Brain Games

One of the most stressful things in a dog's life is living in a human world, and if our dogs could tell us some things they would like for us to change, here's a few things they might say ... 

• Please throw away our bowls.  Really.  Who came up with the idea of making us eat out of bowls?  (Hint:  It was not the dogs.)  We have Kongs that sit empty most of the time.  Portion out our same amount of food and make us work hunt for eat it out of our Kongs or other "fillable" toys. If your dogs (or Good Buddy) does not have a Kong, offer food in a Gatorade bottle.  Let your imagination soar.  By making us eat out of bowls, you take away one of the chance we have to be hunters dogs.

• Make our food interesting by mixing it with cheese, peas, broccoli, chicken, steamed carrots, rice, peanut butter, canned pumpkin.  (Become familiar with foods that are good and not-so-good for pups). Good Buddies love it when  you show up at the shelter with a baggie full of homemade treats. 

•  Take us for walks.  Everyday.  It's not just exercise for us.  It's migrating.  It's mental stimulation.  We want to sniff and pee on mailboxes and figure out what has changed since the last time we were outside.  It makes us feel like dogs.  We like that alot.  Even if your community has a dog park, please take us for walks.  The two things are not the same and we need both.

• Give us mind games to play.  Want some ideas?  OK, you asked!



• Fill a cardboard box with crumpled packing paper and add dry kibble (or something else very yummy).  It's a puzzle for us to figure out how to get the food out of the tangled, crumpled paper, and it's fun.

• Help us increase our vocabulary by teaching us to retrieve each of our toys by name. Start with our two favorites, and teach us to fetch them by name one at a time, in a room with no other toys to choose from. Use lots of praise, tug, or treats to reward the good fetches. Once we knows the names of two toys, put both on the floor and ask us to fetch them one at a time. Reward correct choices with whatever wags our tail, and by continuing the game. Respond to incorrect choices by repeating the request, and eventually guiding us toward the right toy if we really needs help. If we can succeed with two, try three or more. This is really tough brain work, so be patient and expect us to build up our vocabulary very gradually.

•  These are just a few ideas to get you started.  If you would like to see some more ideas, here's a great little website for more dog play ideas

Happy brain games!