What kind of brain games do you play?

[WAKing]

I'm getting bored of playing "go get the toy I ask for" with Ben and besides adding more toys into the mix I'd like to play other "inteligence" games with him. What kinds of games do you guys play that can keep a BC's mind working?

[sluj]

I'm getting bored of playing "go get the toy I ask for" with Ben and besides adding more toys into the mix I'd like to play other "inteligence" games with him. What kinds of games do you guys play that can keep a BC's mind working?

 

You could mix it up by hiding them first (while he sit-stays), or telling him to perform another task first (e.g., go around the table, then go get your toy). Or give him a variety of tasks for the toy besides bringing it to you (nose, paw, put in box, etc.)

[Serena+Eluane B.C.]

I too play hide and seek with the toys, the ball, etc. just like I also teach her rights, lefts, en face (in front of) and derriere (sorry, folks, about my code word for backwards) with the frisbee (not throwing until she has gone in the right direction). Directions are great to teach with hide and seek especially with a very difficult "hide". Also sequencing is challenging thing for dogs; doing things in a particular order and then mixing them up randomly and having them repeat it for you is a step above.

[Jedismom]

Ok..this isn't exactly a brain game but here goes. Cadi will play fetch all day with the same ball even if you keep throwing it to the same place. Jedi however gets bored fairly quickly...so after our usual ball fetch, hide and seek, and soccer game...he's an exceptional goalie btw.. I ran out of ideas for the moment. Then my son takes the Kong and throws it against our house and it takes a couple of crazy, unpredictable bounces in the yard... all of a sudden Jedi's eyes light up. If you've seen that focus kick in you know what I mean He thinks it's the greatest game in the world because he gets to try to predict which way the ball will bounce so it makes him think. Really...I'm not kidding! It's more of a challenge to catch it sooo...it works

[dali]

Nice question !

I'll be watching this tread with great interest....Dali is our first BC so we can use this kind of info !

[TaliC2007]

My opinion is take a class. Agility, obedience, rally, disc dog, flyball, whatever you like. You only go once a week and then the rest of the week you practice and train. This way you are always learning new things, your dog is always learning new things, and it never gets boring or mundane for either of you. You don't have to compete, just go to learn and have fun with your dog.

 

For something simple...

Someone on this board once told me that just going for a car ride is brain stimulation for your dog. I take mine with me everywhere but work and he loves it and watches everything.

 

anyway, just my 2 cents but it works well for us.

 

Tammy

[bc4ever]

We play hide and seek with Scooter. I hide and he tries to find me. He's very good at this one. Also, when he goes to bed at night, I hide his favorite toy in a different place and the next day when we're playing fetch the toy, he has to find the toy in the new hiding place. It's fun to watch. I can see his mind working--he goes back to other places where it had been, sticks his head under the couch, etc. I can tell by the look on his face, he's into this and he's in "search mode." Another thing we do, not sure if it's a brain game, but when we give him a treat, we have him choose and point to the one he wants. We have several varieties--chicken, peanut butter, etc. He actually does sniff and choose. To make it fun, since I thought maybe he always chose what was in my right hand, I put three treats in my hand. He chose the one on the left! LOL! In a variation on the shell game, my husband likes to put a treat under one of three plastic cups, mix them up and have Scooter pick the one with the treat under it. He never misses! Just about anything "new" is a brain game for a Border Collie. And it keeps our brains active, trying to find new challenges for him !

[echoskybound]

I'm getting bored of playing "go get the toy I ask for" with Ben and besides adding more toys into the mix I'd like to play other "inteligence" games with him. What kinds of games do you guys play that can keep a BC's mind working?

 

I have never tried teaching my BC to identify different objects. What methods of teaching did you use? I've seen people use target poles and clickers, but I don't know if that's a common method. My dog will respond to "Go find a ball/find me a ball" and he'll search for one for me, but I'm not sure if he knows what a ball is, or if he thinks any toy is a ball. I'd love to train him to identify other stuff though!

