These tips don’t involve buying expensive equipment or using hours of your day – we’re talking fast life hacks for once!
• Hide your dog’s daily food instead of putting it in a bowl
– sniffing is extremely mentally stimulating and therefore tiring! Sniffing reduces cortisol too, so it’s perfect for anxious dogs
• Incorporate some DIY agility into your walks
– asking your dog to jump over fallen trees, sit on benches, or even run around a tree on cue is an easy way to mix up your daily walk and provide more stimulation
• Play! (Tug, fetch, ball search, personal play)
– a 10 min game of tug will knacker your dog and give them an outlet for their natural drive. Your dog doesn’t need to be high drive though – there’s nothing more rewarding than teaching a quiet dog to let go a bit 🤪
• Trick training
– another great use for your dog’s daily food, you can select a trick at random and see how long it takes your dog to offer the desired behaviour with your help. All our dogs have informal obedience (Spin or Sit Pretty, anyone?) as long as functional obedience
• DIY man-trailing
– clip your dog onto a harness & long line, ask someone they know to hide and encourage your dog to find them! The ‘missing person’ to reward the dog when they’re found. A great way to combine exercise & mental stimulation in the form of sniffing, man trailing will become easy to your dog once they understand the game
