Winter Brain Games

Hide & Seek

I talk a lot about dog brain games you can play and how brain training is useful for your dog, It’s time for one of my favourite (and simplest) games. Hide and seek (treats or human’s either is fine).

Its great at this time of year, when it’s getting darker earlier and dog walks may not be as long as they are on balmy summer evenings.

As with all the games, you can make this one as easy or as hard as your dog can manage. If you have an older dog (like my border collie, Myrtle) try to play it at a low level without too much jumping up or climbing over things.

You Will Need

• Some tasty treats,  then find,
• A willing dog, and finally,
• Use your imagination!

First of all, start simple. Have you dog wait on his bed or if their ‘stay’ needs work maybe behind a baby gate. Hide a tasty treat in plain sight. I start really simple and usually place it in the middle of the floor.

Release your dog, ask them to ‘find it’ and let their nose do the work – they will soon get the hang of it.

If they are struggling at all, walk with them towards the treat and give lots of praise once they find it.

Once they have the idea you can start making things more difficult. Hide the treat under a cushion or on top of a radiator (not switched on if you are using cheese!).

Over time you can get really adventurous and the whole house becomes a hiding place. Hide multiple treats around the house and then send your dog off on a mission to ‘find it’. You can either go with them to make sure they are all found or just sit back with a cup of tea while they entertain themselves.

What’s your favourite winter brain game?  Share it in the comments below.

Have fun.