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Indoor Dog Games
Posted on December 11, 2009
These last couple of snowy days have made me think. What do you do with your dog, when you don’t have the possibility to take a walk because it is too cold, already dark or your dog has an injury? I try not to miss those daily walks, but sometimes it’s simply not possible to do, like yesterday when the snow was so much fun, but I really did not want to risk the frostbite on puppy paws. So I figured it is time to give some fun indoor games a try. The thing I love about those the most is that they get the dogs about as exhausted as our usual physical activity does. And that always sounds good to me! So I thought I’d give “Find it!” a try.
So where do I start? The way I had heard about it is that you show your dog a toy, “hide” it in an obvious place, say “find it” (or whatever else you like) and then praise your pup when he goes to get it. Well, our foster Bella was interested in it for a couple of time until she got bored and Mac simply did not care. So I kind of gave up and didn’t think about it again until I saw Max and Trixie, the two hunting dogs “find” their treats all over the place during our session last week. So I asked their mom how she taught it and “DUH!”, why didn’t I think if that?! TREATS!
She started out throwing them on the floor with the command “find it”. Than started throwing them a little further, hiding them around the corner, and so on… so simple! And yes, my dogs were all ears as soon as I got out the salmon ZUKE’S. Thank to healthy 2-calorie-treats I could keep that game up for a while… and they could have kept it up for much longer. Long after I ran out of treats they were still sniffing every corner of the house. Oh what fun! I can’t wait to expand on it next time. Try it on the next snow day! Thanks to Christi for the great idea!
What are your favorite games to keep your dog(s) entertained (indoors and out)? Let me know, and if yours is chosen to be posted here some friday, you might just have a nice little surprise coming your way 
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3 Comments so far
We love “Find it” in our house! We also play the “Bring it to…” game. When one of the dogs has a treasure, we tell that dog to bring it to the other person in the house (the other person calls the dog and throws a party when they get the treasure).
We did this last night with dirty laundry – I stood in the bedroom, giving laundry to Max and Trixie, and they brought it to my husband on the other side of the house!
That is hilarious! And so helpful! I’m going to have to try it!
Maddy loves to play hide and seek. First, I tell her what game we’re going to play. Then I get one of her squeaky toys and throw it down the hall, as she does this I run to my hiding place. By the time she has her toy, I’m in hiding and she begins to look for me. Of course, sometimes she cheats and doesn’t go for the toy and just starts running after me, haha. I’ve tried with Samantha, but all she does is follow Maddy along- I think Samantha is very clueless.
Also, they both love to chase a laser light. I can have them follow it all over the house for hours! They’ll even try and follow it when it’s on the ceiling, they’ve learned to jump really high!