# Hide and Seek



## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

I was wondering if someone could help me teach Elmo to play hide and seek. I only started working with him today but I feel like I could use some pointers. I had him sit in the dining room and told him to stay. Then, I took his red Cuz in front of him and put in on the sofa where he would see it. Then, I told him "Go find Red." Then, he ran over and got it. 

I put him back in a stay in the dining room and then put the Cuz under a throw on the sofa and had him find it. Then, I started putting it in the kitchen and in the stairs. 

When he goes looking, he is looking like people do. But, I really want him to teach him to use his sense of smell a little more. Is there a way I can do that better? 

Also, if I go out of sight for too long with Red, he gets up and follows me. He is usually very good with the stay command, but he gets too excited about his toy. Should I use something else?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

make his stay strong. he should stay whether you have his toy or not. i taught my boy hide and seek the same way you are doing. now what i do i have him stay in the house and i go to the front door and throw what ever it is i want him to fine. i throw it in my neighbors yard or to the back of our house. sometimes i'll throw it in the bushes so he has to raise his head and search looking up. the reason i throw the object is because he doesn't have my trail to follow to the object. i leave him in the house with the front closed so he can't see which way i'm throwing something. tell your dog to stay in the kitchen or down the hallway or a few feet back from the door. close the door behind you and throw the object. this way your teaching your dog to stay and hide and seek. if he moves put him back in the stay and go outside again for a few minutes. if he stays let him go after the object. make it easy for him to find it for awhile. then make it harder and harder. don't throw the object to the same place. mix it up. i roll up a t-shirt and put a rubber band around it to hold it together. i use the t-shirt to hide in the bushes because you can adjust the height and the t-shirt lays nicely on the branches. we play hide and seek in the day and at night time.


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## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

Thanks for the info. It looks like I do need to work on making his stay stronger. I have mostly worked on it with food or making him stay when I open a door and he has been very good. But, his Red Cuz is his pride and joy. So, I should work on it with that. 

So, it sounds like with hide and seek, you don't want to leave a scent. I guess that's how it is played. LOL. I realize now that maybe I should have asked two questions. The first was tips on playing hide and seek. I've learned a lot from your response! 

The second should have been what can I do to teach him tracking exercises at home.

I think he is really enjoying hide and seek. Normally, when I'm busy cooking or something and Elmo wants to play, I'll ask him to go and find his toys. He knows most of them by name. So, I say "Where is Red?" or "Where is doggie?" and he runs around the house and finds his toys. But, now he knows I'm hiding the toy so it's a little more fun for him.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

I have played search with my dog Timber for almost two years. I started with food in the house, mostly hot dog pieces, and then clothing. I do not call I hide and seek, just "find".

After that we went outside, and I made him sit in the garage so he could not see where I was hiding the toy. He caught on fairly quickly, and if he moved we started over. 

As you mentioned regarding your dog, my son said Timber was simply following a pattern by smelling me, then going around the yard in a circle, and eventually fnding the toy.

So our next step was to make the sit in the garage and toss the toy to my kid who hid it. Guess what, he found the darn thing without my scent. 

Our next step, burying things and seeing if he can locate them. 

Actually, if sounds like Elmo is doing fine. If he breaks the sit command start over until he stays. 

You did not mention the dog' agre. which I feel is important.


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## Elmo's Mom (May 21, 2007)

Thanks for responding. Elmo is 19 months old. 

It sounds like Timber is good with the game. It amazes me how quickly these dogs pick up on things. 

I'm going to try some more with Elmo tomorrow. I may try it with kibble because it's smaller and harder to find. I also want to teach him to find daddy or find Molly. 

I saw a book recommended in another thread for dogs to learn tracking. I'll probably order that and that will be our next project. I feel like I have a little kindergartner who is so eager to learn.


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