Keeping the dog’s
brain active
It is important to keep the dog’s brain stimulated. Even once the dog has learned all basic
obedience, public access, and service dog tasks, practice is important in order
for the dog to retain these skills and not get lazy. The dog needs to want to work, and to regard
work as play.
If you have seen service dogs in action you will have
noticed that they are very happy to do their jobs!
Challenging the dog with different activities keeps their
brain working.
In non-pandemic times, Amanda would be continuing to train
weekly at Ruffsport in order to keep her dog engaged and happy to work. For now, working with Kira at home and on her
daily walks is how she meets Kira’s needs.
In an article from the American Kennel Club on ”How to Keep Your Dog’s Mind Sharp”
Stephanie Gibeault, MSc, CPDT, writes, “it is just as important to keep your dog
mentally stimulated as it is to keep your dog physically active … Dogs that are
engaged and have ‘jobs’ tend to be healthier and happier.”
Dr.
Brian Hare, an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke
University and the founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, says, “an old dog needs to learn a new trick if
you want to mentally stimulate them and keep their mind and body healthy.” He
further explains that anything that is novel or challenging will stimulate a
dog’s cognitive ability and will help give him mental exercise. (Nov 11, 2016,
Six Minutes)
Some of the ideas Amanda uses to keep Kira’s brain engaged
include the following activities:
Hide and seek:
A fun game to play is, “where’s Mandy?”
This game would have Amanda hide somewhere in the house. Once Amanda was hidden we would ask Kira,
“Where’s Mandy? Find Mandy.” Then Kira would race around the house to
track Amanda down. This skill was also
intended to help EMS find their patient should Amanda go down in a seizure
somewhere in her apartment and Kira needed to activate the emergency
button. Kira could lead paramedics to
Amanda. Early on in Kira’s training we
had a neighbor who was a police officer come in to play “Find Mandy.” Kira was introduced to paramedics, police
officers and firefighters so that she would learn the uniforms were friendly.
Frisbee: changing the direction of the toss is a way
to keep the dog’s interest. Fetching,
returning and dropping the Frisbee keeps her actively engaged.
Puzzle toys: Both Kramer and Kira enjoyed puzzle toys
with treats hidden inside different compartments. Instead of just being given a
treat, they had to think and figure out where each treat was and how to get it
out.
Perform commands to earn dinner: Kira earns her dinner by responding to random
cues to sit, lie down, stand (push ups), spin in circles, etc. The cues are
given in different orders each time to ensure the dog is thinking and not just
performing actions by rote.
Practicing seizure protocol: Kira frequently
practices necessary seizure-response actions such as licking Amanda’s hand at
signal, and pressing the emergency button, or leading Amanda to a seat when
asked.
It’s Your Choice:
Kira plays this game where treats are scattering on floor and she is
instructed to “leave it”. She knows that
if she ignores the treats and focuses on Amanda, she will get rewarded with a
different treat and praise by Amanda.
Heather’s recommendations to challenge a dog’s mind include:
- Shaping
behaviours with positive reinforcement.
Teaching a trick by first capturing the dog’s attention and
rewarding (or “paying” them) when they respond to a cue.
- Using a variety
of textures in toys and ground settings to help the dogs develop
confidence walking on or playing with things that feel different.
3. Ensuring
the dog has a job to create focus and attentiveness.
4. Having
interactive play sessions with the dog.
- Rewarding the
dog in different environments
- Teaching
confidence in movement.
- Building good
associations by introducing the dog to different people.
Heather uses agility course equipment to teach the dogs to
figure out pathways to follow and obstacles to maneuver around. See a step-by-step photo set of Heather using positive shaping techniques to teach a dog to go around poles.
RuffSport training has taught Amanda to use her eyes to signal
to the dog what she wants her to do, and give an excited “yes” reward to shape
the behavior she wants, e.g. getting the dog to sit up on a chair by first
looking at the chair, praising when dog looks too, then eventually rewarding
the dog for going to the chair, touching the chair, putting paws up on the
chair, getting all four paws up on the chair, and finally sitting on the
chair. You start with baby steps and
lots of praise. Eventually when you look
at the chair the dog will know to get up and sit on the chair.
Anna-Marie,
one of the RuffSport trainers (and Kira’s future ‘Mom”) uses Trick Training to
keep the dog’s brain and body active. It is a great way to build bond, exercise
physically and mentally, build some great behaviours and just have fun. As she
says, during the winter months it can be challenging to get outside, but new
tricks can be learned with very little space indoors.
In
short, any type of training, toys, games, agility, rally or trick training will
help keep your dog thinking and stave off boredom.
We
think Cable held her position the best amongst her peers when given a cue to
sit on this table in the photos!
Enjoy
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