awesome activities to play with your puppies

Awesome Activities

Puppies are playful by nature, and they learn a lot about life through play. Playing with a pup is entertaining and fun, and the positive interactions you have while playing strengthen your bond of companionship. Moreover, interactive puppy games provide healthy exercise and opportunities to guide your puppy's behavior in a positive way.

Here are some fun games to try with your pup that will exercise his body and brain. These games can be played indoors or outdoors. While playing, your pup will have a great time and also practice gen­tleness, patience and cooperation.

Hide & Seek

Have someone hold your puppy while you hide. Stay in the same room but hide behind the drapes or a big chair. Let your puppy watch you disappear, then call him and have your helper release him so he can run to you. Praise, pet and give him a treat when he "finds" you. Let him know you're very happy with him.
Next, with your helper holding the pup, leave the room. Hide in plain sight where your pup will spot you as soon as he leaves the original room. Call him, and reward with treats when he comes. Make a happy fuss, telling your pup how clever he is.
Now hide again. This time, hide out of sight, but pick a place that your pup can easily find. He’ll discover he needs to use his nose, instead of his eyes to locate you. Soon you'll be able to conceal yourself well, and your pup will follow his nose.
When your pup gains skill at this indoors, move the game to a fenced area outdoors. At first, the interesting outdoor scents and sounds probably will distract your pup. If he gets busy exploring and forgets he's supposed to find you, make an interesting sound from your hid­ing place to attract his attention. This will get him back in the game.
If playing with children, establish safety rules before you begin, so the kids don't get carried away and hide in places they shouldn't. Give them a few minutes to hide, then encourage your pup to look for them. When your pup finds them, they should pet him and give him treats.

Find Your Toy

This game is similar to Hide-and-Seek, but instead of looking for a person, your pup will be seeking a hidden toy. You can play this game without a helper by confining your pup in his crate, pen or safe room while you hide the toy.
Start by covering the toy with a towel while your pup watches. Then say, "Where's your toy? Find your toy!" Encourage him to root around under the towel to find the toy. When he uncovers it, let him play with it for a minute, then cover the toy again.
When he's "found" the covered toy a few times, hide it behind a nearby chair or some oth­er easy spot. Let him watch you put it there, then release him and encourage him to get the toy. Praise him, give him a treat, play with him and let him enjoy his toy a few minutes before hiding it again. Soon, you'll be able to hide that toy almost anywhere, even in a pile of other toys, and your pup will be able to find it by scent.
When choosing a hiding spot for the toy, think about whether you'd want your pup to go back there later by himself and look for things he maybe shouldn't.

Go Wild & Freeze

This is a great game for an energetic pup. Not only is it fun, but it teaches your pup to sit politely when asked, even when highly excited.
First teach your pup to sit for a treat by holding one just above his nose then raising it slightly and moving it over the back of his head. As the pup reaches for the treat, his rear will lower to the floor. Praise him, and give him the treat.
Start adding motion and excitement to stir up the pup. Hop, spin and wave your arms, then stop, stand straight and tell your pup to sit. At first, you'll need to end the "wildness" after a few sec­onds, so your pup doesn't get too excited and start jumping or nipping. As he learns the game better, you'll be able stay "wild" longer before having him sit.
Go Wild and Freeze is more fun when there are several people playing. If you have children, include them in the game. They'll enjoy the high-energy action, and they'll learn a positive way to romp with the pup. The puppy will learn to play more gently with children and obey them when they tell him to sit.

Show each player how to have the pup sit, and reward him with a treat. Then hand each player a doggie treat and start playing. As the leader, you'll begin the game by saying "Go wild!" At that cue, the players should hop, skip, wiggle, wave and make happy sounds. After three or four seconds, call "Freeze!" and have everyone stop and stand tall. Players should hold their arms at their sides or folded across their chests.

When you call "freeze," the person closest to the pup tells him to sit and rewards him with a treat. After the pup gets his treat, start the game again, calling, "Go wild!" Each time you play, try waiting a few seconds longer before saying, "Freeze." If your pup gets overexcited and starts behaving roughly, that means you need to shorten the "wild" time a little. The idea is to let the pup get playful and excited but not overtax his self-control.

After a few rounds of Go Wild and Freeze, your pup probably will start sitting automatically when players freeze, without anyone needing to tell him. If he sits on his own, have the closest player reward him with a treat. If he doesn't sit automatically, have the player tell him to sit and reward him.
By playing this game with your puppy, he'll learn it's OK to get excited and have fun, but when people stand tall and don't reach toward him he should sit and not jump on them.

This game teaches a pup to take an object gen­tly from your hand and then release it to you when asked. Choose a puppy toy that's long enough that he can grip one end while you hold the other. A large plush toys or knotted rope toy works well for this.

