jorgelito

To stimulate my doggie's er, intellect(?) I give her puzzle toys. EX: The Kong - it's a red, hollowed out conical rubber toy that I fill with treats and peanut butter or cheese. Her "job" is to get the stuff out.

She usually uses the furious licking method to get the treats and peanut butter out. The direct method I guess.

But once, I heard this thumping noise. I looked to see her grabbing the Kong and throwing it in the air and it would bounce on the floor. I was like, "What the?". It turns out, that the peanut butter or other stubborn treats would get stuck inside or caked onto the sides. SO she figured out that throwing it into the air the stuff would jiggle loose and fall out. I started laughing when I saw chunky peanut butter roll out of the Kong and she happily lapped it up. Once, she handed it to me (the KOng) and I was like, "What the?". But she insisted on giving it to me, so I took it and threw it. Well, it bounced against the wall and floor and lo and behold, a bunch of chunnky peanut butter fell out. Funny dog, she got me to do it!

Any one else use the Kong or have any enrichment ideas?

Lady Sage

I take my moose/puppy to play with another moose/puppy. They teach eachother new tricks and its great for socialization and pack behavior.

maleficent

Uhhhh -- you're supposed to train the dog.. it's not supposed to train you

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jorgelito

*grumbles* The sneaky lil' bugger... Ah, but she's worth it...so worth it.

Elphaba

This is actually a myth.

Do you have dog parks anywhere near where you live? It's a great treat for an "only" dog.

If you have the time and some bucks, a dog obedience class would be fun for both of you. Your pup will teach you everything you need to know.

Ch'i

Funny story jorgelito...

I get sucked into that with my dog too. One day, after a few minutes of encouragement by example, the mailman came up and noticed me on all fours trying to show my dog how to roll over. Man did I get "the look!"

I try to teach my dog alot of tricks, which should also stimulate his mind. Another great way I've found is to take them somewhere they've never been before (local hiking areas, parks, the beach). I take my dog out to a forest trail that's a 20 minute drive away and he loves it.

lurkette

Our dog loves the Molecuball - it looks like 4 little balls stuck together, with a hole in one of them. You pour the treats in the hole, and then the dog has to shove it around trying to get the treats out of the ball. It's a lot easier than the Buster Cube, especially on wood floors.

Her favorite "toy," though, is an old rag with treats in it, tied in knots. She has to pull the knots apart to get at the treats. She'll work at that thing for hours, and it's fun to play tug with it, too. Dogs love dissecting stuff!

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