Well, it’s that time of year again. Soon lots of us will be photographing our dogs festooned with red and green jingle bell collars and adorned with Santa hats and maybe even sitting on Santa’s lap. And no doubt we’ll all be shopping for all sorts of gifts for our dogs — clothing, a fancy new bed or dog bowl and of course, numerous toys and treats. I mean, what do you give the dog that has everything? Well, how about the gift of you? Affection certainly, but what your dog really wants is attention and interaction.
Write a list of a whole bunch of fun interactive games to play with your dog — activities that are educational and entertaining. For example, if you decide to give your dog treats as a present, write a list of two dozen uses for a food treat. First on the agenda would be training on walks. If you’re going to give treats then you should also go walkabout to work off the extra calories. When walking your dog, stop every 25 yards and ask your dog to do something, for example, to sit, lie down, beg or rollover. Ask her to do something different every time you stop. Maybe walk with a group of people and dogs and challenge each other. Yes, be creative. Expand your dogs mind.
At home, use treats as a lure to teach your dog to enjoy chewing chewtoys, or to Shush on cue. Use treats to reward your dog for eliminating in the right spot, or for lying quietly in her new dog bed. Use treats as lures and rewards to teach your dog a new word every day over the holidays. Expand your dogs comprehension of English as a Second Language and soon your dog will understand sentences, such as “Phoenix, come here, take this and go to Jamie, please.” I don’t know whether Phoenix understood the concept behind “please”; I only said “please” to be polite. But she understood the meaning of the words “Phoenix”, “come”, “take”, “go to” and “Jamie” and so, would hunt down Jamie in the garden to deliver the written message, “Dinner’s ready!” We called it Malamute Mail.
Above all, over the holidays, give treats to household guests and visitors and teach them how to lure/reward train your already trained dog, so that they too learn how to communicate and interact appropriate with dogs. Spread the love.
Yes, your dog needs toys to amuse herself when she’s by herself — at home alone — or when you would like her to settle down quietly and calmly. The very best chewtoys are all made of natural products and hollow, so that they may be stuffed with food. Kongs are best for stuffing with moistened kibble and then putting in the freezer over night to make Kongsicles for your dog when you leave home in the morning. Biscuit Balls are best for stuffing with raw diet and freezing. Premier Squirrel Dudes have a kibble meter and are ideal for delivering dry kibble. In fact, feed your dog only from chewtoys and he will soon come to enjoy settling down calmly and quietly and amusing himself with his newfound hobby — chewing chewtoys. Your dog will become a recreational chewer of chewtoys, rather than a recreational barker that uses your living room like an agility course.
Interactive toys are even better for building the relationship and just having a really good time with your dog. If you play Fetch or Tug together, reliable recalls are a given and it is so easy (and enjoyable) to use the toys as lures to teach your dog solid stays and snazzy heeling. Now, your dog wants to come quickly, stay close and walk by your side. However, I really like games that don’t require any toys at all.
Playing Tag is probably Dune’s all time favorite indoor game. Starting with Dune sitting in front of me, I tap him on the head and say “Tag” and then he takes off and I chase him all over the house. He first screams round and round the dining room table, so fast that he ends up chasing me and so, I keep turning round and reversing direction of the chase. If I manage to grab his tail, the game is over and so, whenever I get close he tucks his tail between his legs. He then charges into the living room, round the sofas and under a coffee table before scrambling upstairs to take a flying leap onto the bed, causing it to skid across the floor. Periodically, I stand still and call him. If he is not sitting in front of me within a couple of seconds, I end the game. He hates that and so, his recalls are always lightning fast.
Apart from being a good indoor workout and a whole lot of fun, what I really like about Tag is that the game utilizes a particularly annoying and potentially dangerous training problem — running away — as an effective reward for quickly coming when called.
Hide ’n Seek is cool too. We play it indoors on rainy days but also in the park. One person goes and hides in the house — in the shower or a closet, or under the bed — and another person says to the dog, “Wow! We’ve lost Kelly, can you find her.” If your dog is slow to get the idea, the hidden person may make squeaking noises on the first couple of hides. Just yesterday we took ZouZou to Point Isabelle and kept hiding from her. She would run off to play with other dogs only to find afterwards that we had disappeared. She would hunt us down and she could barely contain her excitement each time she found us behind a rock or a shrub. After a few hides, we found that she would stay much closer to us and would check in more and more often. Maybe she thinks, “Wow! My owners are really stupid; I can’t take my eyes off them for a second without them getting lost. I have to watch them all the time when they’re of leash.”
Happy Holidays to all of you from all of us at SIRIUS Puppy Training and DogStarDaily.com.
Ian Dunbar is a veterinarian, canine behaviorist, and puppy training pioneer. He is the founder of SIRIUS® Puppy Training; Scientific Director for www.dogstardaily.com; and author of several best-selling books and videos. For more information, visit www.siriuspup.com.
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