Hide & Seek
Who didn’t love this game as a kid?! Your dog will love it just as much. You’ll need to recruit someone in your home to stay with your dog while you hide, or if your dog has a lot of self-control you can ask them to stay while you hide. Once you’re hidden, your dog can be let loose to seek you out!
This game would be great to get this kids involved with. They’ll love to hide away from your dog. Just be sure to tell them the doors need to stay open, so Fido will be able to find them!
If you’re a party of two (you and the dog), you can ask your dog to stay and just go around the corner and call them. They will be more successful at staying for a shorter period of time.
Hide the Treat
Have someone in your family hold your dog, or put them in a closed room where they will be safe temporarily. Hide treats or kibble around your house. For an extra challenge hide the treats at various heights, but within reach. Once you’ve hidden all the treats, let your dog go or out of the room.
It’s like an Easter egg hunt all over again (but without the toxic chocolate)! You will have so much fun watching your dog run around the house following his/her nose, and gobbling up treats!
A Good Old Game of Fetch
This might be an obvious one but it does the trick. Fetch works great when you throw a ball or stuffed toy down a hallway or large room. If your pup is a little rusty on the retrieval, be sure to reward him/her with a treat when they bring back the toy. This is also a great way to work on “drop it” or “off” so they release the toy.
A few good rounds of throw and fetch is bound to tire out your pup for a good nap afterwards. This is perfect if you need to get on a Zoom call and don’t want to be interrupted by your furry pal!
Find the Treat
This one is pretty fun, and will test your pup’s nose. First get 3 (or more if you’d like) opaque containers and turn them upside down. You can even use your recycled cans or other containers.
Place a treat under one of them and have your dog find which container has the treat under it! Reward your pup with the treat if he/she guesses right. To up the anti, put the treat under the container and then shuffle the containers around. See if your dog can guess which one has the treat under it.
Interactive Dog Toys & Puzzles
This is a great activity that will keep your dog’s mind stimulated. These toys and puzzles are designed to challenge your dog to find creative ways to get a treat out. They can use their paws, nose, and brain at the same time.
You can get these at your local pet store, from Team Fido training, or some cult classics by Nina Ottosson can be ordered online through Amazon.ca or outwardhound.com.