01 Grooming / 02 Enrichment / 03 Best things bought / 04 Walks
As we reach Tallie’s first birthday, I am writing a series of articles that summarise what I have learned and what I continue to do for her to have the best life possible. If you find any information useful, please add a comment at the bottom…
Here is a list of things I have found that have given both us lots of enjoyment and helped make things fun and interesting…
When I first got my puppy, an Australian Labradoodle, called Tallie, I was interested in ways to play with her. I now know that lots of these exciting things come under the category of enrichment, and it helps her training, our relationship, and for both of us to enjoy our partnership so much more. I am keeping a list of all the things that we enjoy to be able to share with other people and hope that you get similar enjoyment together with your dog too.
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31. Tasty kibble to use as rewards: I’ve always struggled with training Tallie because she is not very treat orientated. I was delighted when our Dog trainer, Scott, pointed out this range of kibble from pets at home. Tallie finds it tasty enough to be used to encourage her training
30. Training to catch a frisbee, I don’t want Tallie to become ball obsessed, so I have decided to train her to retrieve a frisbee. I have made a start using this link https://youtu.be/HPGkH3Dm7Yo?si=fDkU66kcoSzTkABl and buying these two soft frisbees.
This is the one we use most of the time. It is very robust and can put up with minutes of tugging and dragging from side to side.
Tallie very quickly found an easy way to carry it:
This one is more like a true frisbee, without the hole in the middle. Many of the exercises it’s useful to have two frisbees to be able to alternate. This is the one that I will continue to use when she is happy with catching a frisbee in the air.
We have been practising for a couple of weeks now and got to the stage where Tallie likes alternating between the two frisbees for catching from the hand. Be careful holding the frisbees that you are not between her teeth and the frisbee. I find it best to hold the frisbee a bit the side at 90° to the direction she is jumping in to grab it.
I recommend this short video https://youtu.be/EKUNPApYgr0?si=kZf1xVkjRNPjv_JY
Especially recommend step 5, to train tally coming around my body and then throwing the frisbee vertically down and rolling for her to chase.
29. More blanket ideas: [Thanks to Gro on the CE FBG]. Grab a cheap fleece blanket. Cut 6 long and wide strips. The longer and wider the better. Make 2 braids; not too loose, not too tight. Start and finish with a knot. Two, because one will always be in the wash. Now hide kibble everywhere in the braid and let him/her get to work. One half is nose work because the kibble is hidden in the folds of the braid, one half is mental work because they have to work the kibble out of the nooks and crannies. And they are never exactly the same. Note. This distinctly prolongs the time spent on solving the activity as there are multiple treats in play! Highly recommended.
28. My future project is using dog buttons. @SpiritDogTraining recommends http://www.fluent.pet.
27. Tree surfing. Another idea from Shay (p.70) that I tried out only today. Tallie achieved all that height by herself.
I am now extending this with inserting treats in tree trunks:
26. I am halfway through Shay Kelly’s second edition of his book “Canine Enrichment”. I have already bought a West Paw Zogofex Tux (p.56), using it with a treat and Amazon packaging to plug it. And dog peanut butter.
25. I then cut up a carpet roll and Amazon packages
24. A Canine Enrichment idea example was this – using cut up noodles – both in a box and on a muffin tray:
23. My next discovery was the Facebook group “Canine Enrichment” [CE FBG] set up by Shay Kelly. Lots of people share ideas and I’ve developed ideas further as a result of rhe discussions.
22. One of my best finds has been this “Clam” from tuff-e-nuff. I use it nearly every day. I take Tallie into another room when she sits, and waits whilst I hide it. She waits until the command “go” and then sniffs it out. She will keep searching for many minutes. It velcro’s shut so she pushes it open with her nose when she finds it. This and the flirt pole have developed her wait time. This is useful in all sorts of scenarios such as leaving the house and standing still on walks to have a lead removed or attached.
21. And Kongs for frozen treats. Also these – Rylo rubber treat dispenser and the flower pot durable rubber treat dispenser from wooof.co.uk
20. I then found out there was such a thing as a snuffle ball…
19. The book also suggested pulling puzzles …
18. I then started using other containers to prolong the puzzles, a section of plastic drainpipe, bottles, boxes etc
17. I used a saucepan to fill with balls
16. I then invested in cheap props, cups and cones. I also bought a pack of jay cloths to act as buffers which I continue to use.
15. I then looked for props that we already had, and this led to plastic tumblers and plates being pushed all over the floor.
14. The first and simplest idea was wrapping up treats in a blanket – and she already had her own blanket from her breeder. Months later we have progressed to tying knots and this prolongs the trick (a little). I also use large fleeces.
13. At this stage, I went looking for some more ideas and dropped on this book.
12. The first of many walks in the Lake District, and Scotland …
11. Then next two are credit to our first dog trainer, Scott. A Tug-Enuff chaser and a flirt pole. Tallie loved both and I have spent hours and hours in the garden with the flirt pole.
There is also a smaller pocket squeaky which was great for recall on walls before got going with the whistle.
10. Obviously, playing with other dogs is some of the best enrichment you can have, and Tilly has six brothers and sisters, and we have been able to meet up with those closest to us on several occasions.
9. I bought a snuffle mat early on, and it was incredibly useful for occupying Tallie at work and in pubs etc
8. Early on we used two Kong wubba fetch toys, alternating them when she bought one back – most of the time
7. I’ve bought Tallie one plastic investigative toy, but since then, I have done a lot of research to make enrichment activities without buying shop, plastic toys unnecessarily.
6. Tallie has an interest in everyday objects. Firstly, the washing machine, then another time, I got some idea of her level of concentration when she spent minutes watching a fly
5b. Later on, Tallie would always ask for us to put the hose on and I was delighted to find a pressure pad that meant she could operate it for herself.
5. Games with water were a large part of our early play, including telly taking the sponge at every opportunity. A training lead was an important part of her early training.
4. First go at a licky mat, with squeezy Philadelphia cheese.
3. Her first tug toy – Ellie, who is still in one piece, although it has been played with nearly every morning of last year.
I also like tug toys that don’t have any stuffing in to start with. These were very good value.
2. Tallie loved to climb – in this case, onto the step I sat on to play tug with her.
1. This photo is the day after we collected Tallie and shows how she could climb up her pen, even though it was 4 times her size. Within 3 days she was waiting for me on the chair outside her pen when I came down on the morning. We took the pen away as I was sure she must fall on her head when she got on the other side although we never saw this.
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