There is nothing better than a fun afternoon playing with my peep. It’s the way I can get her away from her computer and she’s always in a good mood after we’ve had a good run around. Playing with your dog is such great way to bond. We love it, and we also know you love it too!
We all love trying new things, and when we do, it stimulate your pet’s mind and gives your new challenges to try. Finding new ways to work with your dog’s instinctual nature will bring out the best in the them as well. It just makes us all, well… better!
Get creative, it’s not all about the fancy toys or latest apps, but the time spent stimulating your dog’s mind and strengthening your bond will make both of you happy.
Play with your dog different…
1.Indoor Fun: A game I play with my peep is called track and events. It’s part home agility and part tracking and yes it does involve a treat or two. It’s the perfect afternoon game, especially if its a rainy afternoon and all I’m doing is snoozing on the couch.
First thing my peep does is build an obstacle course around the house out of boxes, containers and pillows. She even makes a little tent over our step ladder too. Then she grabs some treats and rubs them all over the place, but hiding the best one in the hardest spot for me to find.
What I learn and Enjoy
- It helps me to problem solve
- It builds confidence
So my peep came up with an idea of making me my own stick and toy game. She got a long stick added a string to it and then tied it around one of my soft stuffed toys. She then would dangle it in front of me to catch my eye and get my attention. Sometimes she would stuff a treat inside my toy so it became sort of like a piñata for dogs. Then she would move it slowly, sometimes stopping and then moving it again. I have to admit it got me super excited! I was ready to pounce, but I really had to watch where is was going to make sure I caught it.
How this helped
- It really brought out my natural prey drive
- I needed to think and be clever to get control
3.Hide and Seek: Okay first I have to admit I’m not really good at this game, unless my peep has a great treat at hand. However the game is fun to do inside or out in the garden or anywhere that you hang out off lead and away from traffic. So to start the game, my peep with have sit and she will say “stay” and then she would sneak away to hide, sometimes in another room if we’re playing indoors or behind a tree if we’re in the commons. Then she’ll shout “here!”
That is my cue to go find her and hopefully a tasty treat to boot. (As a beagle outdoors, I can sometimes get distracted and head on over to the nice couple having a picnic), but usually I’ll find her, with a big grin on her face and lots, and lots of praise. I have to admit, it’s a good way to keep my training up and I can be really good at it even if she does move far away at times. It’s great for my tracking skills too!
It covers the basics of doing Yoga with your dog and offers pose ideas that range from complete beginner to fairly advanced.
Grab it here Dog-Yoga-Ebook
What I Loved About Doga
- The sheer laughter that I get from my peep
- Loving having her on my level
- And the bonding is priceless
Playing with your dog is always fun and mixing up really makes it special, in fact you both will feel great, feel a little fitter and best of all, bonding together on doing something new.
What different ways do you play with your pet?
