# Puppy Games!!!



## lily cd re

Teach basic commands like sit, etc. and intersperse with tricks like give paw, take a bow, sit pretty and the like. You can teach your pup to spin next to you. A lot of performance people use spin as a way to help their dog de-stress as they move from one exercise to the next during trials. I think tug is also a great game to teach. Having the pup learn to stop on command is a great impulse control exercise and could help with your nipping issues.


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## fjm

I love Follow the Leader - dance around the house or garden being fun, singing silly songs and encouraging your puppy to stay with you, trying to move too fast for him to jump up. Lots of praise and rewards for keeping close. Perfect for when you come to loose leash walking.

Other easy ideas:

Call the puppy backwards and forwards between you, having a party each time she reaches you. 

Find the toy - hide a toy under a blanket or heap of cushions. Start very easy, and get more challenging gradually.

Which cup? Hide a treat in one cup of a muffin tin, with paper cups or balls over all the holes.

Hide and seek - one of you stays with the puppy, the other one hides, and puppy goes off to seek. Make it very easy at first, letting him watch you hide, and then get more inventive as his skill develops.

Tickling - or careful hand wrestling. One to play with caution to encourage bite inhibition; take care not to let it get so exciting that someone gets hurt. Sophy loves this one!

I'm coming to GET you! Creep towards the pup, making exaggerated play steps and "threatening" a tickle. Again needs careful judgement - Poppy was a nervous puppy but loves to wait at the top of the stairs while I creep up on her on my hands and knees because I always took great care not to let the game become the least bit threatening and it ends with a gentle cuddle.

Anything can be made into a game by making sure the puppy enjoys it. Puppies' favourite games with each other include tugging, keep away (I've got it and you can't have it!), chase, and wrestling. The knack is to build on these games, while also teaching cues to stop them when unwanted - drop, leave it, wait, etc. So other games to play include Swapsies (swapping whatever the pup has for something much better and then, whenever possible, giving back the original thing as well), and lots of self control games.


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## Myleen

fjm said:


> I love Follow the Leader - dance around the house or garden being fun, singing silly songs and encouraging your puppy to stay with you, trying to move too fast for him to jump up. Lots of praise and rewards for keeping close. Perfect for when you come to loose leash walking.
> 
> Other easy ideas:
> 
> Call the puppy backwards and forwards between you, having a party each time she reaches you.
> 
> Find the toy - hide a toy under a blanket or heap of cushions. Start very easy, and get more challenging gradually.
> 
> Which cup? Hide a treat in one cup of a muffin tin, with paper cups or balls over all the holes.
> 
> Hide and seek - one of you stays with the puppy, the other one hides, and puppy goes off to seek. Make it very easy at first, letting him watch you hide, and then get more inventive as his skill develops.
> 
> Tickling - or careful hand wrestling. One to play with caution to encourage bite inhibition; take care not to let it get so exciting that someone gets hurt. Sophy loves this one!
> 
> I'm coming to GET you! Creep towards the pup, making exaggerated play steps and "threatening" a tickle. Again needs careful judgement - Poppy was a nervous puppy but loves to wait at the top of the stairs while I creep up on her on my hands and knees because I always took great care not to let the game become the least bit threatening and it ends with a gentle cuddle.
> 
> Anything can be made into a game by making sure the puppy enjoys it. Puppies' favourite games with each other include tugging, keep away (I've got it and you can't have it!), chase, and wrestling. The knack is to build on these games, while also teaching cues to stop them when unwanted - drop, leave it, wait, etc. So other games to play include Swapsies (swapping whatever the pup has for something much better and then, whenever possible, giving back the original thing as well), and lots of self control games.


Ha ha... I love the hide and seek!!! A lot of great suggestions!! I will be back to re read many times after Toby has freedom of the house.  Right now he can only roam free in the kitchen area (until he is fully trained to potty out doors only)


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## Myleen

lily cd re said:


> Teach basic commands like sit, etc. and intersperse with tricks like give paw, take a bow, sit pretty and the like. You can teach your pup to spin next to you. A lot of performance people use spin as a way to help their dog de-stress as they move from one exercise to the next during trials. I think tug is also a great game to teach. Having the pup learn to stop on command is a great impulse control exercise and could help with your nipping issues.


de-stress. I like that!! The learn to stop on a command for impulse control GREAT idea... (love that it could help with the nipping issues.


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## kmart

The first game I taught my puppy is the "touch" game. You hold your hand out, wait for your puppy to nose it, and then say "touch." Eventually, they figure out that they need to nose your hand when you say "touch." My puppy looooooves this game. She's older now, so she loves to show off and dramatically leap for my hands. This is also a great game that teaches your puppy to go where your hand is. I used it to teach my pup to "hop up," "jump down," "kennel" (with kennels other than her own- she learned "kennel" before she learned touch), and we're using it to learn to "go over."


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## Click-N-Treat

Noelle and I played tug with rules. She had to let go of the tug when I stopped moving it, make and hold eye contact, before I would play with her again. That was fun to play.


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## Myleen

kmart said:


> The first game I taught my puppy is the "touch" game. You hold your hand out, wait for your puppy to nose it, and then say "touch." Eventually, they figure out that they need to nose your hand when you say "touch." My puppy looooooves this game. She's older now, so she loves to show off and dramatically leap for my hands. This is also a great game that teaches your puppy to go where your hand is. I used it to teach my pup to "hop up," "jump down," "kennel" (with kennels other than her own- she learned "kennel" before she learned touch), and we're using it to learn to "go over."


t 

This is very cool! It also tells me that I can take a word that makes sense to me, and associate with an action I want done. Just like any of them!
Cause and effect! Thanks!


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## Myleen

Click-N-Treat said:


> Noelle and I played tug with rules. She had to let go of the tug when I stopped moving it, make and hold eye contact, before I would play with her again. That was fun to play.


I like this! Use of concentration. :happy: Everyone has such great ideas!

cute puppy!!


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## lily cd re

Myleen said:


> I like this! Use of concentration. :happy: Everyone has such great ideas!
> 
> cute puppy!!


The offering of focused attention there is great and it also does impulse control. I think those two skills make it easy to teach everything else.


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## sidewinder

I found a good reference that talks about growth plates, explains the type of appropriate exercise for different ages, etc. It's not specific to poodles, but really very good.

https://puppyculture.com/appropriate-exercise.html


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## Myleen

sidewinder said:


> I found a good reference that talks about growth plates, explains the type of appropriate exercise for different ages, etc. It's not specific to poodles, but really very good.
> 
> https://puppyculture.com/appropriate-exercise.html


Very useful! Thank you!

We will be trail blazing today!!


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