[Bo Peep]

Well,

Usher is always "on alert" because he's my service dog. He is so special to me. Just working and shopping poops him out. He has to "think" even when I'm eating, to lie down and be invisible. When I nap, he puts his paw around me and comforts me. When I fall asleep, he leaves and goes to the other room. He is my care-taker, my best friend, and I read an article about "if your in love your pupils dilate. Well, his do.

 

Anyway- my grandkids love to play hide & seek- Usher always hides in the same place. How dull. But he loves to find them. I am lucky I have 2. They play with each other. We also are always learning. A half hour of training poops him out. Also, him working for me really makes his mind think and also poops him out more than his "tennis ball" games.

 

Bailey rides in the car, is learning obedience, she's actually doing quite well. She's more laid back, doesn't require as much attention. I guess it would depend on the individual dog. I've had border collies for most of my adult lifetime. I feel I know this breed pretty well. They aren't for everyone, you've gotta be a nut to own one. I am.

 

Mind games can be anything from go get this toy to utmost obedience training. Just enjoy your dog. Try some frisbee, anything that you both enjoy is fine!!!

[Janet808]

The only other game I can think of, because I saw this on CBS when they were talking about testing your dog's intelligence is putting a treat under a cup, have about 3, and show the treat to your dog, then move the cups around and tell him to get the treat. If the dog finds it, that's good, if the dog actually knocks the cup over and gets the treat, that's even better. Otherwise, hiding the toys is good, sometimes, you hiding and having your pup find you would be another. Some pet stores sell interactive toys to stimulate the brain, you could check into that. But, I agree, anything you do with your dog is good as long as you're both having fun.

[Serena+Eluane B.C.]

I have never tried teaching my BC to identify different objects. What methods of teaching did you use? I've seen people use target poles and clickers

 

Hi, Echoskybound. My Eluane is not clicker trained and she is not a treat-motivated dog, what makes it exciting for her is that she wants to scout and find things before I can get to them and she will ransack the entire house to get that toy. I have a 4 bedroom house, we will hide under boxes, under counters, inside plastic bags, behind the sofa, whatever crook and cranny we can think of. . . Also what Eluane loves is that once we find that toy we have madcap fun of chase with that toy. She is not the National Geographic genius that Betsy is; Eluane knows about 45 toy names whereas Betsy knows 340, I believe. And unlike Genius Betsy, I am pretty sure that there is no way Eluane can recognize photos.

 

Anyway, I started with the toys when Eluane was just a tiny pup, because she loved stuffed animals and we actually play very complicated hide and seek with each specific toy. You can start off with very distinct toys, toys that your dog is most interested in. You have to make each name specific as well. Example: one plush ball I call fuzzy ball, one Easter Target ball I call Peep (after the Marsmallow peep), her light-up ball, I call her Christmas Ball, her hexagonal tug ball I call Hexey ball, etc, etc.. In case your dog is not particularly interested in that toy, but if he or she picks up the right toy you can reward with a fantastic game of tuggy. Later as your dog gets better and better at this toy scouting game, you can start introducing more complex things like "where's your little monkey versus where's your big monkey". (Eluane has 2 monkeys, one giant one, and one small one).

 

What can help with toy association is if you also play/train with words. Eluane is a bit of a nosey, busy-body, she always wants to know what I'm up to and always wants to run ahead of me (once again, playing the scout). If I say, Mama's has to do the laundry, she'll race ahead and enter the laundry room. If I say Mama's cleaning the bathtub, whaddya know, she'll race ahead and stick her nose between the shower doors of the bathtub. These behaviors weren't trained, it's just that Eluane is a busybody, LOL. Again, it's just knowing what is most motivating for one's pup and dog.

 

The list is endless on what one can do with one's Border Collie. But really, I wish I could teach Eluane Heel-to-Music and how to be one of those Disco Dogs; and one mustn't forget SHEEPHERDING that would be Genius in my mind! heh-heh! but poor Eluane is stuck with me so I can only teach her the off-the-wall stuff, I guess...