{"id":3920,"date":"2020-02-14T22:29:27","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T22:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.net\/blog\/?p=3920"},"modified":"2020-02-14T22:29:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T22:29:27","slug":"5-fun-and-easy-brain-games-for-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2020\/02\/5-fun-and-easy-brain-games-for-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Fun and Easy Brain Games for Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Exercise your pup\u2019s mind and increase your bond when you play these brain games for dogs.<\/h2>\n
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John Woods <\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Apr 16th 2019 for Dogster.com<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Want some easy ways to keep your dog entertained while increasing the bond you share with your loyal dog? Try these fun and easy brain games for dogs!<\/p>\n

Why brain games for dogs?<\/h3>\n

Playing brain games for dogs can help to alleviate boredom and prevent destructive behaviors such as\u00a0chewing<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0excessive barking<\/a>. Brain games for dogs can also give your dog a sense of purpose and achievement and help to form an even closer bond between the two of you.<\/p>\n

All of these games are easy to play and will keep your dog\u2019s brain engaged and active. Have a go at playing these five brain games for dogs, and your\u00a0four-legged friend<\/a>\u00a0will thank you!<\/p>\n

1. Which Hand Game<\/h3>\n

This is one of the easiest brain games for dogs \u2014\u00a0you won\u2019t even need to get up from the sofa.<\/p>\n

Use your furry friend\u2019s\u00a0favorite toy<\/a>, or a\u00a0treat<\/a>, and hide it in one of your hands. Have your dog sniff both your hands, and guess which hand the treat is hiding in. Whichever hand they place their nose on first is your dog\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n

If she gets it correct, turn over your hand and release the treat or toy. Your dog will soon be conditioned into playing this game easily.<\/p>\n

2. Treasure Hunt<\/h3>\n

This is one of those brain games for dogs that you can play over as little or as large of an area as you like. For the first few times, try it just in one room. As your dog gets more adept at this hunting, you can span the whole house!<\/p>\n

Hide a few treats around the room and watch as your dog has fun trying to sniff them out. If you don\u2019t want to use treats, you can use anything that has a strong scent, for example a toy or some of your clothes.<\/p>\n

As your dog finds each toy, label the behavior as \u201chunt.\u201d Say \u201chunt\u201d just as your dog finds each treat.<\/p>\n

To increase the challenge, hide treats all around the house in separate rooms, once you\u2019ve hidden the treats, ask your dog to hunt.<\/p>\n

Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0If you do this outside, you\u2019ll have to set it up directly before playing the game or you\u2019ll end up losing the treats to other animals!<\/p>\n

3. Toy Tidy Up<\/h3>\n

We love when brain games for dogs help\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0out, too! To be able to play this game, your dog must know the name of her favorite toys and the \u201cfetch<\/a>\u201d command.<\/p>\n

If there is ever a point where there are a few different toys out around the room, try training her to fetch them. Underneath your hands, place a basket, as your dog fetches each item let it pass by your hands into a basket.<\/p>\n

For example, ask her to pick the ball up and fetch it.<\/p>\n

Once your dog has mastered this, you will be able to train her to bring certain items to you, such as your shoes, or her leash.<\/p>\n

4. Hot or Cold<\/h3>\n

Hide a treat, or a ball, somewhere around the room. For the first attempt, you can put it somewhere in plain sight, until your dog understands the rules.<\/p>\n

Each time your dog moves in the right direction, say hot and give her a small treat. If she\u2019s not going in the right direction, say cold and don\u2019t hand out a treat.<\/p>\n

Your dog will soon start to associate the word hot with moving closer toward whatever you\u2019ve hidden, and you\u2019ll be able to choose harder hiding places, such as behind the curtain or even under a box. This command can also be used during the treasure hunt game.<\/p>\n

5. The Shell Game (or the Cup Game)<\/h3>\n

This is one of the brain games for dogs that we\u2019ve all heard of.<\/p>\n

Get three identical cups from your kitchen, line them up in a row and hide a treat under one of them. Let your dog watch you put the treat underneath a cup so she can see there will be a reward to guessing correctly.<\/p>\n

Then mix the cups up \u2014\u00a0the more challenging you want to make it, the more quickly you move the cups.<\/p>\n

Let your dog select the right cup with her nose or paw and lift the cup up. If she is right, she wins the treat!<\/p>\n

If she\u2019s not right, mix the cups up and try again. To start with, place treats under all three cups before reducing this down to two and then one. For an extra challenge, don\u2019t lift the cup up. Let your dog figure out how to knock it over to get the treat.<\/p>\n

Thumbnail: Photography \u00a9Purple Collar Pet Photography | Getty Images.<\/em><\/p>\n

Need more ideas for fun with your dog? Check out some suggestions from Whole Dog Journal >><\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

About the author<\/h3>\n

John Woods has two degrees, is a graduate in Animal Behavior and Welfare is a member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and is an accredited author by the Dog Writers Association of America. He is the senior editor of\u00a0All Things Dogs<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

use approval from John Woods given to the AHF in February, 2020 via email<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exercise your pup\u2019s mind and increase your bond when you play these brain games for dogs. John Woods \u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Apr 16th 2019 for Dogster.com Want some easy ways to keep your dog entertained while increasing the bond you share with your loyal dog? Try these fun and easy brain games for dogs! Why brain games for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavior-and-training","category-dogs"],"yoast_head":"\n5 Fun and Easy Brain Games for Dog | The Animal Health Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2020\/02\/5-fun-and-easy-brain-games-for-dog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Fun and Easy Brain Games for Dog | The Animal Health Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Exercise your pup\u2019s mind and increase your bond when you play these brain games for dogs. 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