Mental stimulation for dogs

Eucalyptus22 · 2023-08-31T09:17:02+00:00

I keep hearing things about mental stimulation for dogs but what does this actually mean? I give him slow sniffy walks and he has some of those board games where he sniffs out the treats, but they only last 5 minutes. What do you do to mentally stimulate your dog and keep his brain active? Would love lots of ideas I can incorporate into my spaniel's life! Thank you.

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 31/08/2023 10:23

How do you feed him? The most obvious one would be to scatter feed in the garden. But we also used to do a lot of training tricks with our (very smart) Labrador. My DD had him playing dead, rolling over left or right, walking back etc, he loved doing all that (for treats obvs). Also had large plastic cups that we would put on the floor, hide the treat and switch and get him to nose the correct one over, he had a pretty good hit rate. We had a mini agility course for him too (do have a big garden though). He was hyper intelligent and we really did need to do a lot of extra stuff with him. Luckily all the DDs were totally in to it so they spent a lot of time with him. We did have two other Labradors at the same time as him but they’d just look at you if you pointed to the jumps and almost shrug before walking off 😂. All training ‘treats’ came out of the daily food allowance btw. Not sure how all that would translate to a spaniel, but some ideas…

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 31/08/2023 10:24

Also, there’s a book called Brain Games for Dogs, might help you for ideas

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 31/08/2023 10:25

Oh, forgot, we also taught him to follow all commands as hand signals too - he was the only one of our dogs that got it

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 31/08/2023 11:11

We feed kibble on snuffle mats and wet food on lick mats. They LOVE the lick mats.
Ive tried some really basic scent work in the house.

Even just taking your dog on lots of different walk routes rather than just to the local park is so enriching, so it doesn’t need to be tricky

Isheabastard · 31/08/2023 11:15

I used to sit my dog out of sight, and then scatter some small dog or cat kibble around another room. Then tell my dog to go “find”. My daughters does similar on her lawn. Dogs like smelling out the treats. You obviously need to adjust the amount you feed at main meals.

Or I put small amounts of kibble in a card box box, loo roll or egg box and close it up and throw it into another room. My dog used to charge after it and happily tear it up to get at the treats.

Theres the general tug games, and chasing balls. I used to roll a ball down my hallway for fetch. My dog also learnt to catch a ball in her mouth (check size of ball to mouth size) and we could get a good volley going with her ‘nose butting) the ball back to me.

All of these only take a few minutes, but if done often during the day they give the dog some activity. Even on walks you can practice stay and sit commands.

Then there’s grooming which is really good for bonding. As my dog got older she really enjoyed a pet massage.

I remember reading that you can even train dogs to open doors. Get a good book as suggested.

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 31/08/2023 11:16

We do a mixture of the following for our beagle:

Scent games - hiding his food around the house or garden for him to sniff out.
Feeding out of Kongs, Lickmats etc. to slow down meal times and to encourage him to use his brain.
Natural chews to help calm his brain.
Switch his walks up a lot so that he gets to explore new places and sniff new smells.
let him "pick" his walk (within reason obviously!) so he chooses which road we go down, which path we take etc.
let him sniff - even if that means we only walk half a mile.

Clymene · 31/08/2023 11:22

There's a Facebook group called canine enrichment which has some ideas.

Things I do:

Fill a cardboard box with bits of scrunched up paper and scraps of material and scatter treats through it. One with flap closing works well and they have to open those to start

Shut them in a room and hide treats around the house.

Make them wait and scatter a trail of treats through the park to you and then give them a release command. You can also do that without the trail - just sit and make them wait and not come to you until you give them the release command. Walk further and further away each time.

Teach new skills and tricks.

There are also some games which take much longer for them to figure out. The test tubes on a frame with a lid with small holes takes a while to do

Newpeep · 31/08/2023 11:52

Depends on the dog a little bit.

Training - any training including teaching tricks. Learning. That is the most effective especially what they call freeshaping - the dog offers a behaviour to get a treat/reward and then you make it harder and harder so the dog has to problem solve. Some dogs are better at this than others.

