Brain games

Mental activation is an important factor in keeping dogs happy. In one experiment a group of dogs were given tasks to complete in order to get rewards. There was also a control group of dogs that were given the same rewards, but they didn’t have a chance to work for them. Shortly, the experiment showed that the dogs that completed the tasks in order to get the rewards were much happier than the control group that got the rewards without any efforts.

“The experimental animals in our study were excited not only by the expectation of a reward, but also about realizing that they themselves could control their access to the reward. These results support the idea that opportunities to solve problems, make decisions, and exercise cognitive skills are important to an animal’s emotional experiences and ultimately, its welfare.”

You can read more about the study in here.

Nose work

Any type of nose work games and searching games are good ways to drain dogs’ energy. You could say that dogs are using their brains when they are using their nose.

If your dog hasn’t searched for anything before, you should start by throwing a couple of treats to the floor in front of your dog so that he can see them and give a cue: search (when he goes and eat the treats). Only after this you can make the searching games harder. You can then throw treats on the ground or into short grass. Later on you can throw treats into long grass on even into a snowdrift.

When you are outside with your dog you should always be very careful, because you can’t always be sure if there aren’t any broken glass or other dangerous things in the thick, long grass. Or there could be something hidden, that you may not like your dog to eat, like used paper tissues or chewing gums.

Here you can find various nose work and searching game ideas for your dog.

Brain games and puzzles

You can arrange various of problem solving tasks and brain games for your dog, and these are good ways to drain your dogs energy. When the dog really needs to work something out in order to get his food, he will get tired. Here you can find multiple problem solving tasks and brain games as well.

You should never help your dog with the tasks you’ve given to him, because when the dog figures something out by itself, it drains the energy and boosts the dog’s self-confidence. Always start with something easy enough, so your dog can complete the task without any help.

You should always supervise your dog when you give him these assignments to prevent any injuries. And you shouldn’t give him any toxic materials or anything with small loose parts that he could swallow by accident.

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