5 skills You Can show Your pet dog through Play

5 skills You Can show Your pet dog through Play

Last updated on August 12, 2017 By Puppy Leaks 3 comments
There’s no denying the fact that play is an crucial part of our dogs day. It helps keep them fit, it relieves stress, and it strengthens their bond with us.

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But play is also a great way for them to learn new skills such as better manners. Here’s 5 useful skills you can show your pet dog through play.

Play improves Your Dogs Manners

Have you ever met a pet dog that had really bad manners? One that jumps up on people, runs out the door as soon as it’s opened, and is extra pushy? That’s a great example of a pet dog with no impulse control.

Just like humans dogs have to learn to control their impulses, and we’re the ones responsible for teaching them. Play is a great way to reinforce some basic impulse control, and it helps give your pet dog some good manners.

One game that’s great for teaching your pet dog better manners is tug of war. Tug can get some dogs really excited, and it’s not uncommon for dogs (especially young ones) to unintentionally touch their teeth to your hand. So when playing tug follow the policy that if your dogs teeth touch your hand the game it stops.

By stopping the game when their teeth touch your hand you’re teaching them that those behaviors have consequences. and considering that dogs really want to keep playing tug it shouldn’t take long for them to catch on that ‘when my teeth touch her hand the fun game stops.’

An extra fun idea for the next time you play tug: let your pet dog win sometimes. It will not make them a lot more aggressive or dominant. letting them win makes the game for engaging and fun, and it makes you a incredibly fun tug partner.

Puppies are extra mouthy when it pertains to everything, including a game of tug. and the excitement that tug creates may make it tough for puppies to focus on anything other than ‘must bite the moving thing.’ If you’re struggling to keep your puppy from biting during tug you must work on boosting their bite inhibition first.

There’s no denying that play is fun, but it’s also one of the best ways to show your pet dog good manners.

Play Reinforces basic training Commands

Does your pet dog have a reputable “drop it” or “leave it?” one of the worst ways to find out is by having them pick up some random nasty thing off the street, so it’s a great skill to have in place before that happens.

One of the easiest ways to show a reputable “drop it” is by playing fetch. Dogs don’t necessarily play fetch by the policies naturally – some chase after a ball and then run around like a madman when you ask for it back. When that happens you can show them that the game only continues when they bring the ball back and drop it for you.

After your pet dog retrieves the ball call them back to you. once they’re within reach tell them to “drop it.” When they drop it praise them like crazy and continue the game. If they refuse to drop it the game stops. They’ll start to realize that the game stops when they don’t give the ball back, and if they want to keep playing they’ll have to follow your rules. Don’t chase after them, as that will just turn it into a fun game of ‘haha can’t catch me’ for them.

The game continues as long as they learn to drop the ball for you. If you keep up the praise when they bring the ball back and keep it exciting that must be enough incentive to keep them playing by the rules.

For some dogs (like Laika…ahem) “drop it” isn’t an easy thing to teach. Praise wasn’t always enough for Laika, so I started playing fetch with two toys. playing with that extra toy in my hand as she came back after retrieving was enough to keep her ecstatic enough to willingly trade. I still said “drop it” every time, and she eventually started to drop it before I even asked.

When you play fetch with your pet dog you can also help reinforce their recall command. keep it fun and exciting, and remember to always keep it positive when your pet dog comes back to you. If you scold your pet dog after they come back to you they may be a lot less likely to want to come back the next time.

When playing fetch with your pet dog work on teaching them a reputable “drop it”

Nose work helps Them Hone in on Their natural Abilities

Even though our dogs have amazing noses they don’t rely on scent cues all the time. like us they get used to depending on visual cues during their daily routine. To help them hone in on their natural scent abilities you can show your pet dog some basic nose work games.

One of the easiest ways to start is the three cup game. get 3 cups (or containers) and some treats. place the 3 cups in front of your pet dog and put a treat under one of them. It’s ok if your pet dog watches for awhile, it can take a little bit for them to catch on to what you’re asking of them.

Tell them to “find it” and praise them like crazy whennull