What are some games you play with your dogs? We do training and stuff every day, but looking for more ways to tire him out mentally. He knows sit, lie down, and shake so far, so anything else I should be working on other than obviously his recall? Just really wanting to work his brain
Ooo, there are all sorts of fun ones. Using tug of war to teach "drop/leave it" is fun. Also some more physical-types of commands are fun for the pup and also useful in real life such as learning to back up on command, go under chairs (crawl under and lie down). And goofy things like teaching your pup to ring a bell with his nose is fun and teaches "target" without getting all serious. I've not tried it yet, but I've seen people on YouTube doing retrieving games in the house where the dog has to find the hidden dummy/toy. These seem to get the pup physically active yet using his brain/nose to find the object. My previous dogs were not into retrieving or nose work, but this game seems like it would suit a Labrador to a "t".
One of Libby's favorite is to take a muffin tin (the ones that hold 12), put treats in a few of them then put tennis balls in all of them. She nails it every time, uses her nose to figure out which tennis balls to take out and find the treats.
We played hidden toy or treat games with Holly from very early on. We use the house and the garden. It really keeps her entertained, and plays to all the gundog instincts.
Get things properly on cue - which means they will happen anywhere, against all distractions. You haven't trained sit until you can say sit in a busy park with off lead dogs playing all around your puppy and he will still sit. Things I think are useful to train are: Close (or heel) stationary and moving (obviously) Go to mat and stay on mat A settle cue In (wait at doors and boundaries until the cue in) Stay - and proof it against rolling balls, the doorbell, food being thrown in front of the dog Fetch and hand delivery Default leave it and impulse control generally Cued leave it - and proof it properly Tug game - take it, and let go on cue Hand touch Target an object Go to a remote place board or mat (send away) Also tricks are really useful, things like roll over, and spin and go round something.
I also do this with Bailey - he gets really excited when the muffin tin and tennis balls come out of the cupboard - he is "happy dancing" all over the place and can't wait to get to it - we have in the past fed him his meal this way if he was in a "but that's dog food and I don't eat dog food" phase!
There's a thread with the muffin-tin game with members videos - great fun http://thelabradorforum.com/threads/home-made-dog-game.14966/
