Brain Toys and Games

Brain Toys:

Buster Cubes - This durable plastic cube gives dogs mental stimulation, exercise and relief from boredom. It is designed to be filled with bite sized dry dog food or treats. The food is released as the dog rolls the cube with its nose or its paws.

Huge balls - herding breeds especially love playing soccer alone or with you.

A suspended ball - man dogs also enjoy this game, especially boxers and bull dog breeds. The ball should be suspended from a horizontal pole, not a vertical one for safety.

A kid's wading pool - water loving breeds will love spending hot summer days splashing in a shallow kid's wading pool.

A sandbox of his own - If your dog loves to dig, make him an appropriate place to do it. Bury his favorite toys, bones and a biscuit or two before you turn the dog out to play.

Brain Games:

Tricks and more tricks - You are only limited by your imagination! Sit up, shake hands, roll over, chase your tail, take a bow, and balance a biscuit on his nose.

Hide his breakfast - using his nose can be the most tiring activity for your dog. Leave widely spaced trail of kibble to the hidden bowl ... gradually, day by day, decrease the number of "clues" until your dog is finding it all on his own.

Hide and seek - Have a family member hide, have them call "come!" and send the dog to find them - start out easy and make it more and more difficult day by day. Play this game in the dark to encourage your dog to use his sense of smell.

Find your toys - Take him out of the room and hide his favorite toy and send him in to find it ... if your dog doesn't like toys, play "hide the biscuit" instead. Variation: Name his toys - and send him to retrieve them by name. Can you put out a pile of his favorites and have him retrieve them one by one, by name?

Message delivery - Teach your dog to deliver notes or other items to other family members. "Take it to daddy" could save you a trip downstairs and give your dog a job he can be proud of!

Obstacle courses - Over, under, around, and through. Large cardboard boxes can become tunnels, a wide board and a couple of cinder blocks can become a bridge.
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