Games to play with puppies

Play and mental stimulation should go hand in hand.  Play for the sake of tiring the puppy out is okay, but make play time multifunctional.  You can teach and play at the same time.

• Puppies like to chase things.  So playing fetch for 5 minutes is good exercise to stimulate the pups mind, use some natural skills nature gave them, reinforce your bonding and teach the beginning of a recall command.  Some pups only like to find things moving, so attaching a long light cord to a toy to making it move at a distance is good tool.
• A cheap toy set up could be a plastic bottle or milk jug attached to a long string.  Only move it in small increments, the puppy must be able to actually get the jug, not keep chasing.  If there is no reward, the game loses interest.  if you put some slits in the jug and put a small amount of the dogs kibble, they can spend time and energy, getting the treats out and think at the same time!
• You can even take a small handful of the kibble and throw it out in the back yard and let them find the food.  Don't add calories by increasing the daily allowance, just take some food that would go into their bowl and use it.
• Hide and seek is a great game for bonding, recall and teaching your puppy to keep an eye on you.  Always start out hiding some place they can find you, don't make it difficult.  When your pup is looking away, run behind a tree or kitchen counter.  When found, make a big deal out of it so the pup feels they have done something incredible special and you are the best thing when found.
• If you pup is a toy hog, use two toys at the same time.  Throw one and when they get to it and either lay to chew or walk away from you, show them the other toy.  Let them bound over to you before throwing the second toy.  Eventually you can incorporate command words such as "Come" and "Sit" while playing this game.

Remember pups do not have longevity, so play should be short in duration.  As they get older, play times can last longer, but babies will need to rest more frequently.

 

Terrier breeds like to ferret things out. Take a large enough box, cut a hole they can fit through and place toys of treats inside the box for them to find.

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