Mental Work?

P

Psalms

Forums Regular
Hi, All!

I do ask a lot of questions, don't I? I hope that some of this may be helpful to others as well.

I keep seeing the recommendation to make a dog not only physically tired but mentally tired as well. I'm pretty sure this would involve more than just teaching tricks, or simple commands such as sit, lie down, roll over, etc. Could someone explain this to me? What are some mental exercises to do with your dog?

Another recommendation I see often is that a dog needs a "job". What are some jobs that a dog could have if he lives in the city with an older couple and a cat? He already knows how to herd the cat, so we've got that down. Thanks so much! Janet
 
Psalms said:
I keep seeing the recommendation to make a dog not only physically tired but mentally tired as well. I'm pretty sure this would involve more than just teaching tricks, or simple commands such as sit, lie down, roll over, etc. Could someone explain this to me? What are some mental exercises to do with your dog?
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Mentally tired can be just teaching tricks. It could also be giving them puzzle games they have to figure out such as a Buster Cube or the Nina Ottosson games. Anything that makes them think.

Another recommendation I see often is that a dog needs a "job". What are some jobs that a dog could have if he lives in the city with an older couple and a cat? He already knows how to herd the cat, so we've got that down. Thanks so much! Janet
Click to expand...

Jobs a dog can have in the city: any dog sport - agility, rally, obedience, flyball, treibball, etc. If you don't live too far for the country you may actually be able to find somewhere to do sheep herding. A "job" is just another way to let the dog be active, think, and be happy and healthy.
 
It can be 'just' tricks. Basically push his limits a bit and make him focus. It can be as simple as a puppy push up (sit then down then sit etc)
 
There are lots of really cool tricks to teach...like teaching them to pull a tissue out of the box when you cue them with a sneeze, teach them to jump through your arms,come/stop/stay,watch me, play dead,etc. You can search for tricks to teach your dog on the internet and there are usually how to instructions too.
 
Tricks, training of any kind. I fed Birch in a tug a jug that takes him about 30 minutes and he is worn out afterwards. Puzzle games

Basicly anything that makes you dog uses his brain.:smile2:
 
I found with Liam that he made his own job - looking after Dad. Now he is getting into trouble because he has no job to do. He loves to play catch. Anything that gets them active, motivated, and happy is good, whether it is training for some competition or just learning new things.
 
I agree with the others anything that keeps their mind active. With Harbour it was learning to pick up things I would drop. He loved that. I miss him, he is at rainbow bridge. With Koffoy, he's 7mths, he is starting to learn to pick up things for me, but we are still learning. I've also gotten him two puzzles, the latest one is a Nina Ottosson puzzle that is medium difficultly. He figured it out in about a minute and then looked at me as to say, that was easy. :lol:
 
Great answers! I agree with the others.

On the days where it is like -20 here, I usually play hide and seek with Kyara inside. What I do is I grab her favorite toy, ask Kyara to sit and stay and then I go hide it in one of the rooms. I make it easy to find at first, like right behind the door, but soon enough I run out of places to hide it as she gets very good at finding it. She loves it and a good 15 minutes of that will poop her out faster than a 15 minute walk.

Oh and it's best with a toy for which your Sheltie understands a name which brings to mind another way to mentally challenge your pup. You can teach names for the different toys. You say for example ''Bear'' with only that toy near by and when your pup picks it up you give a treat or play fetch with the toy. Then you place it beside another toy and repeat ''Bear'' and only give a treat when your pup selects that one. Gradually increasing the difficulty of picking the right toy.

Good luck!
 
Nosework is tiring, I like hide and seek games! Love the puzzles, some are very affordable as the knock off companies are getting pretty good at manufactoring them.

Learning is mental work, teach a new skill! I love the fitpaws exercise equipment for working mind and body! Balance is as good for them as it is for us.

For jobs, my dogs pick up their breakfast and dinner bowls and return them to me at the sink, but there main job is to be my best buddy and constant companion. :yes:

Last night in puppy class we started nose work games by simply letting the puppy watch as I hid a treat under a paper plate. I had to place it just under the edge for one or two puppies, but by round three all the puppies caught on and were flipping that paper plate off the cookie quickly! Next week we add another paper plate and they start the puzzle of sniffing for the treat to make their search easier.

I love the puppies, such eager little eaters. :D
 
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Psalms said:
Hi, All!

I do ask a lot of questions, don't I? I hope that some of this may be helpful to others as well.

I keep seeing the recommendation to make a dog not only physically tired but mentally tired as well. I'm pretty sure this would involve more than just teaching tricks, or simple commands such as sit, lie down, roll over, etc. Could someone explain this to me? What are some mental exercises to do with your dog?

Another recommendation I see often is that a dog needs a "job". What are some jobs that a dog could have if he lives in the city with an older couple and a cat? He already knows how to herd the cat, so we've got that down. Thanks so much! Janet
Click to expand...

I wonder what you mean "JUST teaching tricks"?
http://www.lolabuland.com/page/17/
http://www.lolabuland.com/long-distance-classes/puppy-class-october/puppy-oct-graduation/
http://www.lolabuland.com/training-videos/tricks/
AND you can do it from home too
http://www.lolabuland.com/long-distance-classes/
and here some more ideas, browse
http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup
http://domorewithyourdog.com/pages/domorewithyourdog.html
 
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