Does anyone have any fun training games to share?

[BG and Gavin]

We played a fun training game with Gavin this weekend.  My parents were at the cottage and there were several of us sitting contently enjoying an adult beverage, but Gavin was looking for something to do.  So we played a game with him – “find so and so.”  I would tell him to “find dad” (easy one) and when he made his way over to my DH’s chair he was lavished with praise.  DH would then say “find grandma” and he went person to person until he got the right one and his praise.  He became very good at identify the different people by name it in a short time.  Anyone else have any fun learning games?

[Camilla and Darwin]

That sounds like tons of fun! I don't have any games to share, but will definitely follow this because I would love some ideas...

[Natasha]

We have some mini orange cones. On rainy days, we line three of them up and put a piece of chicken underneath one of them (we show him the chicken first and say "smell") after moving Rouser to another room. Once the chicken has been hidden, we say "seek" and he runs to smell the cones. This is a great way to keep his brain busy when we can't wear it out through our long morning walk!

In the early days, when you see him hesitating near the right cone you say, "sit" and then lift the cone up and give him a treat (NOT the piece of chicken hidden or he'll just learn to knock the cone over and take the chicken). You have to be quick with the "sit" command as soon as you see him hesitating near the right cone (he's probably not hesitating, most likely he's trying to knock the cone over).

Eventually, as soon as you say "seek" he'll run, sniff, and sit. This is a great brain teaser.

We also taught Rouser hide and seek with the chicken. Tell him to sit/stay and then go hide some chicken in another room (out of reach in the early phase). Again, he's supposed to sit when he finds the chicken - NOT eat it. After he's mastered sitting and not eating, then you can hide the chicken at any height. This turns into a fun game where your dog has to exercise a great deal of self-restraint. At this point, we put Rouser in a sit/stay in the kitchen and then hide the chicken in one of 5 rooms (basically the entire ground floor except the kitchen) so he really has to search around and use his sniffer which is GREAT fun for a doodle!

[Sarah and Joplin]

I have Joplin down-stay in the kitchen and run around the corner and find a place to hide in the living room and then shout "COME FIND ME!!!!" Its so cute when you peek out from your spot to watch her looking for you and then see her excitement when you're spotted! :)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

All of these games sounds great. Sarah, what a great way to make the down-stay fun.

[Cheryl and Breeze]

I have a game similar to the one you play with identifying people, only we play it with toys- we tell Breeze to go get her Kong, or her ball, or her "Squeaker" or her "Baby"! Try working on one at a time and it helps if the words sound different. She is getting really good at knowing which toy to get!

[LG & Sadie]

Well not really training games but if you are looking for interactive toys-like the IQube Cagey Cube......very fun to do with smart doodles. I have two other great interactive toys-just can't think of their names....they are great for sick days, rainy, snowy indoor activity type days. Sadie likes them so much & we have had visitors ask to see her "do" her dog toy thing again! I have a catalog-I will get the names of the other 2 toys and post. Sadie loves to find people or things too-she likes hide and seek especially....but, she cheats a little.....never counts! I find she likes to perform, so when we have a visitor she is familiar with, she will really turn on the charm. :-)

[LG & Sadie]

These are not really training games-they are indoor toy/interactive type things to do w your dog. I had surgery and Sadie had someone coming to meet her exercise needs but I wanted to connect with her in fun ways inside-so, these toys were great. Besides the IQube, she has the Intellibone which she loves-and will still bring to one of us to sit and do it with her. Interestingly, she likes to do these toys w someone, which I sort of set up. She has another called the hide and seek bee, I know there is a squirrel and bird but I didn't want to encourage those! Another cute one is the puzzle plush turtle, and finally one called worm in fruit or fruit in worm. Needless to say I endulge a little in the dog toy department. Enjoy~

[Christy and Yoda]

We play a similar game with Yoda where we show him a toy, then go hide it. He has to sit and wait until we tell him he can move. Then he frantically searches the whole house until he finds his prize and brings it back to us. It is his FAVORITE thing to do in the house! We could play for hours and he would still want to keep going. Usually we put him in the bedroom while we hide the toy, so as soon as he brings it back to us he runs in the bedroom for another turn!

[Sarah and Joplin]

These ideas are all so great. Joplin's prettyyyyy quick, but some of these may take a bit longer to learn. ;) You smart doodles, you! :) Thanks for sharing!

[Christine & Shelby]

Great ideas.... I'm going to have to try some of them!!

[Lynda Kamrath]

My husband is addicted to a game we call "Go Gettum". He always makes pancakes on Saturday mornings and then hides the pancakes all over the deck while the dogs ( one at a time) sit and watch him. He gives them sit and stay commands and then walks around the deck hiding the pancakes. When he is finished, he says "Go Gettum" and the dog starts out on his search. We now have a new puppy and he is the fourth dog that is learning how to play "Go Gettum". There are several photos of the dogs in their pancake searches on my profile. Take a look.

[BG and Gavin]

love it - how did he know the dogs like pancakes?