Training Tip Tuesday – Use Your Nose (Hide & Seek)

After pulling a muscle in my leg last week and mum trying to physically rest me there has been quite a lot of conversations about mental stimulation. Someone at training on Saturday even said that they think about 10mins of mental stimulation is equal to about 2hrs of running around.

Being a mix of cocker and lab I enjoy putting my sense of smell to work. Some people have even questioned if I have beagle in me as I spend so much time with my nose on the ground. Mum jokes I am trying out for Border Security. So mental stimulation that uses my nose is something I enjoy.

Both inside and outside we will play Hide & Seek.

Inside mum will get me to sit or drop and stay (so a good opportunity to practice your stays). She then goes and hinds a favourite toy that we have been playing with prior. On a release word like “find” I go and use my nose to retrace where mum has been and find my toy. Great for a rainy day or do it at night with lights off so it is really all about the nose.

When I find the toy and bring it back to mum we will either play with the toy or I will get a treat. Either way mum makes a big deal as to how excited she is that I found it…. and then we go through the process outside.

We do a similar thing outside, when I haven’t hurt myself (not happy about this injury thing) and mum pretends to throw the ball in one direction and once I have headed off that way then she carefully throws the ball in the other direction, ideally so it is slight hidden. Now I am onto this “fake throw” business mum but play along with it as it is a good game of hide & seek in the backyard.

Enjoy a game of hide & seek and have a great Tuesday!

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