GAMES WITH RULES FOR YOU AND YOUR DOG

GENERAL
Presumably you got your dog to enjoy his company and to have fun with him, but uncontrolled gamescan be too rough and often do little for your credibility as "The Boss"! These games keep you in control(which can't be a bad thing!) and this helps to stop your dog getting over-excited when playing with you.If he does get difficult to manage, don't punish him or tell him off, just stop the game until he calms downagain. Games with rules make your dog use his brain as well as his body. He will probably be more tiredafter five minutes playing one of these games than twenty minutes "chase me for the ball" or a walk, sodon't overdo it, especially when teaching a new game. Use plenty of rewards - titbits, toys or praise. If you use titbits remember to deduct what your dog gets when playing from his daily rations or he'll get toofat to play anything! A good titbit to use is a piece of complete dog food since they are dry, non-messy,well balanced, and don't rot his teeth. Teach one game at a time so as not to confuse your dog. Make allthe games really easy to start with and progress slowly. You can't go too slowly, and if you go too quicklyyou'll put the dog off. If you do meet problems, go back a stage or leave it for a few days and try again.Never get cross, keep it fun - these are games after all!

AT HOME
Hide and seek. Tell the dog to stay, and show a toy or titbit. Let him watch you put it under a cushion orbehind a chair. Go back to the dog and tell him to "Seek". When he has the idea, pretend to hide it invarious places around the room. Leave the reward in one of them (not necessarily the last one you go to)then tell him to "Seek". If necessary go round with him till he gets the idea. Give lots of praise when hefinds it. Make the game more difficult when the dog has the idea by using different rooms/places orshutting him out of the room while you hide the titbit. Find the person. Get someone to hide, having firstmade it clear to the dog that they have a favourite toy, or a titbit with them. Make it easy to start with byletting the dogwatch where they go. Tell the dog "Find Mum/Dad/Emma". Again go with her if you haveto till she gets the idea. Once she finds the person, she gets a game with the toy or is given the food. Thegame can get more difficult (using different rooms) as the dog gets better. Eventually you may want todiscard the reward and just get her to find the person. Remember to reward her with lots of fuss though.
Retrieving. Don't let a game of "fetch" turn into "chase me for it" or "tug of war" - it's too easy for yourdog to win these! You can teach this one by yourself, even as you watch TV! Offer your dog a toy, andas he mouths or sniffs it, say "fetch" and reward him with praise or a titbit. Once he will touch the toywith his nose whenever you offer it to him and say "fetch", offer it again with the command, but don'treward him. He will be a bit puzzled and when you give the command again (straight away) he should bea bit keener to show you how clever he is; he will probably knock the toy with his nose or even take holdof it, and from then on this is the only action that gets the reward. By working this way, very slowly andin stages, you should be able to get the dog from sniffing to nosing to taking hold of the toy on yourcommand. Never move to a new stage until you have 100% response on the present one. Once you havereached this stage, drop the toy and tell him "fetch"; he should pick it up. You can then throw the toyslightly further away each time and the dog should bring it back to you each time to get his reward. Give
plenty of praise and fuss once you have the toy so that it's clear your dog is being praised for fetching itback to you, not just for picking it up. Try any of the above on a walk or in the garden, once your dog isgood at them. Don't try the tracking games in the house or garden, as your scent will be everywhere!

MORE COMPLICATED IDEAS FOR WHEN YOU ARE OUT ON A WALK
You might need help from a dog trainer with these - ask at your local club. Tracking. Put your dog on along lead, flexi-lead or rope, and use a fixed collar, not a choke chain. Tell him to stay, or get a friend tohold him. Show him a toy, titbit or stick. Walk along backwards for about 20 yards, dragging your feet tomaximise the scent trail, and holding the reward near the floor to encourage the dog to search along atground level. Try to keep your dog's attention but don't let him follow yet. Leave the reward at the end ofyour scent trail, and return to the dog along the same path. Tell him to "Track" and encourage him to sniffthe ground where you walked until he finds the reward. Don't worry about him pulling on the lead. Whenhe has the idea you should be able to walk gradually more normally when laying the trail. Later trywalking in different directions, first in an "L" shape, then in more complicated patterns. Keep him keen bymaking changes very slowly and make it easy for him to find the reward. Find the thimble (er.. toy). It'sbest to teach the track before you try this game. When you are out, drop a toy without your dog seeingyou, then continue walking for a few yards. Call the dog and tell her "Look back". Encourage her toretrace your route (she should be able to follow your scent even if she didn't see exactly which way youwent) until she finds the toy. Have a good game with it, and give lots of praise. Try using a long lead orrope at first to help you keep the dog on the right track. After a while, increase the distance and make theobject a little more difficult to find. Don't throw it away from where you walked, though, or she won't beable to use your scent to find it.