Comments on: 17 Stimulating Jobs For Your Dog

By: Maggie

Maggie — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:27:08 +0000

SUCH a great list! Cooper loves hide-n-seek, and now I’m thinking nosework might be a natural extension of that. His favorite job didn’t make it on your list: Carrying things! He has a pack, which we load up with soup cans or weights, poop bags, house key, whatever items we take walking. As soon as we clip it on, he goes into Focus Mode and walks like a champ! He is such an intense little guy, though, that we only do that once or twice a week so that he can have fun/sniff/meandering walks, too.

By: Barbara Rivers

Barbara Rivers — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 01:24:20 +0000

This is one of the best articles I’ve read in a while! Thank you 🙂

Our pups both love to play hide and seek inside the house, as well as occasionally eating their kibble from the kitchen or living room floor – it keeps them mentally sharp & they thoroughly like the little challenge 🙂

Now that fall is on its way, we’ll soon be able to add our doggie backpacks to our morning walks again. It’s just been way too hot for them lately. Our boy Buzz is a sucker for playing fetch with his alltime favorite chuck it ball, while our girl Missy is content with being loved on!

By: Greyhounds CAN Sit

Greyhounds CAN Sit — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 00:22:19 +0000

Great suggestions! I feel bad because I don’t do more with my dogs, but I don’t think they feel bad.

Asher has his own, very important (to him) job. I’d really love to know what he’s thinking when he does this. When I go to work I chuck out his munted basketball, an empty plastic drink bottle and a disembowelled stuffy onto the back lawn. During the day (probably quite soon after I leave) he takes all of them through the dog door in to the flat where the dogs reside in total comfort until I get home from work. After a very quick and enthusiastic greeting Asher runs in to the flat and firstly grabs the basketball and takes it in to the lounge room and drops it by a dog bed. Next he gets the stuffy, then the plastic bottle. You should hear him whinge if I’ve given him a larger than usual plastic bottle that isn’t easy to get through the dog door! It’s like he’s got a time frame this has to be done in. Everything is always brought inside in the same order and put in the same place. It’s very, very cute. As I said, I’d love to know his train of thought 🙂

By: Savvy

Savvy — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 02:24:54 +0000

My husband makes one of our dogs put his toys away. He had him do this once when guests were visiting and they thought it was hilarious. We started playing hide and seek games with our golden when he was a puppy to help focus his energy. He still loves those games. When my husband was a kid he taught his dog to fetch his shoes before they went on a walk. Lots of other great suggestions on the list.

By: dawn

dawn — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 01:14:48 +0000

Toss and Run sounds fun! Actually a lot of these sound similar to games we already play, but with a twist or two. Did you think of these all yourself? I’ve been trying to think of fun new games with Maya and Pierson since hide-and-seek is getting a bit old now that they know all my hiding places.

By: Emma

Emma — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 20:46:42 +0000

Bailie and I are deep into nose work and Bailie just started tracking, so we have those covered. Mom also runs after squirrels with us sometimes on our walks. She has to be in the right mood to do it, though.

By: Peggy Frezon

Peggy Frezon — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:42:18 +0000

Dogs are awesome! Kelly likes to protect us. She’ll bark not only from strangers at the door, but also from the letter carrier, Fed Ex guy, anyone who opens or closes a car door on the street, a leaf on the sidewalk….
Ike is a lap warmer and foot warmer.
They both also are very good at cleaning up crumbs.

By: Sage

Sage — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:18:10 +0000

That was an interesting way to work on the barking, which Sage does whenever someone dares to walk past ‘her’ house. I hadn’t tried the ‘speak’ part, but ‘enough’ is coming along nicely.

By: Groovy Goldendoodles

Groovy Goldendoodles — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 21:59:37 +0000

Love all the great suggestions Pamela, there were a few for Harley and I to try, so thanks for the time in putting this post together.