Indoor games to for a collie

[Chocolategirl19791]

We have a 4 month old border collie who on whole is really good. Work from home so he's not left for long periods and gets 2/3 walks a day.

Looking for some ideas of games to place inside while I'm working to keep him occupied between walk and naps (which doesn't involve him eating the skirting board!).

We've got a puzzle game and snuffle mat which he loves (he's good orientated and will do anything for a treat) but he wizzes through these now. Will happily try and destroy a plastic bottle or cardboard box but looking for ideas to keep his brain active.

Get him a Kong. Its a toy that you stuff with treats, and they have to get them out.

My rottie has worked out that if she jumps and bounces it off the floor, the treats come out faster, but she will still spend a good hour playing with it once it's empty.

If he likes a snuffle mat have you tried scattering his dry food in the garden or around the house? My beagle adores that and he sleeps for hours afterwards 😂

Searching, use coins. put a treat on top to start with, they find the coins, then the next step is give a treat when they find the coins instead of putting treat on top. Then, get them to indicate and reward on finding. You can teach them to find different objects.
I made an obstacle course of activities, treat in a box, cardboard tube stuffed with treat wrapped in paper, and treat tied into old towels . wobble kong, .be inventive.
Hide and seek..

Second hiding food around the house. I put my dog in stay while I do it. Then say "go find it" and she hunts about for a while. Old tea towel rolled up and knotted filled with treats lasts longer than a snaffle mat. Also a bone, JR pet products bones are dried not cooked. Beef knuckle lasts my staffie (very heavy chewer hours). They also do an ostrich bone which doesn't splinter, has a honeycomb bone structure.

Our lot love the JR beef slices and ostrich bones and they are great for our collies / sheepdogs who are prolific chewers. If he’s eating the skirting board then it may be a chewing activity that he is seeking.

As well as the walks, do you do things that really make his brain work? I find that basic trick training is good for tiring out their brains.

We find that Wobble kongs are good (but can be noisy if you have wooden floors 😳).

https://www.johnlewis.com/cheerble-wicked-ball-pe-pet-toy-green/p111283177

At 4 months he should still sleep 18-20 hours a day! Do training with him to tire him out when you have time during the day (10-15 mins at a time).

Don’t hide food around the house - at four months old if you don’t keep an eye on him he will hurt himself or damage something and he shouldn’t have unlimited access to the whole house anyway. And if you can keep an eye on him to help him find hidden food then you should be really be training…

And you should be enforcing sleep/relaxation on him with a soft toy etc. Dogs shouldn’t be overstimulated 24/7 - they need to learn to settle as puppies 😊

Frozen Kong and crate chill out time to encourage more sleep