Find it!

Dog looking at a ball

Mid afternoon. Human is doing something in the kitchen - cling, clang - not giving me food apparently, must be unimportant.,, Should I chew on the slipper or scratch the sofa a bit to get attention here? Also I am slightly hungry, which makes me more attentive and gets my hunting skills sharper.

I can get human’s day way more interesting by making them play hide and sniff. Obviously humans cannot squeeze themselves into small crevises and under the small chair. But they can put treats there, while I am not looking.

So here it goes:

  • You (human) grabs bunch of treats, Toss some of them in the far corner of the room, so I can get busy.
  • Take a small toy, that I can fit in my mouth. Ball, stuffed sock, something with green-ish color.
  • Put it nearby - and cheerfully (:-)) call out “Find it”.
  • Me trying to figure out what is this all about. Pushing my nose around you. Once I grab the toy make an excited sound - Yes! Good boy/girl! That’s right! and give me treato!
  • Keep going, after few tries I definitely will figure out, keep the treats coming. This is not about fetching the toy, rather tossing it around and learning to get it

  • Clarity is key as always - me gets confused when you use too many of those sounds. I know your “Woof” is not developed yet, but when you speak to me say same thing same way - every time, pwetty pawees. Say “Find it” every time ><

  • Start tossing the toy a bit further: few feet away, another corner of the room. As the treats flow, game gets more and more interesting.

Sources

Updated: