Hide somewhere that makes it easy for you to be found. As you and your dog become more experienced, you can increase the difficulty in hiding spot as well as the time until you call him, but unless your dog sprouts thumbs or is trained as a search and rescue, you probably shouldn't hide inside cupboards or behind latched doors.
Hide with some treats in your hand or pocket and then direct your dog to find you. To reinforce the Come command, you can say "Luna! Come!" To create positive associations with a new name, you can call out "Luna!" I like my dogs to respond to their own whistles like the Captain's children in "The Sound of Music." This is an advanced skill because if both of my dogs came to the whistle assigned to one of them, I would be hidden and unable to correct the mistake. Therefore, Hide and Seek is not a game to reinforce whistle recall with multiple dogs and whistles, but it is a good game for which to utilize whistle recall. Hide and Seek reinforces Sit, Stay, and Come/Recall. It is also fun so it's a positive bonding experience that provides mental and physical exercise for your dog. We love it and play it for 10-15 minutes a few times per week. As we did in Florida, we utilize it as an activity for when the weather doesn't allow us to safely be outside: too hot, too icy, too cold, etc.
Recap: Dog sits, Dog stays, Human hides, Human recalls dog (can be done more than once if dog needs support in locating human), Dog uses her brain, ears, eyes, and nose to seek out human, Dog finds human, Human gives dog a treat and lots of praise! Fun is had by all.
1 comment:
I've never played hide and seek the way you describe (at least not with my dogs--but it's my granddaughter's favorite activity). But I do the same kind of thing and hide treats or bits of kibble for Sammi, my hunting dog. That's the way I trained her to the command "hunt it out" and to watch my hand motions to look for the treats (on the rare occasions when her nose fails her).
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