Puppy play?
I have an 11 week old female pembroke. I am trying to figure out how to play with our new puppy as I have always had cats and the same games don't apply. I'm looking for suggestions on how to play and keep her entertained inside without losing any fingers to her sharp teeth. I have the usual Kong toys, chewy soft toys, and balls, but she just seems to prefer my fingers, hands, and my kids' toes. Any suggestions to keep her entertained with minimal blood loss?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by LaVerne & Shirley on
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My dogs both love hide and seek. I throw a favorite toy to divert their attention and then hide. If they dont find me right away I will make a noise or call them. Its so funny to watch them race around searching for me and the joy when they find me.
Enjoy that new puppy! What fun!!!
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Permalink Reply by Wally, Jessica, and Olive on
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We've found that if Olive is biting us and we ignore her, she'll grab one of her toys and play with it herself. She also loves tug of war, video evidence of this on our page :-D. There are a few posts on biting here, it's just something they all do. She's gotten a lot better with the intensity of biting with lots of NO!s and loud yelps of pain. When she gets going though, she forgets! My poor thumb knuckle...
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Tennis ball. Soccer ball, or a smaller ball.
Make training into a fun game. Make a list of the commands you want to teach, and have FUN training, good treats and verbal rewards and lots of fun.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Dogs may chase lasers like cats, buts it's not always good for their minds. They can become obsessed, or frustrated. Best to save that one for the cats.
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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Perez on
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Good morning, all I can say is give them a blanket and they will a good time.
Another thing would be to let them chase the cats, our Reecee did a number on our two cats.
She used to slam the older cat Thomas into the walls and chase the heck out of Chicky, till one day both cats said enough is a enough and stood there ground. It was funny to watch, Reecee loves to play tug-o-war with any rope toy.
Enjoy that puppy?
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Permalink Reply by Amanda and Birdie on
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Hi Lauren and Penny!
I always had cats growing up, and Birdie is my first puppy. I was delighted to find that some of the same games I played with the cats DO apply!
Have you ever tried dragging a stick around in the grass for them to follow? My cats used to love that, and so does Birdie. Indoors, it translates to dragging a toy around on the carpet. She will follow and pounce.
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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When we started Puppy Obedience class, the first thing our instructor said to us was that your average pet store toys are terrible for interactive games with puppies. They are always too small/short and you're asking for the dog to bite you (either by accident or on purpose). I know a lot of people think tug is a bad game to play with your dog, but if you follow some simply rules, it can actually be a great game to exercise you and your dog and have lots of (bloodless) fun.
Step One - Find a sturdy toy that your dog really likes to play with (Casey likes a squeaky rubber chicken, but this can apply to stuffed toys or anything else).
Step Two - Get some sturdy rope/string that can be tied into a fairly decent knot and won't slip off easily. Tie the rope/string around the toy (the rubber chicken works well here because the string goes around its neck) and give yourself about 2-3 feet of rope on the end.
Step Three - PLAY TUG! Make sure to keep the toy on the floor and use the string yourself to drag around the toy. Your hands are now 3 feet away from the dogs mouth, making it nearly impossible for the dog to accidentally bite you (although if you don't keep the toy on the ground, your asking for the dog to jump around wildly with it's mouth open, so it's best to try and keep the toy on the floor). With the 3 feet of rope, you can also now run around your house/yard and give the dog tons of exercise and a lot more stimulation than just a short little toy.
Step Four - Follow the rules of tug, which include: 1) This is a special tug toy for you and the dog to play with TOGETHER - you should never leave the tug toy around for your dog to chew on alone. Only take it out when you want to play tug with the dog, and allow your dog to have other toys to chew on by itself. Not only does this keep the game confined, but it allows YOU to control the parameters of the game and it also makes the toy that much more interesting. Which leads into the second rule: 2) YOU control the start and stop of the game. This is facilitated by the fact that the dog doesn't get to keep the toy when you’re done playing. Which also leads into the third rule: 3) Stop playing LONG before the dog looses interest. If you stop playing before the dog looses interest, you'll always have him coming back for more. Then you can start use tug as a motivator in training (play as reward instead of food as reward - this is how a lot of agility dogs are rewarded). Finally, the last rule: 4) If you take the toy away for a "time-out" during play, puppy needs to stop playing and sit nicely waiting for the game to start again (pull the toy up and hold it in your hand away from the dogs reach, but still in eyesight). If the dog tries to jump at the toy, bark at you or do any other unacceptable behaviours, the game STOPS. Casey (my pup) learned after about 2 games of tug what the rules were, and that if she sat nicely and waited, the game would start up again, but if she freaked out/jumped, the game ended. This is also a great way to teach puppies self-control and to teach them that it's OK to calm down in the middle of play time for a few seconds and then get back into it.
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A small addition: tug is also a great time to teach the "drop it" command. Just make sure that when you get the dog to "drop" the tug toy, you pause for a moment, and start playing again. If you say "drop it" and then the game ends every time, the dogs going to learn that "drop it" means the play ends and will not want to follow the command. If you teach drop it, reward the dog with a small piece of food/kibble, and then get the game going again, the dog will think that "drop it" means, take a short, delicious food break, then play some more!
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Permalink Reply by Renee Kovacs on
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My dog would play soccer until he dropped - he can run full speed with a soccer ball between his front legs. We also use the laser and YES it must have strict rules to avoid obsession! Our rules are: ONLY certain time of day, the laser is ONLY kept in one place and never elsewhere, there is a 'command' we use to end the game so the END is clearly known. We learned the hard way - NEVER alter the rules, or you're dealing with another 2 months of an obsessed dog wondering if TODAY the rules might change again?! maybe we'll play now? Now? Now? Now? Now?
you get the idea ...
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That's too funny! I oftentimes see Casey staring longingly at the spot where I keep her tug toys and sometimes she'll pace around it, but I always initiate the game and always end it. We definitely have a command for the beginning and end of the game so it is clearly marked. When I ask "Casey, is it tug time?" she knows that tug is about to commence - she gets super excited, and starts panting and running around the loveseat (which is next to the toys). When I get to the toys, I pick one up and go into the middle of the living room, and she takes her spot on her mat (about 3 feet away from me) and sits down and waits. When I'm reading to play I say "OK" and drop the toy, and we play pretty hard for 5-10 minutes. She's usually out of breath at the end (so am I!). When I'm done playing, I take the toy back and give her lots of praise (so she doesn't think the game has ended because she did something wrong) and then I say "OK, Free Play Time" and ignore any of her efforts to get me to continue playing. She has quickly realized that "Free Play Time" means no more playing with me, so she usually just goes and has some water and finds something else to do.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren and Penny Underfoot on
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Thank you so much for this very descriptive and thorough account of how to play tug without making her more wound up and unruly. This is so helpful! We love out little Penny, but there are times we wonder if she will ever learn to listen to us. LOL! We say "no biting" and she leaps up and bites more while barking and growling. She thinks she is in charge. Yet when my cat hisses at her she goes straight into submissive mode! I know eventually she will get it and we are being patient but the reassurance on here that eventually she will learn as long as we are consistent, really helps.
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