Games

[Nojeansplease]

We have a 15 week old puppy
We’ve been doing the usual playing - tug, trying to teach fetch (not a natural retriever AT ALL)
We have puzzles for food and obviously he gets treats when we are doing training (he can do recall/respond to name, touch, sit, lie down, rollover, stay, settle, ‘let me see’ and a few others - with various degrees of distractions/distance etc) so I guess that’s all a game to him

Plus there’s the ‘boring’ training that he’s less keen on like crate, loose lead walking and house training.

I’m trying to teach him to go to his bed on ‘command’ But slow progress on that.

He’s pretty intelligent and into everything I don’t want him to do if he’s not stimulated (hence the also trying to teach settle/crate train etc) So I’m looking for any suggestions for things we can do together


TLDR - looking for game ideas that will keep puppy brain interested, but aren’t too advanced!

[DogInATent]

Have a look at Zak George's videos on Youtube, he's got a lot of training and play suggestions.

[LovelyPuddings]

Make everything a game by making sure you have the same playful approach to it all.

Lots of happy cheers when he gets in his bed. And treats (can be his normal kibble at this age). Keep it up tempo but be careful not to over excite.

Don't worry about it being fun vs serious training. It's all the same to him so the difference is how you approach it.

Have fun!!!

[CakeAndGin]

For teaching fetch, wave the ball in his face and get him excited about it then when you throw it keep him on a lead so you guide him back easily. Lots of praise when he drops it. Build from there. We would also throw the ball to each other and that would get her interested in the ball.

We inadvertently made a game out of recall and this is her favourite game now. We stand a distance away from each other, facing each other. Call her to one, send her to heel, lots of praise/treat. Then the other person calls her name and does a recall and lots of praise. We’ve got to the point now where she’s so excited to run back to the other person, she barely sits down with her bum hovering an inch above the ground and doesn’t need a treat. She just wants to run between us - weirdo.

[happinessischocolate]

My dog is 8 years and not massively trained but she is very obedient. A lot of it just come with age, dogs are intelligent and they naturally want to please you and whilst you can't teach an old dog new tricks, they are still very teachable for the first couple of years, so I'd say relax and think about how much they learnt in such a small space of time.

The only thing my dog still doesn't get is brining the ball to me AND letting me actually throw it again but then if I sometimes wonder if maybe she just doesnt want me to throw it and she's quite happy carrying it home 🐶