General Care Topics - Mentally Stimulating Games

Image credit - lewiscollard.com

Our resident behaviour expert Lisa Herd has provided another useful article with a number of suggestions for simple games to keep your dog active and mentally stimulated. Learn more about her work and the services she provides on her website - https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/ 

As with many of our published articles they apply to other breeds as well as GSDs. It was originally part of the puppy care series, but tyhese activities can easily include older dogs - especially those who didnj't have the opportuniy to learn them when they were pups.

We also now have an Article Archive which can be found here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Mentally Stimulating Games

• Use an old cardboard box with crumpled up paper – just put some of his food in the box and let him forage.
• Using a plastic container with a lid - first use only one box to get him used to the concept of searching in there for a treat, leaving the lid loose so he can nose it off. Then you can gradually make things harder by hiding the box behind a chair while he waits, (great impulse control) or covering the box with a towel, sealing the box, using multiple boxes with only one containing the food or putting the box with treats inside another box. You can do elevated positions and use boxes placed in different rooms.The list is endless, but the idea is to get creative.
• A muffin tray with tiny treats hidden under object such as Kong’s, plastic bottles,squeaky toys, Kong balls, Nyla bones etc is ideal.
• A drawer organiser for cutlery can be loaded with toys and treats to find
• An old towel with tiny treats or toys folded into it to find
• Sprinkles outside
• Snuffle mat time
• Impulse control games such as Wait, while you place down or drop-down treats to the floor
• Wait before putting down a mental stimulation game or his food
• Calm sniffy walks
• You could ask for Wait and quickly hide a ball a little way away. Release him by saying 'find it'. As he learns the game you can make the task more difficult, placing the ball behind things etc, lengthening the time he has to wait and even going into a different room.
• It’s your choice game - Elbow anchored on knee so that the hand does not move(otherwise it becomes a game) Thumb tucked in to avoid nibbling, handful of tiny treats in your closed fist.
  
  
  Your dog will try everything to get your hand open to access the treats. Say nothing and keep your hand still and closed. Only give a treat from the closed hand if the dog backs off. If he moves forward as you open your hand, quickly close it again. Say nothing, and just wait until the dog backs away and stops trying to access the treats. When he stops, begin to open your hand and give one of the treats, quickly closing it again. If he immediately comes forward to take one, close your hand again. Wait until he backs off and stops trying – you are working towards having your hand flat with treats on and your dog not attempting to take one. We could teach Wait, but this is about getting your dog to be a thinking dog, working out how to make the hand open.
• Food chase and hunt - This is the simplest way to introduce nose work. Show the dog a treat then throw it a short distance from you. The dog then has to use his nose to find it. With practice the dog should be able to start to find it in harder situations such as long grass or further away. As soon as the dog finds the food, excitedly call the dog and show them the next piece of food. Then as the dog approaches throw the food and so on.
• Scatter feeding - Anxious dogs that get very excited and jump up, scatter feeding can be useful way of encouraging incompatible behaviours. When arriving home throw a handful of treats on the floor or out in the garden for the dog to search out and keep them busy, diffusing the situation.