Just like people, dogs are living, breathing, thinking and feeling animals. Their thoughts and emotions may not be as complex as ours, but they still need to exercise their minds. Putting effort toward your dog’s physical health through exercise is great and necessary, but channeling your dog’s mind is just as important.
If your dog is bored you’re going to find out very quickly, and dogs that lack mental stimulation are often ill-behaved. Dogs need an outlet for their minds and if they aren’t provided an appropriate resource, they’re going to come up with their own. This is why mental stimulation is such a huge component of effective dog training.
Here are 5 ways to help stimulate your dogs brain:
Have Your Dog Work For Their Food
Typically, dogs have it pretty easy when it comes to meal time. Most of us just set their bowl down & let them go at it. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, but it is a far cry from their natural scavenging habits. So if you want to add some more mental stimulation to your dogs routine you can start with changing up their feeding routine. Instead of just handing over their food a few times a day you can make a fun game out of it for your dog.
Get Your Dog a Puzzle Toy
Interactive toys like puzzles help keep your dog focused on a task, and that added extra mental stimulation goes a long way.
Puzzle toys are great because they give your dog a chance to use some of their natural problem solving abilities. And by keeping your dog engaged with interactive toys you can help boost their confidence & tire them out mentally.
Here are a few great examples of puzzle toys for dogs.
Teach Your Dog the Names of Their Toys
Does your dog know the name of her toys? If not, teach them! Dogs love to play the “go find it” game.
The first step is making sure your dog knows the name of the item you’re going to be hiding. If you’re starting with a certain toy I recommend sitting down with them & that toy (and in this case let’s say you’re using ‘brown bear’). With the brown bear on the ground in front of you tell your dog ‘brown bear.’ As soon as they touch it or grab it praise them like crazy.
Make An Obstacle Course for Your Dog
Teaching your dog how to go through an obstacle course is a nice mental workout for them. And if you don’t have any agility jumps or poles at home don’t worry; you can make your own, or just use some stuff in your house as alternatives.
The Shell Game
Always a winner! Do you know what the shell game is? It’s a game where you hide a treat under one of 3 identical containers, and then you shuffle them around letting the participant choose the correct container.
To play the shell game with your dog you let them watch as you place a treat under one of the cups. Shuffle them around and then encourage them to ‘find the treat.’ The shell game will give your dog more mental stimulation, and it’s an easy way to help them work on their problem solving skills.
Conclusion
Dogs really need a combination of physical activity and mental stimulation – ways to use their brains. Some dogs don’t get enough of either. And some dogs get one but not the other.
A bored dog is an unhappy dog that is usually in some sort of trouble. This isn’t good for anyone in the home, including the dog! Take the time to make sure your dog has enough mental exercise and be sure to switch up the mind games you play to keep everything feeling new and fresh. Remember that health comes in both body and mind, and the right amount of exercise is going to make a world of difference in both of your lives.
Keep on loving life with your best friend!
