Activating your dog mentally is the key to a happy and harmonious bond. Dogs, who rest up to 20 hours daily, can develop issues when understimulated, leading to problems like leash pulling, excessive barking, or redirecting excess energy.
Mental activation demands effort from your dog, providing a healthy exhaustion. If your dog is challenging to train or seems to struggle with listening, increasing mental stimulation might be the solution. Channeling excess energy is more effective and rewarding than resorting to harsh measures or uncomfortable collars.
Dogs instinctively synchronize with our behavior and enter a "waiting mode" when not activated. To meet their needs, a few hours of quality time every day are essential. It doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. Simple activities like hiding treats take minutes but offer lasting positive effects.
Activation needs evolve throughout your dog's life cycle:
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Puppies: Allow them to play on their terms and provide extra stimulation if they start biting. Gradually increase mental challenges with age.
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Young dogs: Boost mental engagement both at home and during walks, allowing time for sniffing and play.
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Adolescent dogs: Activate mentally before walks, especially if they have leash-pulling issues.
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Adult dogs: Daily walks totaling 2-3 hours, including mental stimulation. Activate them at home and in the yard.
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Senior dogs: Shorter but more frequent walks to keep their bodies active and luxurious mental stimulation for their golden years. Adjust exercises based on their abilities to promote well-being.
Indoors:
Hide and Seek:
Lock yourself in a room with your dog, and ask someone to hide behind/under something in another room (e.g., behind the sofa, under a bed, in a wardrobe, or behind a door). Leave the room with your dog, tell the dog to sit, say "search," and gesture with your hand to start the search. When your dog finds the person, reward them with lots of praise and treats. Begin with simple hiding spots and gradually increase the difficulty level for mental stimulation.
Find the Package:
Place some treats, dog food, or a bone in a suitable package for the dog. It can be an empty toilet paper roll, a shoebox, or a large moving box. Hide the package and let the dog find and tear open the package to access the contents. Advance the game by attaching a string to the package that the dog must pull to reveal the package under the sofa or up on a table, etc.
Search:
Place your dog in a room, show them a toy, and leave them in the room while you hide the toy in an easy spot, like behind a table leg or under a rug. Bring the dog back, set them down near the toy, and gesture with your hand while saying "search." Gradually increase the difficulty and swap toys for other items, like a glove, a clock, etc.
Find the Stick:
Use a suitable stick for the dog (it can be a stick from the woods or a piece of wood from the garage). Rub the stick with a meatball/sausage or something else the dog likes. Place the dog in another room and hide the stick where the dog can easily find it at first; reward generously when the dog discovers the stick (preferably use a treat specifically for dogs, as regular meatballs often contain onions, which are toxic to dogs). Advance this exercise by hiding the stick in harder-to-find places, or hiding multiple sticks. You can teach the dog to mark where the stick is without taking it, or to fetch the sticks and give them to you in exchange for a reward.
How to teach the dog to mark a stick:
Place the dog in front of the stick, requiring the dog to stay without approaching the stick. Hold a treat between your fingertips, so the dog sees it, and place your fingers against the stick; quickly reward when the dog looks at the treat. Extend the time the dog looks at the stick. When you feel the dog understands what to do, hide the stick and let the dog search. When the dog finds the stick, prevent it from taking the stick, set the dog down, and hold the treat against the stick for a few seconds.
How to teach the dog to fetch a stick:
Play with the stick, so the dog is enticed to hold it in its mouth. Tug-of-war can be one way, or throw it a short distance. Reward with a treat when you take the stick from the dog. Gradually increase the distance until the dog can fetch the stick and bring it to you, then you can start hiding the stick. Over time, increase the distance to the hidden stick, and the dog will bring it to you. Increase the difficulty by hiding more sticks in harder-to-find places with less meatball scent. You can also use other items to hide.
Outdoors:
Find a Person (for activation only, not for competition):
Enlist the help of someone the dog knows and likes, initially. Let the person play a bit with the dog and then have them go and hide nearby where the dog can see and wants to follow. To advance the game, there are different ways to do it, and I'll only address how we activate the dog; this is not the competition approach!
Option 1:
Once the dog understands what to do, the person plays with the dog and then takes a detour, in a large arc, to hide where the dog can't see them. You say "search," show with your hand, and release the dog or have a harness and tracking line on the dog. The dog searches for the scent from the person until it finds them. Give lots of praise and reward when the dog finds the person.
Option 2:
The person plays with the dog and then walks straight into the forest and hides where the dog can't see them. You put the dog down, say "search," and release the dog or have a harness and tracking line, allowing the dog to follow the scent where the person has gone. Praise and reward generously when the dog finds the person.
Increase the difficulty by having the person hide farther away, under or on top of an object, inside something, or make many turns, walk in circles, etc.
Things to consider:
If you choose to release the dog, make sure the person hiding has the dog's favorite toy and some treats so they can reward when the dog finds them.