Make the toy interesting by shaking it; then, make it hop or wiggle away from your pup. This will entice him to go after it. Say, "take it," and let your pup grab the toy. Continue holding it while he mouths and plays with it. Then ask your pup to release the toy. Keep hold of your end of the toy but stop moving your hand. Say, "thank you," and show your pup a treat in your other hand, about six inches away from the side of his mouth. He'll be looking at the treat out of the corner of his eye as you hold the toy steady. Most pups quickly choose the treat and let go of the toy. If your pup prefers toys to treats and won't trade his toy for food, offer another toy in trade instead of a treat.

When he lets go of the toy, don't pull it away, hold it right where it was when lie let go. This way he'll learn he doesn't really lose the toy by giving it to you. As soon as he's eaten the treat, offer him the toy again, saying, "take it," and encourage him to grab on.

Repeat this several times, then stop showing him the trade-treat when you say, "thank you." Instead, move your hand in a smooth sweeping motion near his head, parallel to his face, with your palm toward the pup. Move your hand alongside his face from nose to neck. Most pups watch that hand motion curiously and release the toy as the hand moves by. Praise and reward by excitedly offering the toy back to him instead of giving a treat. The game itself becomes the reward.

Once your pup knows how to play Thank You / Take it with toys, he'll become more willing to give up other things, too. When he gets some­thing he shouldn't have, tell him "thank -you" and make the hand motion past his face. When he gives up the item, praise, reward with a treat, then go with your pup and help him find something more appropriate to play with.

Once your pup knows Thank You/Take It, you can increase the excitement level and add exercise with this friendly tug game. This is not the rough, competitive. tug-of-war game experts cau­tion against. Tug of Peace is cooperative, not com­petitive. It's fun to play and teaches an off-switch for excitement. The object of the game is to tug only as hard as the one holding the other end, not try to yank it away.
Start by offering your pup a toy you can both hold at the same time. Tell your pup, "take it," and encourage him to grab on. Then begin tugging gently, with a straight-ahead give-and-take motion in line with the pup's neck and spine. Don't shake the toy violently or yank it around, as this could hurt your pup. Pull only as hard as your pup pulls, and resist the temptation to use your full strength. Don't try to jerk the toy away; remember, this isn't a competition.

Play this way a few moments, then stop pulling but keep holding the toy. Wait a moment for your pup to realize you're not actively tugging, then say, "thank you," and receive the toy from him. Praise him for releasing the toy and give him a treat. Then offer the toy back in an enticing way to begin another round.
After rewarding the release several times with treats, switch to rewarding with another round of tug instead. Most pups would rather grab the toy again than stop and eat a treat anyway, so the opportu­nity to tug is a strong reward for releasing the toy.
If your pup tries to yank the toy out of your hand, just let it slip through your fin­gers. He might play with it a few moments, but his "win" won't feel satisfying, because you offered no resistance, and he'll want to play again. To encourage you to play, your pup will try to push the toy into your hand. (Ignore him until he does.)

When he offers you the toy, say -thank you," cueing him to release it. Then imme­diately offer it back, saying, "take it" in a happy voice. Hang on to the toy and play tug with a give-and-take
motion. If he pulls too hard, let the toy slip weakly out of your hand again. Soon your pup will learn the object of the game is to match the play partner's strength rather than trying to forcefully yank away the toy.

Fetch

Many pups enjoy chasing a ball or toy, but not every pup will bring it back; some try to entice you into a game of catch me if you can. Pups generally can outmaneuver people when they want to, so you probably won’t get the toy back by chasing.

Not only does this keep-away tease make fetch annoyingly one-sided, it also teaches the pup to run off with the toy instead of giving it back. This can translate into refusal to give up "stolen" items he shouldn't have. Fortunately, there's an easy fix for this keep-away problem. You'll need a toy, a chair and a magazine you've wanted to read. Throw the toy for your pup, then sit down and read. Ignore your pup if he teases you with the toy to get you to chase him. Do not respond in any way. Hold one hand where your pup can reach it, palm up, so when he decides to give you the toy, your hand will be waiting to receive it. Until then, don't look at him. Just read the magazine.

If your pup teases you with the toy, it won't work because you simply won't notice. Keep-away is boring when played alone, so pretty soon your pup will try to lure you back by bringing the toy closer, trying to tempt you. Keep reading.

When your pup realizes he wants to play this game more than you apparently do, and the only way he'll get to chase the toy is if he gives it to you, that's what he'll do. When you feel the toy touch your hand, look up from your magazine, smile warmly at your pup and cue him to give you the toy. If he won't give it up right away, go back to reading. When he does give it to you, praise, give him a treat, then throw the toy for him to chase again.
Puppies need mental and physical exercise every day to grow to their best potential. Games are good for this; plus, they're fun. The games described here will help you teach your pup better manners while you exercise and entertain him. You'll soon notice he's becoming more cooperative and polite, applying skills he's learning from the games. So go grab some toysand some treats and call your pup. OK now:

Ready, set, play