# How to tire your dog out - without a walk?



## Pupcakes (Jun 20, 2011)

Hey everyone,

I was wandering if you could give me some advice/help regarding tiring Dottie and Charlie out without walking them?

Basically it seems none of my family seem to stick to the rules I set for Dottie and Charlie's walks. One at a time, keep distance from triggers, reward when good, no telling off etc etc. I've put up bright signs, asked nicely, asked over and over again and just sound like a nag.

Basically I don't want them to walk them unless they stick to my rules, which they are not doing so. I sound very ungrateful when I ask how their walk went then pick out the things they shouldn't have done. So I have now insisted I alone walk them so I can ensure all training is consistent and the way I want it. 

I always say to my family, can you do some training with the dogs or play some games with them instead of walking them, I'll do that later. After work etc.

What good brain games can my parents play with Dottie and Charlie? Games with toys? Games that will build their confidence and help with obedience?

Any ideas, very welcomed 

xxx


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## grandad (Apr 14, 2011)

How about the housework


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## Staffx (Jan 12, 2011)

Seek is always a good game to play, hide some food around the house and then let them find them, you can then change and use bit of clothes that smell of you etc. Major loves this game.

Also tug, a good game of tug a Major is a happy boy


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## Guy2932 (Jun 23, 2011)

Any searching games will tire them out. Put them in the sit and let them see you place a favourite toy just out of sight. Release them to find it and then play with them when they find it. Repeat, gradually making the search harder and harder until they will search for about 10 minutes. If that doesn't tire them out, nothing will. The chance to use their natural abilities like this really seems to leave them content and mentally tired.


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Any type of training will tire them out. Teaching sit and down stays, recall to front and recall to heel etc, doing heelwork with them, searching for toys, teaching retrieve, weaving through your legs, etc. etc. etc.


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## Irish Setter Gal (Mar 17, 2011)

Guy2932 said:


> Any searching games will tire them out. Put them in the sit and let them see you place a favourite toy just out of sight. Release them to find it and then play with them when they find it. Repeat, gradually making the search harder and harder until they will search for about 10 minutes. If that doesn't tire them out, nothing will. The chance to use their natural abilities like this really seems to leave them content and mentally tired.


Mine do it with food or retrieve items. I sit both up and send one or other - two birds with one stone - steadiness and search/retrieve. I personally find that 10mins of this is greater than an hours walk


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

buy a few cheap hula-hoops of various sizes - teach the dogs to WALK thru them first, using the biggest 
& setting the hoop vertical on the floor. Then go to a half-size & lift it slightly; get them jumping TUCKED, 
so they don't hook their rear feet. Finally go to the smallest, which they must either tuck & fly thru, 
or extend & float thru - each dog solves this little problem themselves. 

$6 plus tax should buy 3 hoops. :001_smile:


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

teach a GI-crawl - 








under a coffee-table, 
under my bent knee as i kneel on the floor, 
under a chair, 
under a tunnel of chairs side by side, 
under the sofa...


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## SpringerHolic (Jul 16, 2011)

Pupcakes said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I was wandering if you could give me some advice/help regarding tiring Dottie and Charlie out without walking them?
> 
> ...


How about a sport of some kind like agility, flyball, rally, etc. Those kinds are really easy to get the whole family involved in. Furthermore, it sounds as though you are leash training the hard way. You need to make yourself the dog's primary focus during a walk and show your family how to do the same. At that point, your dog should behave for anyone on lead and your "rules" become irrelevant. Instead of putting up walls and expecting that people remain with in them, try allowing the people more freedom do walk the dog as they wish. This makes them more likely to want to walk the dogs in the first place. To properly leash train a dog, start in your own yard with the leash attached. when the dog starts to pull towards a distraction, turn around and go the other way. Keep going back and forth and try to keep the dogs attention on you, food lures are acceptable in the beginning but will need to be weened out. Praise and reward the dog every time they are looking at you while on leash. Once the dog is reliably looking at you, introduce the voice command "Look". Now, if your dog does get distracted, you can tell them to look and they should focus on you. The dog will then learn that when they are on lead, they need to look to you for guidance and what they are expected to do next. If all of that seems unfeasible for you, take your dogs to a dog daycare during the day, this will tire them out immensely. Good luck.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

SpringerHolic said:


> How about a sport of some kind like agility, flyball, rally, etc.
> Those kinds are really easy to get the whole family involved in.


pardon me, but both dogs are dog-REACTIVE if not dog-AGGRESSIVE.

