Indoor Physical/Mental exersize

kstorck

Hi all! I posted the other day about my EBT going crazy when we go outside. Well she is a very.nervous/anxious dog as well and if there is any other dog put in another yard or people outside or any noises in general, even birds, she will refuse to go outside! And if it is a real cold day, which we have lots of in Michigan, she will refuse to go out as well. Even with incentives. So I am working on ways to help her with anxiousness and fear but I am looking for suggestions on how to stimulate her inside since I know she needs plenty of exercise and behaves much better when she gets it. She loves tug of war and we do that often. What are some other things I can do with her indoors? So far she has not taken to any training attempts. I am trying to work on getting her to sit, but all she knows is I have a treat and just circles.around me the.whole time. I would love some suggestions or tips on what more I could do! Thanks in advance!

Djammy

1. Let her search and find things. Either hide treats in the house or "fill" a doggie blanket (one you don't mind getting holes from some ripping) with them and let the dog sniff and search it. Keeps the dog busy between 10-15.


2. Fill a large, sturdy version of a Kong dog ball with some peanut butter or yogurt or broth ... and let her lick it on tile (makes a mess on carpet!) or anther surface that you can easily clean. Usually keeps a dog busy between 10-15 minutes.
http://www.bullterrierfun.com/dog-treat-balls/
http://www.bullterrierfun.com/dog-treat-balls-how-to-fill-balls-with-two-openings-for-freezing/

3. Try some basic obedience training in a fun way with lots of praise and treats ( > subtract those calories from her daily food) at home. Sit, down, stay, heel, walk to her bed and lie down
... great indoor mind challenge and at the same time a good training you can resume outside for everyday life.

4. Try teaching your dog some basic tricks:
Poke something with the nose, shake hands with her paw ... youtube is full of suggestions ... I also have some videos up in my channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgRU2rFraQiKyDp02jrMCqQ/videos

Remember: Training is most entertaining and effective when always practiced as a fun game and only as long as the dog is able to focus. Sessions of just a few minutes spread over the day will always be more beneficial than trying to teach the dog for a straight half hour. Always leave them wanting more - meaning: Finish, BEFORE your dog gets frustrated or bored.
Choose really EASY exercises to start with, then go from there.

Last but not least, besides all of that entertainment, don't forget to teach your dog also to calm down. Actively reward calm behavior. So your dog can learn what you want from it.
Especially young dogs need both, excitement AND calm phases. And some of them need a little help - or sometimes even a real time-out in a calm space - to come down.

Hope this helps a bit.

kstorck

Helps a lot! Thank you! She has a kong and loves it, I just didn't know if that was "mental" exercise or not. Training is definitely going to take some training! Ha! I try to show her to sit by gentle patting her bottom or moving the treat over her head but she just scoots back and walks around me and comes back. I know I need practice too. She does try Thank you!

Djammy

I forgot to mention that the filled Kong should be frozen. But I guess, you've already figured that out. I forgot to mention that the filled Kong should be frozen. But I guess, you've already figured that out.

I experience a lot of very funny and sometimes really awesome moments with my girl during training.
In training in general it is important never to forget that the puppy starts with the mental state of a baby and even the fully matured dog will never exceed the mind of a toddler. Which in no way is meant to sound degrading. Quite the opposite! It's amazing, what dogs an learn! But keeping the toddler-comparison in mind helps us as trainers to set the bar not too high and limit our expectations regarding learning speeds, for example.

When doing training for entertainment, it is vital to find the middle between making it always fun and being consistent in order to give the dog a fighting chance of really learning something new. The smaller your steps, the more successful you will be. In the beginning, it can be a task of patience for us and we have to figure out our own ways of being a good trainer. That means we have to be creative and even willing to rethink our approaches sometimes. Because our dogs will only be as good as we are as trainers.

But it also means to listen to our inner voice: As soon as we start to feel like doing this is just a chore, we should definitely take a break from it or think of ways to make it more fun again, also for ourselves. Because the fun we have translates to our dogs, unfortunately also does tension, which is why dogs are less motivated when we are not motivated.

But if we never forget that we're doing all of this just for the fun in it - it will always be just that: FUN for all and all for FUN, plus a great way to entertain your dog and interact with each other.