On the Rewarding Behaviors Forum, we’re discussing Madison Moore’s seven seeking games this week. The seven seeking games are a set of activities she’s put together that make indoor training fun and interesting for you and your dog. (And as I discussed yesterday, training should be fun!) The games get progressively harder so that you are continually challenging your dog.
Can You Find Me?
The first game, Find the Two-Legger, is a canine version of the classic hide and seek. Basically, you tell your dog to wait, then go and hide somewhere in your house. You then give the dog a release command and she has to come find you! If your dog doesn’t know how to stay for long periods of time, start out small, maybe just moving a few feet away and then gradually building up. This is a fun way to work on recalls and wait/stay, as well as a good way to give your dog a bit of exercise if it’s too cold to play ball outside.
Ginger Plays Find the Two-Legger
Ginger and I played this a few times today. (Check out the video clip below!) We’ve played hide and seek in the past, but I tried to mix it up a bit today. I tried making her wait in all sorts of different places, where as in the past I’ve usually only made her wait in the kitchen. This was hard for her! From this, I know our wait could use a bit of work on generalization to new locations.
I also tried hiding in a few weird spots, such as on beds or chairs. A few times it took her a little while to find me. It’s great mental exercise for her, trying to see how fast she can find me so she can earn a treat.
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You can follow along with the discussion of the rest of the seven seeking games this week on the Rewarding Behaviors Forum by clicking here.
I love playing this game with my dogs too. I’ve even adapted it for my parent’s Australian Shepherd/Lab in that I make him find a specific person in the family – not just the person playing the game. We’ll make him stay then say “go find mom” (etc.) I even make him “go find Ammo” (the dachshund)…really helps when Ammo decides to wander off after a scent at the farm.
I also sometimes use the treat as the target to find. I’ll hide a cookie under a bed or somewhere odd and ask him to go find it. He really has to use his nose to follow the trail I took. The Dachshund is a lot better at this one! Its that badger smelling nose. 🙂
Great game Mary! I’ve played it by hiding a tennis ball instead of myself. It is a great way to burn off mental and physical energy indoors! And I had the very same…hmmm guess we need to work on those stays a little better when there is a lot of “pressure” on! 🙂
Cute, I use what I call the “hide n' seek” game to teach come and use relays to establish the behavior between two people.
It is super fun for the animal and the humans. A couple of successful repetitions means that it is time to play…all super rewarding.
Cute, I use what I call the “hide n’ seek” game to teach come and use relays to establish the behavior between two people.
It is super fun for the animal and the humans. A couple of successful repetitions means that it is time to play…all super rewarding.