Games With Your Dog!

Game of the week:

Ive decided to make Thursdays, Game Day! This week is Hide & Seek. This is a great game to play with your dog, and even better if you have kids! This game is an excellent way to build on your dogs stay command and also work on their recall (come command)! If your dog doesnt know how to stay, then you can simply have somebody hold your dog. Play this inside the house or outside in a fenced in area.

To start, show your dog something fun such as their favorite toy or a favorite treat. Get them excited about it. Now tell them to stay or have somebody hold them and go hide! If this is the first time playing this game with the dog, make finding you easy the first few times. Gradually make it harder over time. Call your dog. Stay quite for a bit, if your dog is having trouble you can call them again or make a sound. When they find you, praise them like they just did the best thing in the world, play with their toy or give them their treat! Now repeat! Great exercise and training practice!

Book of the Day: Raising A Champion : A Beginners Guide to Showing Dogs

If your into showing dogs, or thinking about getting your first show dog, this book is a great read! It covers a lot of ground, heres a list of contents;

• Introduction
  
• Understanding Your Goal
  
• Getting Started
  
• The Perfectly Stacked Dog
  
• Stacking a Dog
  
• Teaching a Puppy to Stack
  
• The Moving Dog
  
• Teaching a Puppy to Gait
  
• More About Gaiting
  
• The Exam
  
• Teaching a Puppy to be Examined
  
• Putting it All Together
  
• Adding Some Polish
  
• Matches
  
• Picking Your First Show
  
• Premium Lists
  
• Entering a Dog Show
  
• Entry Confirmations and Judging Schedules
  
• Before the Show: Time lines and Planning
  
• Before You Enter the Ring
  
• Showtime!
  
• Counting Championship Points
  
• Minoring Out and Finding Majors
  
• Keeping Dog Show Records
  
• A Well-Balanced Dog
  

Like I said, it covers a lot. It is a fun and easy read, yet very informative. If your into showing, check into it!

Question of the Day: How to find a breed of dog, best suited for our lifestyle?

Answer: Finding the right breed of dog for you takes a lot of research. You should first think about what type of lifestyle you live. Are you active? Do you go jogging & Biking a lot? Perhaps you love to hike. Or would you rather just relax at home? You also need to look at where you live. If you live in a small home with no yard, a smaller dog will probably suit you better. If you live in a small home with no yard, but your active Everyday by jogging, biking, hiking and can provide daily exercise in these ways to the dog, then perhaps a medium or large dog would be okay for you. If youd rather relax on the couch, then a medium or large, hyperactive dog probably wouldnt be the best choice. A good website to check into would be the American Kennel Club. They list all of the recognizable breeds that are registrable. Keep in mind they do not list any of the designer breeds that are popping up now a days. When looking at breeds, take note on how much grooming & exercise they will need. How big will they get, and is the breed known to get along well with other dogs and/or kids? Write down any breeds that interest you, then research them further. Look up info online, research good, reputable breeders and ask them any questions you might have. Dog shows are another great way to get to know the breeds! Youll meet many knowledgeable people here and can learn a lot. Do your research! Good luck on finding the breed best for you!

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Games To Play With Your Dog Game 1 Find The Treat Toy Mommy

Dogs are very playful creatures and continue to enjoy play throughout their lives.  I would imagine that is one of the reasons you brought a dog into your home: to have a companion to spend time with and enjoy. Building a good play relationship with your dog can greatly enhance your relationship and bond.  By becoming a good play partner, you will become more important and valuable to your dog.  In turn, they will prefer to be with you and will listen better. 

Play sessions ideally will be short and sweet and speckled often throughout your day.  By asking your dog to play often, he is less likely to be demanding about getting attention.  Play is a great way to teach your dog emotional control.  During your play sessions, take frequent pauses in order to teach this important life skill to your dog. 

Inappropriate play relationships can have the opposite effect on the relationship.  You will want to teach your dog ways to play with humans.  Those ways are different than the ways two canines play together.  Inappropriate play behaviors between dogs and humans include body slamming, biting, mouthing, jumping, wrestling or teasing.  Playing and spending time with your dog should be the highlight of your day, not a battle. 

Here is one easy game to get you started.  Find The Treat, Toy, or Mommy.  Ok, Daddy would work too.  ;)

Find The Treat-Start by grabbing a handful of healthy, tiny treats, or your dogs food.  Ask him to Sit/Stay and place one treat about 5 from him and say, "Find It!"  Repeat this process, but you can start placing more than one treat around, and in harder to find places.  If your dog does not have a Sit/Stay with distractions, you can start by tossing a few treats in one direction, then placing a few in the opposite direction and tell him to find them.  You can build on this game by tucking the treats in harder to find places.  Just remember, your dog will go to those places, so dont hide them in spots you dont want him investigating.

Find The Toy-Start by playing with one of your dogs favorite toys.  Get a nice game going.  Ask him to Sit/Stay (or hold him back if he does not know it), and place the toy 5 from him and say, "Find It!"  Once he grabs it, start playing again.  Build on this game, putting the toy farther away.

Tip:  If your dog can stay while you leave the room, place the toy in another room as you tell him, "Find It!"  You can encourage him as he looks for the toy.  But dont start out of room finds until your dog know hes suppose to look for a specific toy.

Find You-Ask your dog to Sit/Stay as you leave the room and tuck yourself behind something.  Once you are hidden, quickly say your dogs name in a sing-song voice, then be quiet.  Let him look around for you.  Give him a chance to find you.  If he has a real hard time finding you, make a little noise.  When he finds you, make a big fuss and play.  If he does not have a stay, you can hide when he is not paying attention, or drop a few treats on the floor and run away and hide.

Remember, these are GAMES and are meant to be fun.
You dont have to have strict rules, and you can easily improvise.  Have fun~
Need some healthy treat, or toy ideas?  Click here for some fun!

Tonya Wilhelm-Global Dog Training http://www.globaldogtraining.com

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