What does your dog love to play with on a walk?

[Puppypuppypuppy]

I've got a puppy who is six months and not that interested in balls (so far at least) ! Am trying to make myself v exciting to stop him heading for any dog who appears on the horizon. So what does your dog like to play when out and about?

What does he play with inside?

Careful what you wish for. Ours is a stick obsessed little madam. Woofs away till you throw one and obviously feels a walk without a stick is nice but second rate.

Our trainer taught us ‘. watch me’. High value treat. It works.

Ours is ball mad so not much help but he also loves running through the bushes with with the kids (while DH and I stay on the path) easier if you have kids to do the energetic stiff for you but grown ups could also do this if no kids are available! And we randomly change direction or all run away from him when he's distracted. I heard stuff like that keeps them on their toes and makes them want to stay close to you to see what you'll do next.

Unfortunately she lies down to wait on dogs approaching her. No toy will do. Loves other dogs.

Sticks! Or rather...trees! He loves nothing better than carrying enormous branches and running up behind you. Cue much swearing and bruised calves.

I wouldn't recommend sticks obviously!

He likes balls - but a bit too much. If he has balls in his mouth, he won't bother sniffing, digging up molehills, chasing squirrels or sniffing dog bottoms. Balls are therefore an indoor only thing, so he can actually enjoy being outdoors.

He likes sticks - but a bit too much - he eats them and resource guards them around other dogs (the latter earned him a lifetime ban from sticks)

I don't take toys out with me any more for those reasons.

TBH if we've got around his walk and have avoided the much-hated German Shepherds, not chased a bicycle, sniffed plenty of friendly dog bottoms and ideally chased a couple of squirrels, and he comes home tired, it's a success. We only walk in busy urban parks where there's so many dogs that you'd have to be mad to take a seriously reactive dog with you; if a dog is on lead it's almost certainly because it has no recall.

nothing he likes to sniff and pee

I have a pouch of treats on me at all times. I put kibble in it, taken from my dog's daily food ration, so that she's not having extra food all the time. Works great with my dog, and sometimes I have the power of getting other people's dogs to be obedient too, because they can smell the kibble!

Try dissecting a squeaky toy and then you can keep the sqeaker in your pocket. That will get him to look at you. If you have issues with him then not coming to you try running in the opposite direction. Chances are that he will chase you.

We found a squeaky toy (or even just the squeaker from a broken one) works really well with distracting ours.

And high value treats, like cubes of cheese and cucumber..... our pup is obsessed with cucumber and comes running as soon as she hears the chopping board come out of the drawer!

Mine prefer to sniff around.He will run after stick or toy,bring it,chew for few seconds and lose interest.
His favourite toy at home at the moment is an old rugby ball.Favourite activity o rainy days is when we hide little snacks around the house.Otherwise,just cuddles and attention from literally anyone.

Mine loves to chase me so I wait till she’s distracted and leg it when she’s not looking. I don’t get very far, she’s really fast but she still finds it fun.

Sticks, tug toys, empty plastic bottles

Ours isn’t fussed about balls but we’ve worked out that’s because it’s not easy for her to carry but she absolutely loves a ball on a rope. Also carry a little bag of treats they will both come back for but it was a bit of trial and error to find the right kind of treats.

Cowpats.
Rabbit droppings.
Horse manure.
They dash from one delight to the next, sniffing, sprinkling, eating as much as possible and rolling in the remains.
Favourite by a mile is of course - fox shit.
Many hours a day.
My dogs are disgusting

But as a pp said, squeak a squeaky toy, and run away from them. Rewards when you need a breather. SO much better to play ‘dogs chase the human’ than ‘chase the dogs for bloody miles’.
Have you tried throwing the ball and chasing it yourself, while squeaking encouragement to join in? Or can we assume that the problem posed by other dogs means you need to be mindful of not behaving like a total loony, because those dogs might have owners nearby?!

I used to bring along a squeaky toy as a distraction from other dogs/prey animals. These days he prefers to just pick up whatever takes his fancy on a walk (I drew a line at the dead stiff pigeon) At the moment he's obsessed with tree guards that have come loose. He runs about with them like a loon and likes me to kick them in the air for him and chase him. He also has a whole stash of sticks that he hides along his route (after pissing on them ), his memory amazes me.

This is hilarious! I am a new dog owner (had a dog as a kid but obviously not my responsibility). It's actually lovely to know that sticks, dead stuff and chasing are still the best entertainment going.

Will definitely try the squeaker tip.

Unfortunately ours is obsessed with chasing stones. I say unfortunately because stones are obviously not great for their teeth but they've become a brilliant tool for training recall. If we say 'whats this?' he instantly knows he's getting a stone to chase. As long as we throw it into long grass or a hedge he'll chase it and not catch it.

Ring frisbee is his favourite think in the world and has taken over from balls. Walks round with it proud as punch

Ours loves a ball , he dose like sticks as well but after chewing one on a walk and it getting stuck and costing us £300 we try and avoid now
I did manage to find a plastic one but he is ball obsessed
My old dig used to love a frisbee , but they need to be chasing and bringing back at home in a small area in garden before you start launching across a field I found

Ours wasn't interested in chasing and fetching balls until about 10/11 months old. He's 17 months now and really loves it and is great at it. He also has a squeaky parsnip that he adores but it is SO LOUD and annoying we keep it for walks.

The parsnip is magic for keeping his attention on us. Also hot dogs and cheese.