The Schnauzer Forum

My family and I are enjoying loads of playtime with our 15-week mini boy, Raffi. I'm looking for some more physical/active play ideas to add to what we're already doing. He's much better balanced and happier when he's had a good play session! I know things will be easier in a couple of weeks once he'll have full protection from his vaccinations and can get out on some nice walks. (So far, he's covered tons of territory around town, but while in a basket in my arms).

In the meantime, we've been doing a lot of indoor games with toys (tug is the favorite choice!), romping around in the yard (doesn't last long, because sniffing around in the garden is much more enticing), or taking short walks in our "safe zone" near the house (many good sniffs to be had, but not much exercise happening!).

Indoor or outdoor ideas are welcome: I'm in Canada so cold temperatures are approaching quickly, and I'm sure there will be some days when neither of us relishes a long walk.

Are you doing any training exercises with Raffi? All dogs can become more tired from mental exercise than physical activity but pups especially and this is the ideal time to start with short and simple training - sit, down, walk to heel (on lead and off), stay, leave etc. If you use a clicker you can really begin to get Raffi focused on you and prepare him for future training as he matures. This is not formal obedience training as such but getting Raffi used to commands you may need him to respond to in certain situations.

You can also offer activity toys such as the Nina Ottosson range where treats are hidden in simple or complex puzzles for pups to try and retrieve. Here are a few links you may find useful:

https://www.nina-ottosson.com

https://www.clickertraining.com/puppy-training

Thanks for these ideas! We've been doing numerous short training sessions a day, but mainly repeating a limited repertoire of things he's already learned (sit, stay, etc.). Perhaps some new challenges are in in order! Working on heeling indoors isn't something I had considered - some good skills in that regard will probably be really helpful once we can actually get out on walks.

I'd never heard of the Nina Ottoson puzzles, but they look wonderful! Great tip.

Hi Sarah

I'm not sure if anyone else has suggested this but a great game I play with my two, especially on a rainy day, is 'find'. Usually using a small but smelly treat, getting them to sit and wait, then I hide the treat somewhere in the lounge (or any other room) and get them to 'go find'. I make out I have hidden the treat in different places so they have to go searching (as they are in the same room as me so can see what I am up to). My 3 year old (Oscar) is better at this than the 1 year old (Sasha) but they still both love this and as Leigh mentioned, it's a great mental exercise for them

Raffi looks a real cutie too, have fun

Mike

Mike, my schnauzers have loved this game. We call it "go find it". Bottom up nose down Otto thinks he is a real tracker dog inhaling every corner of the house. He looks to me for clues and I point in the right direction. That comes in real handy in other situations if I want him to move his bottom to somewhere else. He follows my finger. It is a really good training game as it uses sit, stay, release and find. I wonder what happens in the mind of the other dog if one finds the treat first. I would have thought that Sasha has learnt to just follow Oscar and then get in there quicker....

Good spot Julie

I tried to have one sit and wait, whilst the other would 'find' the treat but even as good as Oscar is at waiting for me, he would look at me like "what's going on" when it was Sasha's turn - besides which, Sasha really isn't that good yet at finding the treat.

So what I end up doing is hiding two treats in different places in the room, then send them both off with a "find him" - * I don't know why our treats are masculine but that's the way it is and off they go.

Oscar does exactly the same as Otto, sniffing the ground like a bloodhound, where as Sasha tear-arses around often missing the treat, so she needs a bit more help

Great idea! I bet my kids would love to help set up the game too.