Ball of Treats – DIY Games for Dogs
Hello you lovely pet parent, you!
Getting our dogs excited isn’t just super-cute, it’s also incredibly useful for our relationship with them.
If our dogs view us as fun and exciting they want to be with us all the time – even when new and interesting things are going on.
This is Gill’s story, she usually tells it herself but seeing as she’s not here…
We regularly take Roscoe on a walk into a field which goes down a small hill, round a blind bend and then on up another little hillock and down into more fields.
This one gorgeous still and quiet day Gill and I released Roscoe through the gate into the field, and began walking down the hill.
Suddenly, for the first time ever, a small dog came flying from round the corner towards Roscoe and they were off…
Both of them hurtling in circles, falling over and flying off again.
Low sounds from the pair of them but no yelps just fun, fun, fun.
Roscoe the big lumbering Alsatian was getting nowhere near this spritely Cocker and they were loving the chase and the tease.
The owner of the lovely little Cocker Spaniel came round the bend and he wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered.
He was seeing what I was seeing two dogs immediately being best buds.
Unfortunately for Gill past experiences gave her a different view of proceedings.
The problem with having an Alsatian is that some dog owners worry it’s going to eat their dog up, one gulp gone.
And dog owners who have had bad experiences with big dogs naturally don’t take any chances and get protective.
With that in mind Gill ran into the affray.
Roscoe!
Roscoe!
Suddenly there were three of them chasing each other round and round.
Two of them were loving it!
It was now a double chase… awesoooommme!!!
Roscoe!
Come here!
Roscoe!
Meanwhile the Cocker’s owner, a bloke of a similar age to me, maybe a bit older, was walking past the whirling dervishes and towards me as I toddled down the hill.
We got within talking distance.
Quite close as Gill was making quite the ruckus.
“Alright”
“Alright”
“Think my main problem is going to be the Mrs here.”
“Yep”
“Alright, see ya”
“See ya”
And we walked off knowing that if we began to go out of sight the dogs would be with us in a shot.
He got to the gate and I got to the brow of the hill. Gill was still shouting but running a bit less.
Roscoe! No!
Roscoe!
Gill!
I called to Gill a few times but she was committed to her cause.
Gill!
Roscoe!
Gill!
Both dogs looked up from time to time to see where we all were.
Gill was severely running out of steam, it was getting that bad she even began to look to me for suggestions.
“Come up here he’ll follow”
Roscoe!
Roscoe!
Gill. Come up Here!
Gill ran out of steam completely, stopped, had no better ideas and began to trudge up the hill.
Meanwhile the Cocker’s owner was waiting patiently at the gate.
The dogs carried on but their looks up to us got more frequent.
As Gill approached the brow Roscoe came to us slightly, then did a couple of final loops back down into the affray but both dogs were drifting apart.
Finally as we started to go over the top of the hill he left his new friend for another day and followed the real hubs of excitement down the hill.
If you want a great game to start showing your dog you are where the excitement’s at – here it is…
‘Ball of Treats’ Step by Step – Dog Games for Fun
Time for a bit of excitementing …
(Wow – no spell check error on ‘excitementing’ – who knew that was a word???)
- Carefully slice an old tennis ball open half way
- Pop a pile of your dog’s favourite treats inside
- Give the ball a good rattling and get your dog super excited about their goodies
- Wait for them to look at you
- Then roll the ball away as you say ‘Go!’ and let them go for it
Tips
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Be careful when cutting the ball!
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Over time, wait longer and longer before giving the ‘Go’ command to introduce more focus on you.
Thank you
Thank you to Scarlett @scarlett.the.chow for being this week’s marvellously excited assistant.
You can see more of her here: https://www.instagram.com/scarlett.the.chow/
Enjoy!
Darren