ARE WALKS PROVING DIFFICULT RIGHT NOW? TRY SOME GAMES INSTEAD *

To live a happy and fulfilled life dogs need to be stimulated and enriched and exercise typically meets that need, but it is not the sole way of providing enrichment.

Playing games can be an effective way to provide stimulation and enrichment when a walk isn’t the right thing that day for your dog. 🐶

Choose games and activities that will help with emptying your dog’s stress bucket and with building concepts that will help them on their future walks. Here are top concepts for promoting great walks from Absolute Dogs.

I am a certified PRODOG Trainer from Absolute Dogs and these games have help the dogs I train! You will see great transformation and have a fun time with your dog.

💤Calmness - calmness is key to emptying your dog’s bucket. Let your dog kick back and relax in a quiet space with a filled Kong or a chew.

👃Sniffing is also massively calming to dogs. Scatter feeding your dog’s dinner on the grass in your backyard is great fun at any time, but can also provide gentle fun on days when walking is not an option.

😍Focus - a dog who is focused on you is not bothering about the picnic party across the park or the strange dog that has appeared in the distance. You can help your dog avoid situations that might pay into their Stress Bucket by transferring their focus on to you. And as always, there’s a game for that......🥳

🌈......Magic Hand is your friend here. With small pieces of food in your hand, hold your hand above your dog’s head. When your dog looks at your hand, drop a piece of food from your hand for your dog to catch. Your dog will soon be so focused on that Magic Hand that they will not want to be bothering with anything else!

😇Proximity - you want your dog to know that where you are is where the party is at! Being close to you should always be the most rewarding place to be. With value in proximity to you, you can support your dog through anything that is challenging or worrying them, play with them and have the best fun with them, and just generally be working together as a team, rather than two separate entities walking in the same general direction attached by a lead.