School holidays are usually a time when children get bored, and mothers are at a loss as how to keep them occupied. Well with the Covid-19 pandemic these holidays are going to be pretty trying, for both moms and kids, To crown it all many families have several dogs, many of which attend dog school but now there is no school for them either for close to a month…
Many of our senior citizens will also be in lockdown and they were regular walkers with their dogs. In this short article I am going to try and help all dog owners who are in lockdown to manage the situation by keeping both their dogs and if they have small children, occupied.
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With the onset of school holidays, I try to run extra puppy classes at my training school, this helps keep the kids out of mom’s hair and it gives the children and their dogs a fun way to stay busy. Unfortunately, these school holidays, that is not going to happen, due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
So, let us see what we can do to keep our dogs and kids occupied by having some fun – for most of these games you will not need fancy or expensive toys. A word of warning, Moms, this could lead to the disappearance of your supply of cheese, or any other goodies that could be used as treats! I will refer to the dog as him, but you should use your dog’s name.
Game toss the treat – Getting your dog to focus on your hand
Day 1 step 1.
Sit the dog in front of you – put a treat in your hand, which you have made into a fist, stretch your arm out in front of you – say to him “look” and as soon as he looks at you or your hand, toss the treat to him. Aim for his mouth making it easy for him to catch. Only go to step 2 when he is perfect at step 1.
Day 2 Step 2. Repeat step 1.
If he is catching the treat every time you toss it, you can make it a bit more difficult by taking one step backwards and give your command “look” then toss the treat to him.
Day 3 step 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2.
Only when he catches the treat every time you toss it to him should you move to step 3. Now you can move backwards two steps and toss the treat a bit higher, not too high, just high enough so he has to jump up a little to catch it.
This is one of the fun ways to get your dog focused on you, so next time you need his attention, just say the magic word “look” he will look at you because when he does he gets a treat. Always toss the treat when you give the command, if I was your dog and you asked me to “look” and there wasn’t a treat for me, I would not trust to you anymore!
THE SECRET HERE IS NOT TO MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP UNTIL THE PREVIOUS STEPS ARE PERFECT.
I will be posting a new game each week – at least until our President informs us that we can once again resume our normal activities.
Next game will be to find the treat.
I wish you all well over this uncertain period, and pray for your safety,
Regards,
Yvonne ADIPCBM
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