Playing Stupid

Dogs love to figure things out. They relish finding something and they live for learning how to open things, especially dog food bags. But seriously, dogs are smart and sometimes it is fun if you let her think she is smarter than you.

There are two approaches to this: throwing something and then acting like you don’t know where it went or leaving something out that you know she will grab and than ignoring her when she stands in front of you with it in her mouth. Either way, you’re playing stupid: Where did it go? Make sure your dog is looking at you and throw a toy over your shoulder and then act as if you didn’t just do that. Your dog will probably stare at you with a look that says “are you crazy?”.

When he does this, ask “where did it go?” making sure that the inflection is on the end of the question. Repeat this a number of times until he gets really hyper and then tell him to “go get it”. Repeat until you both get tired of the game. Whatcha got? Another great game is to leave something that your dog absolutely loves in the middle of the floor. My dog likes an old sock. Walk away from the object and wait. Within a couple of minutes, your dog will appear with the object in her mouth taunting you to come and get it. Look at her casually as if nothing is happening. It is at this point, she will probably drop it and step back. When she does this, pretend to get up and act as if you just noticed the object lying in front of her. She’ll grab it and start to make off. Don’t follow her. Instead, sit back down and wait. Once she notices that you are sitting casually, she will drop it again.

Keep this up for a little while and then suddenly burst into a chase asking “whatcha got?” over and over.