearing in mind he is deaf so things like hide and seek with me is out because I can't call him. I also only have a small house. He is very quick to learn, so the more ideas the better! Bring it on guys!

pat · Post by **pat** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:47 am

How about going to heelwork to music classes? They're very inventive with new things to teach dogs and you can practice all the moves at home and put together some routines. I've had a dog like this so I know what it's like. They seem to want entertainment and learning 24 hours a day. Good luck.

Horace's Mum · Post by **Horace's Mum** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 5:20 am

There aren't any classes near me on a regular basis, but I am already teaching him some of the moves (that's a mind game for me, trying to think of clear signs for each move!).

I would really like something that is not so much like training for me, we spend a lot of time training (actually we are training all the time

) so something more like games would be nice! (Yes, I know training is like a game for him, but I need a change too!) Things like hiding a treat under a cup...

Also, any ideas what I could do with a hoopla hoop? I bought one the other day thinking it would be great to use for Horace, but have since been totally devoid of any ideas other than walking/jumping through it!

sunnyblu · Post by **sunnyblu** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:13 pm

My previous dog, Dickens, used to love to play "Go Find" with a favorite toy. All he had to know was Sit/Stay and Find. It really made him think. He was a little lhasa/shih-tzu mix. I would put him on a sit stay and show him a specific toy and let him sniff it good. The leaving him on a stay I would go into another room and hide the toy. At first I'd "hide" it in easy places that he could see, but then I noticed that he was actually looking up on top of things - like the bed and the dresser, underneath things, behind things...really thinking it through. So I started making it more difficult. I even included a hot/cold thing to give him a clue if he was getting close. I would think the game could be altered for a deaf dog. It wouldn't have to be a toy, it could be a treat, too.

catrinsparkles · Post by **catrinsparkles** » Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:14 pm

Hope you don't mind but i pinched this from another forum where i had posted about the brain training classes Tonks goes to.

Well Tonks went to her first brain training session today and, as promised, i am going to try to explain some of the puzzles that we did.

We used some by Nina Ottosson

http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/ni...osson-toys.php

We did Dog smart and dog tornado. for dog smart you place treats under the wooden cups. The middle one can be pushed (nosed or pawed) over so the dog can get the treat but the ones on the outside are set a bit down in the wood so the dogs actually have to pick them up to reveal the treat.
You can also choose how many cups you use.

Tonks loved Dog Tornado, its made up of layes of plates of wood with dips in for the treats. The dog has to slide the layers to reveal the treats.

As well as the shop bought puzzles we also used ones made from every day object. I will try to explain them, but some might be hard to describe without pictures!

- big cardboard box full of either shredded paper or ball pool balls. Show the dog you are dropping treats in and then let them loose to find them. (very easy and doesn't take much thinking power for the dogs - was a really good one to use when the dogs became tired)

- Big cardboard box with small slit cut in the bottom. Place box on its side with opening (top end) easy to get to. take dog to the side with the slit in it and show them treats as you post them through the slot. Dog has to work out that it has to walk round the back and go into the box to get the treat. Box must be big enough for dog to get their head in easily.

- pierce two holes in the sides of a fizzy drink bottle, then push a piece of garden cane through so the bottle pivots on the cane. Hold either end of the cane and hold cane parallel to the ground. Show the dog the treats as you put them in the bottle. the dog then has to push the bottle so it tips upside down and treats fall on floor.

- get a large empty packet of biscuits (one that slides open like a match box) tie a piece of ribbon to the front on the drawer piece. show dog the treats going in the drawer - dog then has to pull string to open the drawer and get the treats.

That's just some of them - hope you can understand them!

Dee-n-Josh · Post by **Dee-n-Josh** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 2:29 am

My new pup liked to pull his blanket out of his crate... through the crate walls, rather than the door!

I was thinking about using a milk crate... loading it with fun stuff to pull out (toys, chewy blankets, treats)... then placing the milk crate upside down for him to "figure out" how to get things out.

I haven't worked the whole idea out. But, I'm curious what others think.

Horace's Mum · Post by **Horace's Mum** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:00 am

Oooh, I like the postbox one! I had seen the wooden games, but obviously they are not cheap and I wasn't sure if Horus would take to them. Did all the dogs in the class get the hang of them eventually? Might save up for a couple for the winter.
Also like the bottle one, might give them a go today seeing as it i raining rather a lot so I can't practise agility