Ideas for keeping dogs stimulated indoors

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I need some ideas...

What do you do with your dogs indoors to keep them stimulated?

Giant, very intelligent breed. Gets 2+ hour walks every day but needs more stimulation at home. We have various puzzle toys/chews/bones/treat balls etc. but need some new ideas. I'm at home all day and available (except school run times) so open to any and all suggestions!

Teach them to find the ball (hide it around the house) reward with treat !

Scent work every time

What sort of activities? We do things like hiding tiny treats in blankets so he has to find it. What other kind of activities?

Depends what giant, depends on what the instincts are to some extent.

Our giants have always been calm in the house without needing stimulus. They've had good walks and some garden play every day but in the house they've all settled quietly.

He's calm indoors. Perfect indoors and at home really. But a hyper, permanently on alert, mess on walks because he gets overstimulated outside. So we want to try addressing the stimulation indoors to see if it helps outdoors.

St Bernard mix.

Trick training ('say Hi' or hi 5, twirl around, lie down, find it (hide a treat somewhere the dog has to find - my dog enjoyed this one).

Get him in a wait on his bed then hide treats all over the house. You might have to start small at first to teach him a find it cue and hide them in a small area near him.But then you can just keep expanding and making it harder. You can also hide his toys if he's interested in toys. You can use a scent - i use red kong, which is really popular. Start with a big one, and teach him to nose boop it for a reward with you holding it, and then put it on the floor to continue the behavior and then hide it anywhere. I teach a separate cue for the kong to finding food, but it's up to you.You don't have to make it that hard. If you go on youtube, you will definitely find videos on how to train this

If he is hyper alert on walks, teach him pattern games in the house. Google it. I find the best one is the 123 game or the ping pong game. You can start to transfer those outside the house to help with the arousal, and it gives him a pattern to follow. And he knows what the outcome is. So it gives security to dogs who are a bit insecure

Two bowl game and build bigger patterns.

Youtube perchwork pivots and spins by Susan Garrett and do a bit of training. The following have a cost, Join Susan Garretts home school the dog to get access to her wag nation for learning labs and trick training.

Youtube some tricks you think would be good fun and train that.

See if you can find any scent work videos and start training that.

If that’s the case I would be changing how I walk not changing what I do in the house.

I find it hard to believe that excess food games, and thus stimulation, can be any good for a dog that is already showing signs of overstimulation…

If you have all the time in the world, train him. Too many people resort to things like Kongs or treatballs etc, and these do not teach your dog to settle or to be calm. In many dogs they have the complete opposite effect - I know they would in mine.

So train him. Build a bond with him. Also, a St. Bernard cross with over 2 hours exercise a day?! What is he crossed with? @CoubousAndTourmaIet is the giant breed expert, but I wouldn’t have thought that was necessary?! How old is he?

Why should you be aiming to 'keep your dog stimulated'. Calm restfulness is the ideal default state for a dog who has had adequate exercise. It is wonderful that you are around all day. Being at peace in the presence of a trusted companion is what dogs love.

I worked at home with my dog alongside me for the first couple of years of his life (am now retired). He still cues up eagerly outside my workroom after his walk, anticipating the loveliness of us both being at rest together. (In his mind, staring at one oblong while tapping my fingers on another is rest.) Sometimes he looks a bit pissed off if I am being very dynamic.

If you keep hiding things, you may get this sort of reaction...

(I would, if you kept doing it to me!)

I think it depends what the cross is @LandSharksAnonymous , Saints are pretty laid back and placid - more so than my own breed in fact- but if the other half is a high energy breed I suppose it could be a different matter.

I agree about calm being key. I keep stimulus and excitement to a minimum with mine. If the dog is calm in the house, more stimulus and therapy will have him as overstimulated at home as he is outside. That is not desirable in a giant.

Agree with @warmapplepies that OP needs to work on calming him outside not adding excitement at home.

Enrichment at home is definitely a route we want to try. We've got an excellent trainer who has worked wonders with him (had him a year. He was 8 months when we got him and hadn't had an ounce of training. Never been on a walk etc.) He's alright after he's got his energy out, so second half of the walk is fine but first half is horrible. So we want to try getting some of that energy out before we go on a walk so we can start the walk calm.

We've tried things like scattering treats when we first leave the house to focus at the beginning of the walk. But that can be a hit and miss. If we get to the green without a distraction on the way, he can focus and find the treats. But if there's a dog/truck/bike/noise in the 30 seconds it takes to get to the green - he ignores the treats and is already hyper focused.

We've tried scattered treats on the driveway so we don't go anywhere, but I might as well just give him the treats then, there's no challenge.

So, I'm looking for ideas for enrichment activities before we leave the house. It might not work. But it's worth a shot because I hate taking him out atm.

There is a world of difference between 'keeping a dog stimulated' and providing adequate mental stimulation for an intelligent breed.

