Doggy Exercises

[theonering]

My Chocolate Lab absolutley loves it when we hide a tennis ball in the house for him to hunt out.
We're after a few similar ideas to keep him amused (and out of trouble!!) for when he gets bored of this!!
Any ideas?

[Ed Strong]

Buy one of those plastic balls with the holes in. Fill it up with dog biscuits/treats so that when he rolls it round the treats gradually fall out.

[theonering]

We've got one of those, trouble is my dog's too smart for his own good! He's discovered that is he picks it up and drops it, the treats fall out!! It only keeps his occupied for a few minutes!!
Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Ed Strong]

He's obviously very intelligent! Have you got one of those classes near you where they have obstacle courses and games - you know, the sort of thing they have at Crufts. Labs are well known for getting a 'little porky' so the exercise would be good for him.

[Noweia]

How about teaching him tricks?

It will keep his mind occupied and you will both get a lot of enjoyment out of it!

[happy_face]

I've got 2 staffs and one of them is the same with her Kong like your boy. She runs up to the top of the staircase and throws it down so stuff will fall out. So I have stopped putting treats in there and use something more sticky. For a little treat I smooth some peanut butter on the inside. For a long treat (this takes her about 45mins) I open a tin of tuna (tuna in spring water) and mix a bit of water in it. Then I stuff it inside the Kong and freeze it overnight. Frozen is also good in the summer time to cool them down.

I also hide treats around the house. Tiny little pieces all over the place in different levels of height too and they both love that. It's exhausting for a dog using its nose sniffing out loads of treats so they get stimulated in a different way.

If your pup is already good on behaviour why don't you train little fun things instead. Like speak, whisper, shake hands, roll over, sit up like a rabbit... the list is endless

[GypsyGSD]

encourage him to react when he finds his toy either by a bark ,lying down or a sit, even to come back and paw you and ask him to show you where, the ball is extend the search into the garden. I have had fun training my dogs to do this and it keeps them mentaly alert i then started tracking out in fields they love using there noses

[theonering]

Thanks for your replies, really do appreciate it!

I got home late tonight and he's too tired to play - currently chashed out at the bottom of the stairs!!

If you have any other ideas I'd love to hear them!
Thanks again!