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Great Activities You Can Enjoy With Your Dog Here is an introduction to some great things people do with their dogs. Most activities welcome all dogs, whether purebred or of mixed breed heritage. Some of these activities are classed as "working dog" activities, but are also done on a recreational basis, or as a public service. Some dog activities are purely recreational in nature, while others are competitive dog sports. Many of these activities may be new to you. I have chosen my links based upon how welcoming they are to the merely curious. People who play with their dog, stay with their dog.Why do dog activities matter? Why promote them? Dog activities matter because they help dogs keep their homes. When people and dogs do things together it is good news all around. Many of these activities provide the structure that helps people learn to better communicate with their dogs. The dogs have a better opportunity to learn good manners. That makes them easier to live with and less likely to be given up. The activities help people get in touch with one another to share information. That also helps people to learn about dogs, to avoid problems, and to solve them in a healthy way. The activities provide exercise in a fun way that boosts the relationship. The exercise, in turn, reduces boredom. A dog that exercises with its human is less likely to have behavior problems. A wonderful side benefit is that these activities can be a mental boost for humans and dogs alike. Do we need lessons on having fun with our dogs?All the evidence is, yes, we need to learn how to have fun with our dogs. Too many people just don't know how much fun their dog can be. Their relationship is one way; they haven't learned to communicate. They need help learning how to have fun with their dog. When they enjoy their dog they are motivated to work through problems, to solve them instead of giving up on the dog. And yes, your mutt can play too.The big surprise to me was how many activities I can do with my mixed breed dogs. And the variety of sports, games, and just plain good times was also an eye opener. Many of the activities listed here will be new to you. Some of them you may have seen on TV, but never thought of getting involved in yourself. Well plunge right in and explore. You and your dog will be glad you did. Recall Games While working on the all important recall, use these
games for practice. #1. Inside, with dog on lead, two handlers sit on the floor
facing each other about 6' apart #2. Same activity as above, without the lead. Repeat until handlers are 12' apart. If the dog does not come immediately, put lead back on and repeat #1. Goal: dog comes repeatedly without lead. #3. Dog off lead. One handler goes out of sight (around a corner into another room). Call the dog. Praise and reward. If the dog does not come to the handler, go to the dog and take him by the collar. Pull him to where the handler called him, sit, praise (or treat). Second handler calls dog back. Repeat above procedure. Goal: Repeat until dog doesn't hesitate in finding handlers. #4. Repeat the sequence above, hiding in different rooms in the house. If the dog needs help, get him and take him by the collar and guide him to where he was called. Praise and reward the dog every time he finds a handler. Goal: Repeat until the dog finds handlers every time. #5. Repeat step #1, out in the yard (in a secure area). #6. Repeat step #2, out in the yard (in a secure area). Go back to the lead if the dog is distracted. Praise and pet into sit with treat. Repeat until dog comes every time, even with distractions. #7. Repeat step #3 outside (in a secure area). Goal: Repeat until dog finds handler every time. #8. Repeat step #4 outside (in a secure area), until the dog finds you easily. This can now be done with one handler. Take the dog away from home into a secure park, woods, etc. Practice hiding from him any time he gets more than 20' away. Remember: always praise and/or reward him when he finds you. #9. Continue your practice in different places with different distractions. #10. Invent recall games of your own! Be sure the dog is rewarded for success, and corrected if he fails to come promptly! How To Teach Your Dog To Fetch Or Retrieve The fetch or retrieve is a great behavior to teach from scratch or refine in your dog. A quick game of fetch is a fantastic outlet for a dog's natural prey drive and knocks the edge off even the most energetic of dogs. Plus it's one of the few interactive games you and your dog can play together - it's a brilliant way to strengthen the human-dog bond. Most dogs love to chase a ball and return it to you, but many dogs need a little guidance to get the behavior up to a satisfactory level. You'll find your dog to be a natural or reluctant retriever at first, but after a while most dogs love playing a game of fetch. Why wouldn't they? It's great fun! Teaching a rock solid and reliable retrieve takes a few separate steps to get just right. The following steps will teach your dog to be interested in an object, charge after it when it is thrown, pick it up, return it straight back to you and drop it at your feet. All without any skylarking, sniffing, hesitation or detours! Ok lets get started, we'll build the retrieve behavior step-by-step. Start out simple and slowly build upon your dog's successes - this is the best way to shape any new behavior. Shaping the Retrieve Step-by-Step Step 1. Lets start out by playing a simple and fun game. In a small room free from any distractions, sit down on the floor with your dog. Have a small squeaky toy in your hand and some tasty treats in your other hand. Ideally the toy will be one that your puppy has shown interest in. Now toss the toy a small distance (still within your reach) from yourself and let your puppy pounce on it - you can encourage your puppy if need be. When your puppy grabs the toy you should reach out and take it from his/her mouth while saying "good puppy". As soon as you have hold of the toy you need to replace it by feeding a treat to your dog.If your puppy won't let go of the toy, simply use the treat as a bribe. Hold the treat just in front of his nose and wait for him to drop the toy - praise your dog and give him the treat as soon as the toy drops from his mouth. Practice this simple game in 5 minute blocks at least a couple of times a day. This is the crucial first step towards developing a solid and reliable fetch or retrieve in your dog. Step 2. Now we will continue the game we played in Step 1 but this time we will add a release word or cue to the exercise. As you are taking the toy from your puppy's mouth (or when he drops it in your lap) say "thank you" or "thanks" and immediately give the treat and praise - just as you did in Step 1. Repeat this process many times, you are building an association in your dog's mind between your "thanks" cue and the act of him giving the toy to you. After plenty of practice and continual reinforcement (the treats) you will not have to grab the toy from your dog's mouth, he will give it to you upon hearing your cue word. Now we have got the basic fetch behavior we are trying to shape - we just need to build on it a little more.Step 3. Now we can slowly (very slowly) increase the distance of the retrieve. Start out by throwing the toy a couple of metres from you - hopefully your dog will continue to pounce on the toy and bring it back to you for his treat. Continue just as you have been, say your release cue "thanks" and give the treat for every successful retrieve. Important: If at any time your dog does not bring the toy back to you do not chase him or make a fuss. Simply sit and wait patiently until he brings it back to you - then treat as normal. Your aim is to make it clear to your dog that in order for the fun and games to continue he must bring the toy back to you. If your dog doesn't bring the toy back to you, finish up and try again later on - next time go back to the shorter and easier retrieve game as in Step 1.Step 4. Continue practicing this game of fetch over and over. Repetition and positive reinforcement are the keys to building and strengthening a solid retrieve. You can now mix up the distance you throw the toy and take your training sessions into different rooms within the house. When you introduce a new object such as a ball (which is what you will use for a game of fetch at the dog park) to the game you need to start out again at a short distance and increase the distance slowly. Remember to only ever treat and praise your puppy when the retrieve object gets delivered directly to you.Step 5. That's pretty much the retrieve behavior built in 4 steps. If you like you can now add a cue at the start of the exercise. Simply say "fetch" or "get it" just before you throw the ball. After a while when you say your "fetch" cue your dog will look straight up at you in anticipation of a chase.You can also gradually fade the treats now. The game itself will be reward enough for your dog. Instead of a tasty treat being your dog's motivation, the next throw of the ball will be enough of an incentive for him to bring the ball straight back to you. FUN Things You Can Teach Your Dog When you are looking to interact with your dog in other ways rather than the typical walks and obedience work, you can teach her thinking games. Often, if you identify what your dog already has an aptitude for, you can develop on that. Does she use her eyes or her nose more? Below are some ideas to get you started:
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