I have a highly intelligent giant also - same breed for almost 50 years, and I'm not a believer in overstimulation. My current pup is from working lines, but at home I encourage her to settle quietly. Giant breeds are not high energy dogs - although you haven't said what this cross is or how much St Bernard is actually in his breeding.
Even the bigger hounds are usually couch potatoes in the home. There are many reasons why the giants are, in the main, naturally calm and relatively low energy. They need good regular exercise yes, but they also need more rest than smaller dogs do.

Mine have always had adequate mental stimulation - they are highly intelligent and like to be involved with things around the house and garden, but I completely agree with @ProfoundlyPeculiarAndWeird that there is no need for your dog to be constantly stimulated by anything other than just being around you. That is what most of the big breeds want. Unless your trainer is a specialist in giants or Saints I would be wary of following advice that is aimed at the "average" dog like a cocker or Lab.

2+ hours is too much exercise for a giant dog of that age, it is very bad for their joints and you will pay for it when he is older. They need rest and sleep. The more quiet time they get, the calmer they are.

FWIW I've had 9 giants.

DDog liked hide and seek and scatter feeding
Treats on a snuffle matt or treats under plastic cups (only put treats under 1/3 of them)

200% agree with @CoubousAndTourmaIet

id also add that scatter feeding on the driveway ahead of a walk sounds downright foolish! If there’s one thing bound to stimulate an over stimulated dog…it’s that!

And stimulating does not always equal giving them food for little effort. Why can you not train your dog, OP? Lots of advice has been to do more training not to do potentially harmful activities like scatter feeding

I cant edit, but just to add I’ve said ‘harm full’ as scatter feeding to an overstimulated large breed dog can result in bloat/GVD. Large breed dog ownership 101 is to not feed a dog that is over stimulated or scared or about to exercise due to the significant risk of bloat.

So I would absolutely immediately stop it. Not only because it’s clearly not working, but because you are putting your dog at risk.

It’s one of the things I make absolutely clear to potential owners of my dogs.

None.
Other than targeted 1:1 training with you as already suggested.

You should not try and wear your dog out before the walk. That's ludicrous and will take up a ridiculous amount of time very quickly. Plus you are not solving the problem.

My advice for an intelligent, overstimulated dog is to do some K9 sports. Channeling his intelligence/ energy into targeted exercises in a controlled but busy environment can solve your problems. But it takes time as there isn't a quick fix when it comes to dog training.

Obedience, Doggy dancing or rally are all suitable for a big dog - and nope you don't have to go competing.

The last thing an overstimulated dog needs is more food and energy 🫣

Maybe I'm using the wrong phrasing then.

By stimulation activities I mean games that encourage focus and attention on me so he is following commands and listening to everything I say before we leave the house. Does not have to be treat based. Bonus if it does expand some energy too.

2 hrs is recommended for his breed by the breed club. It's not too much at all. I'm not saying which breed intentionally because they are rare in the UK.

He's coming up to 2 years, so still has a lot of puppy energy. Much less than a year ago, but not yet a calm adult. He will reach maturity around 3.

We are putting a lot of effort into training, but as I said, he came to us at 8 months with no training. Not even sit. And had never been on a walk. Never left the house. It's not just been as simple as training, we've had to break a lot of bad habits first. We are working with a trainer who has contracts training a variety of working dogs. We've worked with him with previous dogs and fully trust him. He's not a namby Pamby treat trainer. He is incredibly experienced.

Once we get over the initial overstimulation of being on a walk, we can do plenty of training exercises. He's too young for agility yet, but another 6months-1 year, we will do.

But we need to get over the initial leaving the house overstimulation/excitement and keep his focus on us. That is the next step with him. And yes, it has to start in the house before we leave. Taking him out the door and then trying to get his focus does not work. We need his focus before we leave the house.

So, I'm asking for some ideas for activities to do with him. I was just looking for some variety.

I don't know very much about giant breeds, so I don't know if this would work, but could you teach him the names of his toys and then ask him to bring you, say 'teddy' When he masters that get him to bring you the things needed for his walk. 'Fetch my gloves or the lead or your shoulder bag' etc. That way he might already be concentrating by the time you get out of the door.

If focus activities are what you’re keen to do, why not work on some general engagement? If you haven’t already done so you could teach ‘look’ and other general focus cues – or ‘touch’ which is similar. You could do some offlead heel too. Sounds mad to do that inside the house but it all builds the relationship.

I have a spaniel so very much not a giant breed, but equally a breed that needs to work with me – albeit for, most likely, different reasons. I am very unlikely to override her desire to flush game and I accept that but equally I am mostly the prize for her on any given walk. I made myself the fun one while allowing her access to her environment. In the same way it sounds like you need to be his most fun item, so in your shoes, from what I’ve read, I think I’d be working on engagement ‘on the floor’, as it were – ie not on a lead, in the house. Make you the centre and provider of fun.