How to Challenge Your Dog's Mind ?

Proper exercise for dogs is important to their overall physical and mental wellbeing, but often “mental exercise” is given short shrift when looking at fulfilling a dog’s needs. Dogs that are bored and that have little mental and environmental stimulation can develop mild to severe behavioral problems as a result. Providing your dog with “brain exercise” is easy to do – here’s some ideas you can try out!

1、Behavior training for dogs

Obedience training can be more than just simply teaching your dog sit, down and other common manners and behaviors. Training your dog to learn a new

behavior asks him to think and learn and engage his brain. You can become creative in what you teach tricks are one wonderful way of constantly keeping your

dog learning while enjoying an activity that’s fun for both of you. Using a clicker to train is an excellent way of teaching your dog complex behaviors and you can use it to “shape” behaviors as well. “Free shaping” is another type of training where you “shape” small increments of behavior based on what your dog does in a given situation. A typical example would be the well-known “101 Things to Do With a Box” exercise from clicker training expert Karen Pryor.

2. “Outside the box” training classes for dogs

Taking your dog to a “regular” obedience class helps to socialize your dog and helps you both learn how to communicate with each other. It’s also terrific mental exercise for a dog since it involves not only the learning process but also handling a new and varying environment. Once the “typical” dog parent finishes obedience class though, as many a dog trainer from my personal experience can attest, they decide they are “done.”There are many wonderful options available today for you to continue in classes with your dog, such as classes on teaching tricks, therapy dog training, and a whole host of dog sports such as agility, rally, canine freestyle, scent work, barn hunt and much more.You don’t need to become a competitor in these sports either, many classes are a mixture of serious competitors and dog parents who just want to have fun with their dogs, so don’t be intimidated to try one! Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Associated Certified Animal Behaviorist Katenna Jones encourages guardians to take the plunge: “I love classes that cover skills beyond the basics. My favorite class I teach is Brain Games, where dogs learn things like riding skateboards, color discrimination, and more. Classes and activities like this are rewarding for you both, great for bonding, improve communication, and tire out brains and bodies." If you don’t know what kinds of classes are available in your area, visit the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants website to find classes in your area.  

3. Dog sniffing and using other senses

Take your dog out on more than “just a walk.” Find places that are richly varied in terms of sounds, sights, textures, odors and more. A dog’s sense of smell is much stronger than ours and allowing him to “see” the world through olfactory senses can really stretch his mind (hence the popularity of scent work classes and competition). Rather than taking your dog on the same walk every day, along the same path or sidewalk, look for places that may have new smells, or an abundance of them, such as parks or forest trails you don’t usually go to. On the reverse side, find dog friendly urban walks to change up the pace. You can even add in some elements of “parkour” to your walks by having your dog go up onto obstacles such as curbs, steps, benches, and playground equipment – be creative, but make sure that nothing is too high or unsafe for your dog!