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Here are some tips to integrate our delicious snacks perfectly into everyday life and also offer your dog some activity and excitement. Keeping your dog’s brain active and engaged is just as important as physical activity.
Especially during the winter months, the walks are often a little shorter, so let’s move the training sessions or games indoors. Here, too, there are great opportunities to challenge and keep your dog busy and avoid boredom.
1. Hidden Objects
Search games can be done anywhere, and they offer your furry friend a meaningful and species-appropriate activity. You can easily hide the snacks around the flat and let your dog look for them. Start in one room and gradually increase the search radius. Hide the snacks in small gaps, for example between the couch and the cupboard, and gradually make the whole thing more difficult. Snacks with an intense scent are best suited to start with
2. Learn New Tricks
By learning new tricks, your dog gets mentally challenged and will be happy about his success (and a reward of course!) Tricks should always be learned playfully and using positive reinforcement, and not overwhelm your dog. Start with short commands and regularly reward your dog with a tasty snack. With the confirmation, he will quickly understand what you want from him and have a lot of fun obeying you.
3. Sniffing Carpet
A sniffing carpet is also perfect for small hidden object games. These carpets can be bought, but you can also easily make them yourself. Here you can hide small snacks between the pieces of fabric and let your dog search for them.
4. Shell Game
In the shell game, your dog should find out what cup his snack is hidden under. Build this game up bit by bit. Start with one mug and choose a surface where it can tip over relatively easily. The dog should understand that he needs to knock over the cup to find the snack underneath. To do this, you can place the edge of the cup on top of the snack at the beginning, so your dog will notice more quickly that there is a snack underneath and the cup will fall over more easily. Gradually increase the level of difficulty by bringing more cups into play and changing the surface. This game can be very tiring for the dog, so give him a break after 3-5 minutes.
5. Help in Everyday Life
You can integrate very simple things, such as carrying the newspaper, putting the laundry in the basket or returning dog toys to the box, into your everyday life. Dogs love to help, and above all they love the reward and confirmation from us humans. Build up these exercises bit by bit. Start with small tasks like getting your dog to hold something for you in his mouth. To do this, take a light toy or an old sock, put it in its mouth or ask your dog to take it, give an appropriate command, for example "hold," and reward your dog after just 1-2 seconds with a snack. Repeat this exercise over and over until your dog can hold the object for a long time. We are sure that you and especially your dog will have a lot of fun with it!
