Mind Games

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

(another magazine thread lol)

Exercising the body is all well and good, but if a dog doesn't get to use his brain too, then the devil will make work for idle paws.....

In a perfect world, al pet dogs would get enough exercise and enough mental stimulation to live full and happy lives. However, in this imperfect world, we have to accept that sometimes this is simply not the case.

Dogs can suffer from the effects of reduced exercise and mental stimulations in a number of ways - and so can their owners! Chewing, destruction and 'hyper' behaviour in the house are all potential indicators that a dog is bored - as the devil makes work for idle paws and jaws. Equally, unruly behaviour, fence-running and barking can manifest themselves when a dog is frustrated and needs to let off steam but the owner is not in the position to be able to allow this.

Of corse, it's easy to be judgemental in a situation where an owner isn't meeting their dog's behavioural needs. We might be tempted to point the finger and say that they shouldn't have a dog if they can't look after it properly, but this is both unhelpful and misinformed. There are multitudes f reasons why a spell of under-activity can occur in a dog's life - many of them as a direct result of the dog's own needs.

After only a week of owning my new little rescue crossbreed, I noticed that he was slightly stiff on one back leg. At only five months old of age, and being small and lightweight, I hoped it was nothing serious, but felt it warranted a trip to the vet. Several X-rays later and i received a shocking phone call. The vet told me there was good news and bad news. I asked for the bad news first and was told that he had appalling hip dysplasia - so bad that one hip was completely out of the socket and had made a groove in the top of the femur by rubbing there. The little dog had clearly been in pain for some time and the deterioration was going to be rapid, as both hips were affected. And the good news? "Jackson's a lovely little dog!" said the vet. Tell me something i didn't know!

The short version of this long story is that the following finve months of Jackson's life were dominated by two major operations to remove the head of the femur in both hips, unline the human version, he wasn't given a replacement hip,meaning that the muscle would need to build to support the leg and what had once been a joint.

Of corse this meant seriously reduced exercise for a prolonged period - indeed, all i could really do was take him for short on-lead walks, do his physio exercises, and try to keep up his socialisation by taking him out and about. while his back end might have been suffering, there was little doubt that the front end of the dog was in full adolescent mischief mode, and although some training was possible (he learned a lovely crawl and a rollover in the period), his concentration was poor.

As a result, I found that I needed to fully utilise my brain to come up with ways for Jackson to exercise his! I put together the ideas that had been most pratically useful and a new booklet was born. Since this time, I have suggested many of the 'mind games' to other owners whose dogs are not able or allowed to have much exercise because of physical problems. This has included a number of puppies who have developed mysterious lameness and were ordered to have cage rest for a period, and giant breeds that are limited in the amount of exercise they can have due to their huge growth and development.

However, it's not just post-op or cage-rest dogs that can benefit from having their brains gently challenged. All dogs need to problem-solve and use their little grey cells in order to fulfil 'seeking' drives that spur them to action - if only to prevent them from working out how to get into the kitchen bin or escape from the garden. For this reason, even if your dog can have all the exercise in the world, you may find that you need to add to his life experience by setting him the equivalent of canine sudoku.

Indeed, although nearly all the experts that exercise is a necessary part of any pet dog's welfare, some specialists argue that giving copious quantities simply results in a super-fit dog that needs - you've guessed it - yet more exercise. It's not good enough to make a dog run several miles on a treadmill and insist that he's had all the exercise he needs. To me, it's apparent that exercise is not just about keeping the body fit - it needs to be about working the brain and allowing the dog to utilise natural skills, such as scenting, too

Perhaps its this combination that makes for a calm contented dog. Cettainly, in my behaviour work I frequently come across dogs that desperately need more mental stimulation despite the fact they are physically fit and enjoying sufficient walking time . Dogs such as this may spend their days happily engrossed in attention-seeking behaviours that they might enjpy, but their owners do not. In these cases, challenging them to pit their wits in a more appropriate pastime, such as searching or basic tracking, can work wonders in keeping their minds occupied and their bodies out of trouble.

Mind games do not have to be difficult or time-consuming. indeed, in my search to keep Jackson's mind on solving canine conundrums, rather than chewing my shoes, I needed to keep the exercises quick and simple for me - if not for him! For this reason, most of my suggestions take only a few minutes (or even seconds!) to set up, in order to provide your dog with long-lasting fun.

More and more owners and experts are realising that how a dog feels is just as important as how fit and healthy he is. Mental satiation is just as important, meaning that a dog that is given a combination of physical exercise, breed or type behavioural outlets, social contact and mental agility training is going to enjoy a well-rounded lifestyle, which will in turn reflect on his relationship with his owner and his overall behaviour, If your dog is a budding canine Einstein (and all dogs are!), then its up to you to make sure his super powers are used for good, not evil!

[Wizadora]

i'd love to know the techniques she used to exercise the dogs mind good article!

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

the booklet is called mind games for dogs by sarah whitehead - its about £6 but its only 20pages long apparently - if you look online you might be able to find it on there without having to buy it