# mental stimulation



## Rhett_Jute (Feb 26, 2008)

I'm not really sure where to post this so sorry if its in the wrong forum. I've been wanting to give my GSD more mental stimulation other than our daily walks and throwing the ball etc. Was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for doing such? I'm not really sure even what type of mental stimulation he needs. I know that GSDs do need more than exercise for sure. They're just so smart! any helpful ideas/games/activities is appreciated.


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## GunnersMom (Jan 25, 2008)

I'm sure that others will have some much better suggestions for you, but one thing I do is play games of "hide and seek" with them. It comes in especially handy when the weather is horrid and I have to keep them amused indoors. When the weather's good, we do this outside though, too. 
I'll hide a treat or a toy somewhere and have them find it. It took a while for Gunner to catch on to the game. He'd lose interest and I didn't know what I was doing in trying to teach him. But now that he's 'got it' and knows what we're doing, he seems to have fun with it. And it's giving him a job to do, so that seems to make him happy.
Riley loves it and would do it all day long. I hide his piggy and tell him "Uh oh, where's Piggy? Go find Piggy." He'll search the entire house until he finds it. lol.


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## jsherry (Nov 19, 2004)

I like hide and seek too. Panzer and I play indoors to burn energy when the weather is bad or when I do not have time to walk him. It is amazing how good his nose is. I even have to try to trick him by stopping in several spots before I hide it so he has to work harder. It is also a good game for practicing a long sit/stay and leave it when he brings back his find.


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## jsherry (Nov 19, 2004)

Another suggestion...Just practice obedience with him. It stimulates him metally too. Or even teach new tricks and practice it.


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## Rhett_Jute (Feb 26, 2008)

Thanks for the ideas guys! We've been doing some hide and seek lately, Rhett isn't the brightest at it yet so it's kind of funny for me haha.


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## adas (Nov 22, 2008)

Aloha, When I throw balls I try to throw them in hard areas to find, such as 4'+ tall grass or wet grass or over an embankment, etc. Anything that makes Rasa start her search/grid pattern of finding stuff. We play find it, where i hide the ball and she goes nuts with intensity and now resort to hiding in drawers, under blankets, the very back of shelves, behind boxes.....this really works her mind. When she gives up and comes back empty handed I show my empty hands and tell her to go back and "find-it". This is good for another 10 minutes if it is a good hiding spot. It is challenging to stay ahead of her!! When we do hide and seek, I always try and stay down-wind of her to make it more challenging. 
frank

Funny story.... about an hour ago I hid the ball in a good hard place and went back to work, after a few minutes I heard a bark and Rasa came back empty handed and started bugging me for more action. I said NO More balls until you find the first ball!! And then went with her to give her a hint of where the ball was....it was gone... and I have been searching for the last 20 minutes to find where Rasa stashed it on me. She was along side the whole time of me "pretending" to help out in the search, stretching up on her rears to get to the third shelf, nose sniffing very long, serious breaths etc. But I am not fooled!!! but.....
Dog=one human=zero on this one I think.

frank


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Some of the best ways are using more than once sense. Hide and seek is EXCELLENT. You can do it with people, toys or treats being hidden. You can teach them their toys by name: start with one toy and when he looks at it, touches it, sniff's it, plays with it PRAISE him and reitterate the "name" of the toy. Do it all over again with another toy. Once they understand then bring out both toys but put them in different areas of the same room and proof that they know which is which. Then work it up to where you can have each toy in a different area and they have to find that specific toy. Work up to where he has a LOT of toy options to look for and then work on making it harder by putting the toy in another room, inside a small garbage can, UNDER a clothes basket in a closet with the door pushed closed but not latched so the dog can get to the toy. Hide it on a higher shelf (still where the dog can reach it). There are SO many options with this. Then you can use a similar technique to teach them to pick up their toys and put them away. I may very well be spoiled with dogs with AWESOME hunt drive so it might be easier for some dogs than others to find them when they are well hidden. 

Tracking is an excellent way to challenge them mentally as well.


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## marylou (Apr 21, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: adas...Funny story.... about an hour ago I hid the ball in a good hard place and went back to work, after a few minutes I heard a bark and Rasa came back empty handed and started bugging me for more action. I said NO More balls until you find the first ball!! And then went with her to give her a hint of where the ball was....it was gone... and I have been searching for the last 20 minutes to find where Rasa stashed it on me. She was along side the whole time of me "pretending" to help out in the search, stretching up on her rears to get to the third shelf, nose sniffing very long, serious breaths etc. But I am not fooled!!! but.....
> Dog=one human=zero on this one I think....
> 
> frank










Very smart! Did you ever "find it"??


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## jimmym1981 (Dec 5, 2008)

i know this might be a dumb question, but how do you hide the treat and let him find it. Like do you drag it across the floor to make a scent first?


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

I start by scattering the treats where they are easily seen but in various locations of the room. My dog is in another room and out of sight during this process. When I'm done, I release him and I give him the command I've attached to the behavior of tracking down something (I'll also use it if he loses his ball and has to sniff it out). Renji quickly realizes that there are treats all over the place and he scrambles to find them all. With each game, the treats get harder to find- behind furniture legs, in dark corners, in tight spaces, etc. Now I've just started to barely hide the treats under things and this is difficult for him; I've had to help him out but I'm sure he'll learn soon that treats can be UNDER things. You can just hear the brain-hamsters chugging along during this game!

