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As mentioned in our previous article on how to mentally entertain your dog, which can be fun and entertaining for you and your dog. Many of these ideas need very little equipment and provide some simple outdoor entertainment whilst on a walk.
Fallen trees can be fun to entertain your dog on walks.
If you come across a fallen tree on your walk or one with loose bark etc., near the base, this is perfect for making a treat tree. Simply get your dog to sit and wait while you hide treats or dog kibble in the tree’s nooks, crevices, etc.
Once you have hidden the treats amongst the nooks of the tree, ask your dog to sniff them out.
Hide and seek
This is a more advanced version of the game above and uses a toy such as a kong filled with treats that the dog has to find The great thing about hide and seek is it can be done indoors or outdoors. The game can be played in the park, woods, or garden just about anywhere
With this game, you can increase the difficulty by hiding treats in places that are harder to find n]behind things and even at different heights
If your dog gets good, then to help entertain your dog, you can expand the play area
Step 1. TFill a suitable toy with some high-value treats that your dog will love – cheese or chicken is good
.Step 2. Let your dog sniff the item he is looking for and put them in a sit and wait. Now hide the toy{s}
Step 3. Let the game begin, and tell your dog to “Find it”. You may need to encourage your dog during the search by saying “find it” a couple of times
Once they have found the treat/toy watch them have fun as they open it to get the teats. You must keep an eye on them so they don’t eat the toy.
Agility using objects around us to help entertain your dog
Some simple tricks can be taught whilst out and about to help entertain your dog and provide basic training. For example, teach your dog “heel” or “with m” as you weave in and out of lampposts. Simply hold a tasty treat in your hand on the same side as the dog and start walking. Once your dog is walking nicely beside you, say “heel” or “close”, whatever command you wish to use and reward. Keep repeating, so he gets the idea.
To help entertain your dog, you can teach them to commando crawl under a bench or jump up and stay on a bench.
Teaching simple tricks is both fun and entertaining as well as beneficial at a later stage in their life.
Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick, Slow
One way to keep help make sure your dog pays attention to you is to change both speed you walk and/or the direction.
For example, you might start walking at a slow ambling pace and then suddenly speed up, or you may speed up and start walking back the way you came.
This can be taken a step further, and when you increase your walking speed or even break into a short jog, use a command such as “fast”. After 90 seconds or more, return to a normal pace and say something like “walk”. After another 90 seconds or so, slow down and say “slow.” you could then turn right and say something like “right turn”.
Now simply mix it up so it is unpredictable. After a while, your dog will pick up these commands and learn to pay attention.
This can also work very well with the coach to 5 or 10k
If you have enjoyed this post, then the following articles on dog walking may be of interest
