However, all this physical rest can lead to mental unrest, so keeping your buddy entertained while indoors is the goal. What to do, what to do? There are several inexpensive ideas that will pay major dividends to you and your pooch; here is the first of three blogs on this topic:
Relationship Building: Foundation for Everything
We all know people who have never formally “trained” their dogs but have wonderfully behaved companions who don’t jump up and seem to listen to every whispered word. And we know other pairs who try their hardest, have probably gone to training class, and yet the dogs are still pushy, jumpy, mouthy and hard to manage.
If you fall into that frustrated second category (or you want to avoid being there) try relationship games like the ones taught in My Smart Puppy (book and DVD), Warner Books, 2006. Full disclosure: I’m the “Wilson” part of this team.
We wrote this as a series of games/simple exercises. They are quick and, especially when you play the Space Games with your dog, you’ll see big changes right away. See videos clips of various games at in our Library.
We know the title says “Puppy” but since the exercises work just fine with all age humans (who are doing the teaching), all age dogs respond quickly.
Next installment we will discuss tricks!
If you have any questions, ask us on our (friendly, moderated and flame-free forums!
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By Sarah Wilson, author of the two handbooks of MySmartPuppy.com: My Smart Puppy (Kindle Version here) and Childproofing Your Dog (Kindle Version here)
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