Most owners who tell us their dog is out of control are describing a dog who is understimulated, not badly behaved. The dog gets a walk, gets fed, and then has fourteen waking hours with nothing to think about. That energy goes somewhere, and it is rarely somewhere you like.
Physical exercise only solves half of this. A dog who has run for an hour is physically tired and mentally untouched. Mental work tires a dog differently and more completely, and unlike a run, you can do it in your living room in ten minutes.
Here are six games we use, roughly in order of difficulty.
The entry point for scent work, and the one that teaches your dog what searching means.
Start far easier than you think you need to. The goal of the first ten repetitions is not challenge, it is teaching your dog that searching pays. Once they understand the game, stop letting them watch, and start hiding things in harder places.
The same game with you as the prize. You need a second person for this one.
Have someone hold your dog in a sit stay while you go hide. Then give the release cue and let your dog find you. Dogs almost never tire of this, it works indoors and out, and it quietly strengthens the association between your voice and something worth running toward.
Dogs build eye to mouth coordination faster than most people expect, and a toddler ring stacker is a cheap way to work on it. Use a wooden set finished with natural dyes rather than plastic, because your dog will be mouthing the rings.
Break it into pieces and mark each one with a clear "yes" before you reward:
This is shaping, and it is the same method professional trainers use for complicated behaviors. Reward the direction of travel, not just the finished product.
The most useful game on this list, because it teaches you the mechanic rather than the trick.
Put something on the floor, your keys for instance, and sit down with a bag of treats. Any movement toward the keys gets an enthusiastic "yes" and a tossed treat. Movement away gets nothing, and you redirect. Get closer, get paid. That is the whole game.
Once your dog understands that your marker word means "that, right there, do more of that," you can shape almost any behavior in the house. Teach the pickup separately, chain it to the approach, and you have a dog who fetches your keys off the floor.
A genuinely useful trick: your dog puts their own toys away.
It starts with "drop it" on cue, which every dog should have anyway for safety reasons. Once dropping on demand is solid, start shaping where the drop happens, moving the reward closer and closer to the toy box until the box is the only place that pays.
Then build duration by raising the count. Reward after two toys, then three, then the whole floor. Keep the verbal praise flowing the entire time, because the running commentary is what keeps a dog working for you between rewards.
We play this one constantly at both campuses, and it is the best test of whether your training actually holds up.
Start your dog in a sit or a down. Say "free" and release them to bounce around, with the one rule that they cannot jump on you. Then, while they are wound up and happy, ask for the sit or down again. Repeat.
Anyone can get a calm dog to sit. The skill is getting an excited dog to switch back on command, and that switch is the difference between a dog who behaves in the living room and a dog who behaves everywhere. This is Proofing, and it is the stage most home training programs skip.
Two rules apply to all six. Keep sessions short, five to ten minutes, and end while your dog still wants more. And keep it fun for both of you, because a dog reads frustration instantly and stops offering behavior the moment the game turns into a test.
Every one of these games is a scaled down version of what we do in our weekly classes, where dogs work these skills around other dogs and real distractions. That is where a living room trick becomes a behavior you can count on at the vet, the trailhead, or the front door.
Questions about where to start? Call us at 480-595-6700. We train dogs 20 weeks and older in Scottsdale and Cave Creek.