[CONTINUED] 
_Furthermore, it sounds as though you are leash training the hard way. You need to make yourself the dog's 
primary focus during a walk and show your family how to do the same. At that point, your dog should behave 
for anyone on lead and your "rules" become irrelevant. _ [/QUOTE]

as above - & other family-members ALLOW THE DOGS to practice being reactive &/or aggro, during walks. 
this is absolutely no help whatever.

yes, IMO: other family-members DO NEED to follow the rules, or alternatively *not walk the dogs.* Period. 
if they continue in maintaining the unwanted behavior, i might very well put a prong-collar on the offending human.

and OF COURSE - that human is an adult over 18-YO, because no-one but an eejit would let a child walk 
a dog-reactive or dog-aggro dog... Right?


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

Guy2932 said:


> Any searching games will tire them out. Put them in the sit and let them see you place a favourite toy just out of sight. Release them to find it and then play with them when they find it. Repeat, gradually making the search harder and harder until they will search for about 10 minutes. If that doesn't tire them out, nothing will. The chance to use their natural abilities like this really seems to leave them content and mentally tired.


I do this too, they love it! I leave them in a wait in one room then hide bits of food all over the rest of the house, then send them off to find it. You'd think they had enough sense not to search the room they were in while I was hiding the food, but they always search there too!
Another one is bring the named toy. Start with 3 or 4 toys, teach the dog their names - ball, ropey, bone, raggy or whatever. Then chuck them away a few feet and ask the dog to find them by name. It helps if you start with their favourite because they'll usually get that one first! If they get the wrong one, say no that's ropey - find ball, and put ropey back. They soon catch on and you can start adding more things to the game like gloves or washing-up sponges. When they get good at it you can put the toys in another room and send the dog to find them.


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## Kittenfostermummy (Jul 25, 2011)

Petsathome have some cheap dog agility equipment and I have even seen a flyball board for sale in my local one for around £20. if your dogs love balls this would be a great thing to set up in your garden


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## SpringerHolic (Jul 16, 2011)

leashedForLife said:


> pardon me, but both dogs are dog-REACTIVE if not dog-AGGRESSIVE.
> 
> [CONTINUED]
> _Furthermore, it sounds as though you are leash training the hard way. You need to make yourself the dog's
> ...


as above - & other family-members ALLOW THE DOGS to practice being reactive &/or aggro, during walks. 
this is absolutely no help whatever.

yes, IMO: other family-members DO NEED to follow the rules, or alternatively *not walk the dogs.* Period. 
if they continue in maintaining the unwanted behavior, i might very well put a prong-collar on the offending human.

and OF COURSE - that human is an adult over 18-YO, because no-one but an eejit would let a child walk 
a dog-reactive or dog-aggro dog... Right? [/QUOTE]

Where in her original post does it say anything about a problem with reactivity or agression? The problem is other people not knowing how to handle her dogs and as such, she needs to find an activity to involve the whole family in so they can see and understand the expectation. Different people have different learning styles and it is the responsibility of the teacher to cater to those styles. Explaining the same thing over and over has failed her. The next step is to break things down and show the family though a visual demonstration. She also asked how to tire her dogs out with out a walk. Sports like agility, flyball, etc do exactly that and the whole family can participate. Putting a prong coller on anyone is not the correct way to teach them. Teaching with fear or violence only reinforces ways to avoid the punishment with as little work as possible and makes for a very poor learning environment. The best way to weed out an un wanted behavoiur is to interrupt the behavoiur, replace the wrong behaviour with the desired one, and to praise the individual once they begin the new behaviour. And for the record, most un trained dogs are dog reactive. Dog reactive behavoiurs can be as simple as even looking in the direction of another dog so the degree of the reactivity has to be properly gauged. Lastly, it is not up to you to determine if my comments have helped another person. They are the only ones who can determine that based on their individual case. Have a great day.

--SpringerHolic


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

SpringerHolic said:


> Where in her original post does it say anything about a problem with reactivity or [aggression]?


this is not her first thread about Dotty & Charley.

http://tinyurl.com/3bpnnqm

if her family cannot be bothered to keep each dog under-threshold when they are out on leash, then IMO the rest 
of the family is being far-more of a hindrance than a help.

with friends like them, who needs enemies?  so until they reform, exercising the dogs at home 
in the garden or in the house, with training & games, is far preferable to having the dogs walked on leash 
& reacting with barks, lunges, etc, to every passing dog.

that way Pupcakes can take them out individually for their B-mod on leash, but they still get some activity 
when she's not home; Win / win! :thumbup:


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## Hollymum (Jun 12, 2011)

Tennis balls, great fun for catching, chasing, hiding or chewing. My border collie will chase the tennis ball for hours and never ties of this. We also play games where we hide her ball and tell her to find it, she loves that game. 

Tug is a good game for terriers with a toy or a rope. 

Hide and seek is also great fun with dogs.

p.s. Cute dogs, good luck with the training and walks.


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