Games You Can Play With Your Dog

Dogs need mental and physical stimulation. They’re also very inquisitive creatures, and they love spending time with their owners, and other people in your family.

By playing games with your dog, you can reduce boredom, give him chance to display his natural jumping behavior, and reduce any destructive activity he might be doing in your home.

Also, by controlling the games, you‘ll be able to reinforce your authority as the pack leader.

Here’s some fun games to play with your dog...

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Catch The Frisbee
Catching a Frisbee and bringing it back to you is a great game to play with highly active dogs. But you need to be aware that it’s a very physically demanding game, and it isn’t suitable for elderly dogs as they can hurt themselves.

You can also play similar retrieval games using a ball. This is good way to improve your dog’s reactions and obedience.

Remember: Always throw the ball away from your dog, not towards it. Here’s why: If you throw a ball directly towards a dog, he may try to catch it in mid air, and it can get stuck in his throat.

Playing Hide & Seek
Playing hide-and-seek with your dog gives him chance to exercise his mental and scenting abilities. If you don’t want to hide yourself, you can play a similar game by hiding objects like a set of keys, or a toy. It is probably best to use something that isn’t an everyday object he may find. Save a special toy for this kind of game.

Playing Tug-of-War
You should only ever play this game when your dog learns to drop an object on command. If your dog is particularly dominant, or aggressive, you shouldn’t play possession games such as this.

Jogging
All healthy dogs need lots of exercise in their lives, and training the dog to run to heel with you while you jog is a good way for him to get the exercise he needs, as well as spending quality time with you.

Following a Scent
Many dogs will enjoy following a scent trail. You can make games out of following a scent by laying down a track for your dog by walking through grass and leaving a reward for him to find at the end.

Important Note: When you’ve finished playing with your dog, you should make a point of putting his toys away into their own box or bag.

Your dog will soon learn that the toys belong to you, and that he’s only allowed to play with them when you give them to him.

This will make the toys more appealing and desirable, which means you can use them as powerful rewards when you’re having a training session.

The toys will also keep your dog contented for longer when he’s left alone, if he isn’t allowed them all the time.