Love this thread, I don't really have any different ones to add. Although I taught Mabel how to be a statue today. I put a treat on my knee and say statue, she stares at the treat but doesn't move not even blink. After about 10 seconds I say okay and she takes the treat. I'm building up to a minute . I know it's a variation of putting treats on her paws and she can't take them until I say okay but I'm trying to come up with things I can do sitting down. Mabel's favourite is definitely the sausage tree. I've never seen her move so fast when I shout "yummy, look what mummy's found" while jumping up and down. Not at all bothered that I look weird my girl thinks I'm a fabulous hunter, gatherer who likes to share. When my hip is better I'm really looking forward to a game of football, definitely going to try using loads of balls at once and seeing who can collect the most. @Naya that sounds fun.
Playing with toys, hunting for kibble, toys etc. indoors is no problem for Charlie but outside has just not happened. We have tried endlessly building up the desire in tiny steps but he never transfers this desire on walks. I have a "special" toy that I have had in a draw for absolutely months bringing it out letting him look, sniff, eventually a little tug ventured out into the yard yesterday for a bit more tug and then a retrieve and put it back in the draw but I am pretty sure it won't transfer. I think over 4 years of trying I am not going to make any kind of a toy playing retrieving dog out of my Charlie We do try to make up for his lack of playing with hide and seek in the woods, running in the opposite direction and when he gets close to us turning and running away again which he loves Hattie will play with toys indoors and on walks not all the time but some days she can't enough other days she's not interested but that's fine by me x
Juno's not particularly interested in toys on her walk she will retrieve a ball a few times but then she loses interest, loves recall Ping-Pong though and chasing after OH. I'm not too bothered by her not wanting to play on walks though, she's happy trotting around recalls easily and always catches up, whether called or not, and checks in with me.
When off-lead Molly's focus is on me most of the time because she wants to play. I persuaded my son to video us playing tug in the garden. I'll see if this works. Every so often I think back to my 'perfect' cocker spaniel (perfect recall, perfect heel, lovely temperament) who I had mid-80s to mid-90s. I never took her to training classes and always say I never did any training, but then I remember how I played with her all the time...
That's excellent @Joy . Great starts, you keep moving (so the dog doesn't get stuck in a 'pull to the death' ), you are gentle (no risk of doggie dental work by tug), there is the right amount of energy (no mad excitement to get out of hand), and lovely clean end cues. 10/10 for that game of tug!
Really impressed with your video @Joy, would love to be able to play in this controlled way with Ripple one day. Where did you get the long tuggy from? I only ever seem to see short ones.
I got it at Pets at Home, but ages ago and they don't seem to have them now as we could do with a new one. When Molly was a puppy I made tuggy toys by tying a sock to one end of a thick cord and a small soft toy (from a charity shop) to the other. In fact we still occasionally play with one of these. For puppies it's better than a rope as there is a clear 'end' for the pup to grab, so less likely to get your fingers! You will be able to do this with Ripple eventually. I suggest after a few seconds tug, you should drop your end and offer a treat in exchange for the toy. Then ask for a sit, but to start with then immediately cue the start of the game again.
I have two silly games I play with Poppy, and neither of them are sensible! The first is our sock game - when I put on my socks she comes bounding up. I take one, and we have a tense couple of moments where she tries to grab the sock out of my hand, and I try to wrap it around her muzzle. If I win, then I throw the sock in the corner, and she rushes off to retrieve and return it. If she wins, then she grabs and shakes the sock to death. Our other game is a variation on the dog game of 'bitey face' where dogs pretend to bite each other with wide open mouths. I bring my hand closer and closer to her face, while moving my fingers together like a snapping mouth... Poppy watches transfixed, and at one moment either I grab hold of her muzzle (I win!), or else she jumps forward and grabs my hand in her mouth... (she wins!). Both these games depend on me being completely sure that she is very, very gentle with her mouth, otherwise I might end up with a couple of missing fingers! We love these silly games and play a variation nearly every day.
Charlie tug....not even remotely genteel compared to Molly and @Joy - Charlie says this is because he is a boy. I say it's because he's a hooligan. tug by Julie T, on Flickr Let's see more vids of your games!
Catch....normally preceded by much mad jumping around and Charlie trying to nick the ball. But no so much of that today because Charlie is supposed not to be doing too much mad jumping around. catch by Julie T, on Flickr
@snowbunny, Dexter has been enjoying the ready steady game. He says thank you very much for letting me know about it @JulieT, Dexter is still waiting for me to find a suitable ball to play goalie
Tilly, our 10 yr old has always been good at catch. One of the indoor games she came up with, is to stay at the top of the stairs while I stand at the bottom. I throw the ball to her, and she drops it down the stairs to me. Repeat, Repeat .......... Even though she is not a very visual dog, she is very good at catching balls, treats etc. Cooper is much more visual, but not as good at catching yet. I'm sure she will be soon enough, since she does serious pass interference when both dogs are playing catch outside. Tilly also will chase a ball that we throw off the 2nd floor deck into the yard. She has to run through the house down the stairs and out the dog door. We do a similar one at our cabin indoors. Throw the ball up on to the 2nd floor loft, and she has to run up the stairs and find it. Cooper is learning both of these also.
Is it possible that some dogs just don't like to play whilst off lead? I really, really, really have tried everything with Charlie for a very, very, very, very long time throughout the years and even when he's off lead with Hattie who loves a frisbee (thrown LOW and only a few throws) Charlie is just NOT interested. I am currently reading 'When Pigs Fly! Training Impossible Dogs and one of the first things is to find out what motivates your dog and work on that, so nothing does so can't move on Charlie will play ball, tug etc. indoors but when I try to move beyond our yard that's it his surroundings distract him so much it becomes impossible as he has absolutely no interest whatsoever I dream of having our lovely boy running for a ball infact ANYTHING but perhaps it's just not to be, although I do keep trying!
@charlie Juno is really not that fussed about playing on walks. She may retrieve a ball a few times, or her Kong SafeStix , hide and seek is good, apart from that she is happy wandering along and having a good sniff and then running to catch up. The only difference to this is where water is concerned with her dummy. She will do as many retrieves as you want from water as part of her walk. I just accept that she's not interested in playing on walks as we have lots of other play together.
I love this thread. So interesting to see what other people get up to. Love the videos Julie T. Want to try the football one when it is drier (grass mud bath at the moment) and see if Milo is as good a goalie as Charlie! We play Find it by hiding kibble in the living room and also Kibble Hunt where I scatter a handful on the grass or patio depending on the weather. Milo is pretty ball orientated and will fetch and catch inside the house. He also loves tuggy and we got him a huge rope toy the other day that weighs a ton! We have I'm trying to train some more commands inside and read about teaching your dog to walk backwards as you approach. First time he did it then second time and ever since for some reason he sits up like he is begging! Pretty sturdy due to his big labbie bottom lol. Looked so cute. A new but different trick learned! I've made a whippit toy for outside but need to make it much stronger as it's only string on a cane with an old toy at the end so when he grabs a lot of the time the whole thing breaks! Can't wait for the good weather so we can get the tunnel and jumps out. Wish we had a bigger and flatter garden. Saw online a trick to train - crawl under, jump over and go round an object. We tried with a small table but he got it stuck on his back! On the hunt for a really sturdy cardboard box. My favourite toy is a kong squeeez animal which bounces really erratically. We call the game Bouncey Bouncer and it is great in the kitchen where it bounces all over the place. I get a bit too crazy sometimes and it has been known to land in the washing up bowl! I think we have more fun than the dogs sometimes! Sue
