Dog Community

Brain Games Needed!

Posted : 6/15/2006 10:49:02 AM

My dog Chico is part border collie, and he really needs to work his brain!

Does anybody have any good brain games or brain work that I could try?
I took the dog IQ test (which he had so much fun with) and it said Chico was a genius, so he can try any level of game.

Also, this is a bit random, but when I train him to sit, he just follows the treat and doesn't really listen to me. Is it one of those things that just happen over time?

Thanks,
cutepetsrus

P.S.- If you don't know any good brain games, Chico would appreiciate just regular games, too!

jetty

Posted : 6/15/2006 12:43:33 PM

ORIGINAL: cutepetsrus

My dog Chico is part border collie, and he really needs to work his brain!

Does anybody have any good brain games or brain work that I could try?
I took the dog IQ test (which he had so much fun with) and it said Chico was a genius, so he can try any level of game.

Also, this is a bit random, but when I train him to sit, he just follows the treat and doesn't really listen to me. Is it one of those things that just happen over time?

Thanks,
cutepetsrus

P.S.- If you don't know any good brain games, Chico would appreiciate just regular games, too!

How old is Chico? Remember, you should fade the reward once he gets familiar with a command.

Hmmm brain games ...what is he interested in?

My dog likes to play find it (either with treats, toys or certain objects like the TV remote or phone) I will hide them around the house and ask him to find it and either show me where it is or bring it to me. I will also hide on him which often gets him quite frantic.

He loves trick training - we started off with basic tricks like rollover, wave and speak and then went onto more complex, retrieving one's - for example bringing me a kleenex, or a drink from the fridge, or turning on/off lights and helping with laundry etc...

If you clicker train you can do all sorts of fun shaping exercises (the box one is quite common!). I like to randomly start shaping things with Dodger, yesterday it was shaping him to ring the door bell (which will eventually become a command). But I mostly choose very easy/short one's like crawling under something, or posing on a chair etc..

I also like working on self control exercises, since my dog is so food motivated, I started by placing food on his body and not letting him take it until I said so, then I threw it at him, then asked him to heel around it or come to me with treats in between us. Now he can hold and retrieve any kind of food...Its taken months but its been fun!

Jocelyn Goradz

Posted : 6/15/2006 1:03:14 PM

Wow, that's really cool!

How do you get him to not take the treat off of himself?

jetty

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:05:38 PM

ORIGINAL: cutepetsrusHow do you get him to not take the treat off of himself?

I taught him the wait command which for him, means "hang on a second, the reward is coming SOON"...
I think I started by putting him in a sit-stay and placing boring treats near him (you might need your dog leashed at first)- when he looked up at me, I would reward with an extra special treat from my pouch like chicken. When he was good with that, I had him in a down stay and put "boring" treats near his paw and said wait. It didn't take too long for him to realize that he got the treat sooner in the long run if he waited!
I am sure Chico can do it too[

], the key is to have fun!! The hardest part was getting him to hold really good treats like hot dogs in his mouth without trying to eat them! It is very important that you do not let your dog self-reward!

spiritdogs

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:15:00 PM

There's a neat little book called "Beyond Fetch" that might give you some ideas.

whatsh0uldmyl0ginbe?

Posted : 6/15/2006 4:23:03 PM

try teaching him to close doors with post-it notes,
1.put down a post-it note and reward him for even noticing it
2.after he gets it he will hopefully sniff/touch it reward him
3.add a command
4 put the post-it at the very base of the door and then reward him when he touches it
5.slowly move the post-it up the door to about doggy-eye-level
6.crack the door and get him to touch it(the door should close)
7.slowly advance to having the door all the way open
then viloa! you can be lazy and make the dog close your doors lol
your dog probly wont get it very soon unless he's Einstien Dog

meagan

astaracheetah

Posted : 6/15/2006 11:03:49 PM

There is a dog IQ test? I've got a BC mix myself and am constantly looking for mental stimulation for her. >^^;< Where's this IQ test? >O.O<

loveukaykay

Posted : 6/16/2006 12:24:44 AM

You can hide treats around in the back yard and start teaching him to find them by letting him sniff one and say "find some" or something and go around and help him a little at first... then he should go looking on his own eventually and can be very stimulating for the mind once he learns to go hunting for them and you can of course always be changing the spots.

I read that in a dog magazine, sounds like a good idea to me.

Jocelyn Goradz

Posted : 6/16/2006 7:13:34 AM

Thanks, I'll have to try some of those today. I like the post-it note idea, but would you eventually get rid of the post-it?

The dog IQ test is at [linkhttp://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/]http://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/[/link]. It's really a fun test for you and your dog, you should try it.

Vic Zurbano

Posted : 6/16/2006 4:50:29 PM

Haha, I tried that site you were talking about ([linkhttp://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/]http://www.abc.net.au/animals/dog_test/[/link]) and my dog never found it out. I put the can over the food, it sniffed around it and just kinda looked at me like, uhhh.... can you get me some food now? Haha, was funny.