The Best An Worst Of Puppy Training Games

We can play all sorts of games with our dogs and we can use dog obedience training techniques and shaping to do this.

Amongst all the games we can teach our dogs, there are good games and bad games, and there are some games that have good and bad aspects.

The "Tug of war" game - this is a good game but only when played on your terms.

The game must start and stop when you say so. You present the toy, you tug and you tell the dog to give you the tug toy.

It is a good game as a leadership training exercise which is why you have to win the game. If you allow the dog to win it is very empowering for the dog.

It is very stimulating for the dog and so is a really good exercise to play just before running a dog in agility.

The throw the "Throw the Ball" game - a bad game if you allow the dog to drop the ball only to have him grab it and run off as soon as you make a move to pick it up.

A good game if you have taught the dog to bring the ball right to you and deposit the ball into your hand.

A great game if you need to give the dog 10 minutes of extreme exercise to tire him out if you need to leave a tired dog when you go to work.

The "Catch me if you can" game - chasing your dog for fun is not a good game. It teaches the dog that running away from you makes you run more. He could also grab something in his mouth, like a shoe, or a book, and this becomes another bad game as you try and get the object back, all the time teaching the dog that he does not need to come back to you.

The "Fetch" game - A good game if you use it to teach some dog obedience training exercises such as sit, wait, give and get it. Tell the dog to sit and wait. Throw the ball a short distance and hold off sending the dog to fetch. Extend the time the dog is in a sit and waiting.

End the game before the dog gets tired of playing.

The "Wrestling" game - A really bad game. Teaches jumping up, mouthing and chasing and encourages the dog to pit his strength against you. You are showing the dog that he can win and he can be pack leader.

The "Hide and Seek" game - This is a good game. You go off quietly and hide and call your dog. It teaches the dog to come when called and it uses his sense of smell to locate your hiding place.

You can hide a toy or a treat and encourage him to find it. You can test their IQ with this game. Get three flower pots and place them in a row about 2 feet apart. Place a treat under one and ask your dog to find it. The quicker he is the more intelligent he is.

Dogs that are intelligent can be taught the names of their toys. Once he does know the toys names, place one amongst several other toys and send him to find the named toy. This really uses his mind.

We can use dog obedience training, shaping and the click and treat system to teach the dog lots of tricks such as shake hands, high five, roll over, beg, crawl, play dead, spin left, spin right and so on. Using Shaping to train your dog turns the dog into a thinking dog.