I use tiny pieces of quality beef jerky sticks but probably will use kibble (since we feed raw, kibble's a treat around here).


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## adas (Nov 22, 2008)

Nope, never found the ball. Rasa picks up a scent from about 2.5 to 3 feet away from the object.

What is the scent they are looking for? The smell of human hands or the smell of the mouthed ball?

frank


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

> work on your obedience.
> tug
> find it, indoors and outside. sometimes when we're playing outside i make my dog wait inside. i'll close the front door and i'll go and hide something. if i'm usuing his ball i'll go out front and throw the ball. i don't want him following my scent/trail to the object.
> teach your dog hand signals.
> sometimes my GF will hide in the woods. then i send my dog in to find her.
> did you teach your dog not to go in the street? i mean, if you're playing with a ball and your dog is hyped and you toss the ball in the street. will your dog stop and not go in the street after the
ball? 
> get a book or books. you'll find some wonderfull things in a book that you can teach your dog
> check the web.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

have you put things above your dogs head to make him find it? i just started putting things on table tops, kitchen counters, our bed, in the silverware draw, on top of the sofa back, etc. i hide things above his head to make "find it" harder for him. plus it makes him raise his head to scent for things.


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

great suggestions...

I have been working on obdience and learning tricks too and I break it up into 2-3 sessions throughout the day, I do mental thinking first and then play time afterwards. 

One I saw was take 3 plastic cups (don't let the dog eat the cups) put food under 1 cup and ask them to find it, it is a simple game and most figure it out quickly but it stimulates the nose and mind.


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: doggiedadhave you put things above your dogs head to make him find it? i just started putting things on table tops, kitchen counters, our bed, in the silverware draw, on top of the sofa back, etc. i hide things above his head to make "find it" harder for him. plus it makes him raise his head to scent for things.


Toys, yes. Food, no. I may start putting food higher up but I prefer that he doesn't get the idea to start counter/table surfing!


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## bdavis86 (Jun 9, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: GunnersMomI'm sure that others will have some much better suggestions for you, but one thing I do is play games of "hide and seek" with them. It comes in especially handy when the weather is horrid and I have to keep them amused indoors. When the weather's good, we do this outside though, too.
> I'll hide a treat or a toy somewhere and have them find it. It took a while for Gunner to catch on to the game. He'd lose interest and I didn't know what I was doing in trying to teach him. But now that he's 'got it' and knows what we're doing, he seems to have fun with it. And it's giving him a job to do, so that seems to make him happy.
> Riley loves it and would do it all day long. I hide his piggy and tell him "Uh oh, where's Piggy? Go find Piggy." He'll search the entire house until he finds it. lol.


This sounds like something my Sydney would love. How did you teach Gunner to do that???


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## susanwrites (Jul 31, 2008)

We play a lot of hide and seek games every day, not just play time but mealtimes too. Cassie gets only a few pieces of food in her bowl. The rest is hidden or placed in toys like a Buster cube or squirrel dude where she has to work the food out.

I started off putting her in a stay where she could see me toss down a few treats in plain sight and had her find it. Now I put her in another room and close the door and hide them around the house. I pile a bunch of toys on top of a single small treat. I wrap them in blankets so she has to unroll it. She has a stuffed gorilla that she likes to disembowel so I will take half the stuffing out and put a treat inside and then put the stuffing back in. It takes her a while to find that one.

We are also working on naming all her toys and teaching her not just to fetch but to put them away. She is a spoiled girl and has a lot of toys so we have to keep a list of the names of them all.

We're working on a lot of tricks too....with the intent to do therapy work when she is calmer (I hope.) I got a kid's tunnel and taught her to go through it and over it. I taught her to take a nap, (lay down on her side) then put her head down, now we're working on putting a paw over her eyes.

Cassie's also very vocal with a lot of different sounds. I'm trying to mark each of them. That's really challenging for both of us.


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

It is getting close to that time of year for the "almost annual Ruq Easter Egg hunt!" Even the Huskies enjoy it. I take the plastic Easter Eggs and put treats in some and leave a couple without treats and hide them either inside or out. The dogs basically get one pass through the area, but they can take as long as they want. They get to keep any of the treats that are in the eggs that they find. If they find one without a treat they get a rousing game of Tuggie or fetch with a ball AND I usually have a couple cheap toys that they get later. Granted they don't associate the new toy with finding the egg without a treat in it but still an extra special surprise for them. Yes, even the Huskies do very well at the EE hunts. 

KC even figured out how to open the eggs to get the treats out herself without even breaking the eggs. I hide them on the ground, about nose level and about as high as they can reach on their back legs. In trees, bushes, the grill (only if I am not using it







). I also hide them under tarps, buckets, leaves, boards, wheel well of the car anywhere I can think of to hide them. The dogs love it.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

when is the easter egg hunt? just curious if someone else will be able to do it too?


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Easter isn't until April.







The egg hunts tend to stretch over several days with 6/7 dogs it can take a while.


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## angelaw (Dec 14, 2001)

oh goodie, no one will be left out


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## Amaruq (Aug 29, 2001)

Nope. I will need to find all of my eggs and get them filled ahead of time. I think it was last year I could only find 8 and it took forever to refill them and hide them for the next dog.


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