Enrichment toys - kongs, toppls etc. Treats in a tea towel or box
Calming things - snuffle mats, balls with treats in

Really enrichment is anything that uses the dogs brain and/or senses. Most are bred to do a particular job so you can factor that in too - spaniels sniffing, terriers 'hunting', collies 'herding' etc.

Some dogs need more than others and I tend to build it into daily life, with the exception of her agility and obedience classes.

Riverlee · 31/08/2023 12:30

Reading with interest for post op ideas

21ZIGGY · 31/08/2023 21:15

All of the above, especially for a spaniel. They are high on the list of breeds who need the brain stuff more than most other things

21ZIGGY · 31/08/2023 21:17

Ps look at the nina ottoman (sp?) Puzzles available on amazon.

Go to gundog classes. Or agility. Or both

LadyoftheLavaLamp · 31/08/2023 21:29

Following

Whattodo121 · 31/08/2023 21:45

We hide treats in empty toilet rolls and then put a load of them in a cardboard box and she tears it to pieces. We also allow her to shred cardboard packaging if we give it to her which she finds very satisfying! Tbh our collie gets most of her enrichment by watching our chickens-she chases pigeons away if they try to eat the food and she will happily watch them for hours. She tells us when it’s time to get them up and put them to bed, it’s very sweet!

EdithStourton · 01/09/2023 07:52

You've got a spaniel so it would be good to do things that okay to his genetic drives. Hide tennis balls on walks and get him to find them. Start by letting him see you chuck a ball into grass or undergrowth and then send him to find it. Gradually make it harder until he's going into a large area with no idea where it is (I sent my dog 50 yards down a stubble field the other day to find a green canvas dummy; she had the wind blowing into her face so it didn't take her long at all.)

Alongside this you can work on his retrieving skills, so he learns to bring whatever it is right back to you. You can also teach directional commands. There are plenty of gundog videos that will show you this sort of thing.

Just anything that gets a busy brain occupied is good. My two can get really amped by just basic obedience - partly the busy-ness, partly the treats and praise. I love taking my dogs out and doing this sort of thing with them - we all come home happy. And if we're stuck indoors, we can always do scent work.

Summerbay23 · 01/09/2023 08:07

We’ve done agility and gun dog training just for fun.

Small agility games in garden.

Find it games where we make her wait while we hide a toy in a different room and then send her to find it (she loves that).

General at home training (middle, roll over, touch games).

General tugging games, controlled rough and tumble (she’ll always stop when you say no).

A good variety of walks (or sometimes swims). Sometimes just with us and sometimes doggy mates.

HappiestSleeping · 01/09/2023 10:49

As per previous posts:-

Find the treat (tell him to wait while I hide in the house or the garden, then release him to find it).

Training, training, training. Sit, stay, wait, come, leave it, all with hand signals and / or a whistle. Having him sit while the other side of a field just from a hand signal is very rewarding.

Kong / lucky matt.

Gun dog training.

Varying walk routes with lots of sniffing.

Playing with other dogs. There are a few in the park that we run into regularly who really wear him out (and vice versa).

Take him into town and sit on a bench watching the world go by. Even being still taxes their brains, especially with a lot going on around them.

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:24

This is all great, lots of fab ideas I will definitley be incorporating. Thanks all. I might set a target of introducing one new fun thing a week.

@Summerbay23 I like the idea of the 'go find' game as he has lots of toys. Once hidden, how do I let him know that I want him to bring them back to me?

OP posts:

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:26

HappiestSleeping · 01/09/2023 10:49

As per previous posts:-

Find the treat (tell him to wait while I hide in the house or the garden, then release him to find it).

Training, training, training. Sit, stay, wait, come, leave it, all with hand signals and / or a whistle. Having him sit while the other side of a field just from a hand signal is very rewarding.

Kong / lucky matt.

Gun dog training.

Varying walk routes with lots of sniffing.

Playing with other dogs. There are a few in the park that we run into regularly who really wear him out (and vice versa).

Take him into town and sit on a bench watching the world go by. Even being still taxes their brains, especially with a lot going on around them.

Thanks, great ideas. I never thought of just sitting and watching the world go by. He's only 10 months so can be difficult to sit still and not get excited and try to tear away, but I guess that suggests more training is needed on my part.

