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.