OP posts:

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:27

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 31/08/2023 10:25

Oh, forgot, we also taught him to follow all commands as hand signals too - he was the only one of our dogs that got it

Thanks for all the ideas, very impressive. Will check out the book too.

OP posts:

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:28

Lastqueenofscotland2 · 31/08/2023 11:11

We feed kibble on snuffle mats and wet food on lick mats. They LOVE the lick mats.
Ive tried some really basic scent work in the house.

Even just taking your dog on lots of different walk routes rather than just to the local park is so enriching, so it doesn’t need to be tricky

Could you tell me more about the basic scent work in the house please? Being a spaniel he would naturally love this and I'm a novice.

OP posts:

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:32

Clymene · 31/08/2023 11:22

There's a Facebook group called canine enrichment which has some ideas.

Things I do:

Fill a cardboard box with bits of scrunched up paper and scraps of material and scatter treats through it. One with flap closing works well and they have to open those to start

Shut them in a room and hide treats around the house.

Make them wait and scatter a trail of treats through the park to you and then give them a release command. You can also do that without the trail - just sit and make them wait and not come to you until you give them the release command. Walk further and further away each time.

Teach new skills and tricks.

There are also some games which take much longer for them to figure out. The test tubes on a frame with a lid with small holes takes a while to do

How difficult do you make the treats to find? Just behind the chair leg, things like that, or really buried under things? How will he know once he's found all the treats, or is that kind of the point, he will ware himself out sniffing around?

I know it's a basic question but I'm never too sure how difficult to actually hide things.

OP posts:

Original poster

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:34

EdithStourton · 01/09/2023 07:52

You've got a spaniel so it would be good to do things that okay to his genetic drives. Hide tennis balls on walks and get him to find them. Start by letting him see you chuck a ball into grass or undergrowth and then send him to find it. Gradually make it harder until he's going into a large area with no idea where it is (I sent my dog 50 yards down a stubble field the other day to find a green canvas dummy; she had the wind blowing into her face so it didn't take her long at all.)

Alongside this you can work on his retrieving skills, so he learns to bring whatever it is right back to you. You can also teach directional commands. There are plenty of gundog videos that will show you this sort of thing.

Just anything that gets a busy brain occupied is good. My two can get really amped by just basic obedience - partly the busy-ness, partly the treats and praise. I love taking my dogs out and doing this sort of thing with them - we all come home happy. And if we're stuck indoors, we can always do scent work.

This sounds great, thanks. How do I let my dog know I want him to find the ball?

OP posts:

andrainwillmaketheflowersgrow · 01/09/2023 11:38

How difficult do you make the treats to find? Just behind the chair leg, things like that, or really buried under things? How will he know once he's found all the treats, or is that kind of the point, he will ware himself out sniffing around?

If he's never done any kind of scent work before then I would start of simple - put treats where he can see and smell them, and then as he gets used to it, you can use less smelly treats and hide them in more tricky places.

My beagles' favourite is just when we take a handful or two of his kibble or some frozen peas and chuck them around the grass in the garden. He can spend an hour sniffing around for everything and then he's out cold for the rest of the day

He's quite a reactive/nervous dog so we often do that as a walk alternative as it helps keep him calm (and works his brain). He loves it!

BarrelOfOtters · 01/09/2023 11:40

We get ours to go find her toys. She knows a few by name...or at least makes a good guess.

Snuffle mat.

Treats hidden in toilet rolls inners wrapped in an old towel.

Just playing with her.

Hide and seek.

HappiestSleeping · 01/09/2023 11:41

Eucalyptus22 · 01/09/2023 11:26

Thanks, great ideas. I never thought of just sitting and watching the world go by. He's only 10 months so can be difficult to sit still and not get excited and try to tear away, but I guess that suggests more training is needed on my part.

Show quote history

Mine has real trouble calming down. He's nearly three. Doing the sit still in the town thing has had multiple benefits. He is now much calmer around activity but mainly is learning just to sit and be calm. I've quite enjoyed just sitting with a coffee too.

I will say that passers by are inclined to say hello to the dog uninvited, which I suppose goes with the territory. This is good in that, in my case, it gives him some additional socialisation, however it is also bad as it always happens just as he's settled. Then again, it helps him learn to settle again, and again, and again etc.