11 Best Games To Play With Your Dog – Full Guide

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There are not many things better than spending quality time with your dog. But sometimes, just hanging around can get boring for both you and your dog. Now this is where playing games can come handy.

In this one, we’ll be breaking down the best games to play with your dog. Now these games don’t have to be just be fun, they can actually be training, teaching and even helping your dog mentally simulate. Your dog will love these exercise games, and will have a blast doing it.

Ready to break down and go over these best games to play with your dog?

Let’s go!

But Why Should I Play Games With My Dog?

Playing with your dog has a ton of benefits that you will not be able to find or fill the void with any other way then playing games. These benefits include:

  • You develop a special bond: When it comes to playing, you and your dog will be able to develop a closer relationship that is built around trust, communication, cooperation and teamwork. Your dog will learn to trust you while you play with them, they will want to work for you and accomplish the game. This in result helps your dog build trust (that you will be there for them), communication (they will learn to listen to your commands, because they want to achieve the game and do what you want them to do), and teamwork (because they need you to play, and you need them to play.)
  • Your dog learns new training techniques: Games are excellent for teaching your dog new tricks and training moves. You can use games to show your dog how to do things, and reward them when they do it correctly.
  • Playing Improves Mental & Physical Health: This implies not only to your dog, but you as well. It is no secret that dogs increase our dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin levels which allow us to feel better, improve our mood and affect happiness. But they also help your dog’s health. Games like fetch of course make your dog run around (sometimes miles in just a few minutes.) This helps keep them in shape, strengthen there muscles and help them stay healthy. But other games like find it, help improve there mental health and keep there mental health sharp, and strengthen brain development.

Not Every Game Will Be For Your Dog

It is important to know that not every game will be perfect for your dog.

What do we mean by this?

Well, toy size breeds are most likely not going to want to play fetch, and that is okay. You want to focus on games that your dog likes to play. Now the only way to do this is by testing, but once you find out what games your dog like to play, you can simply focus on those.

Playing with your dog helps him learn new tricks and has tons of health benefits. You can teach your dog new skills like getting the mail for you or finding tools they you lose in the yard. But remember, a dog must be taught new skills in order to succeed in many of these games.

As you choose what games to play moving forward, consider your dog’s physical and mental traits carefully. I participated in most of the games below with my Black Labrador Retriever. He was a very active dog, and was always up for the challenge of new games, competitive sporting challenges and really anything.

For example, maybe you have an aggressive dog. then ideally games like tug of war are not recommend.

Maybe your dog is sensitive to the game like tug of war, or your dog simply doesn’t enjoy playing fetch, or there joints are not as strong, so running and making cuts is not best. Point is, understand your dogs breed and more specifically your dog’s health, habits, traits, and body to learn what are the best games to play with your dog.

The Best Games To Play With Your Dog

Fetch

Arguably the most popular game to play with your dog, fetch allows your dog to run and play.

The game is simply, yet dogs love it. You can use a ball, Frisbee, or any other object your dog likes. You will also need some space like a park, field, or your backyard.

Simply get your dogs attention, and throw the object. Your dog will run after the object and give it back to you so you can throw it again and again and again.

For dogs who have a lot of energy (see what dogs are usually the most active here), this is the ideal game of choice. Your dog can run miles in a matter of minutes and will get a ton of exercise, satisfy their desire to run, they will love doing it and will get tired out.

But, what if my dog doesn’t know how to play fetch?

Well, do not worry! Most dogs know exactly how to play fetch, especially if you have a retriever or a similar type of dog breed. But we also have a guide on how to do this. So you can follow along with the guide and teach your dog exactly how to start playing fetch.

Tug Of War

Jack won Tug Of War

Tug of war is a great way to strengthen your relationship with your dog, but there are some rules and regulations to make sure you follow in order to keep the game enjoyable and safe.

Tug of war is a great game to play that uses different muscles and parts of the brain. The game resembles predation. Pulling on a rope toy is similar to shaking and killing a prey item, but without all the bad stuff that comes with that.

Your dog is actually honing his ripping, devouring, and tugging in preparation for when he manages to grab the groundhog next door.

Now this is a good game to play, but it does shine some light on the dark side of the game.

Now personally, this is more on pair with dogs that will shake the rope or toy, not the ones that are just pulling with the toy with you.

If your dog is grabbing the rope, and then once he has it, shakes it (resembling him grabbing prey and killing it), then you might want to focus on other games.) If they are just pulling and tugging, then they’re mostly just playing.

Find It

Jack waiting for his command to find it

This is a really good and fun game. It works really well if your dog likes to play fetch as well. It is the premise of putting something (or throwing a ball) in a open field, and your dog not seeing where it land (or seeing where you place it down.) Then, you tell your dog to find it.

Now you want to make sure your dog knows what he is looking for, so if you’re playing fetch earlier, then they will know they’re looking for the ball. But if you’re doing this on it’s own, make sure to give your dog something that resembles the smell of the item they need to find.

They then go around the yard, field and look for that item. This games helps simulate there mind and helps work there physical and mental health together.

Catch Me

This is a good and fun way to practice having your dog come when you call them. This also requires your dog to move around as well which is also good for there physical health.

Simply grab some treats, put your dog on a long lead (we love this one) or have them in a fenced-in area, and start playing. You can play anywhere there is room to run, including inside.

Put a treat on the ground in front of you to start, and then sprint off quickly after that.

So you’re placing a treat about 100 feet in front of you, and are running at the treat. (Making them sit and stay, and going to get the treat on your command will make this game even better.)

It all comes down to using your dog’s natural chasing instinct and rewarding them when they catch you.

Flirt Pole

Flirt poles are long fishing poles with squeaker at the end. Your dog will want to chase and grab that squeaker / toy!

For dog owners who are unable to run around with their dog, these are great options. A flirt pole makes use of a dog’s natural instinct to pursue and catch prey.

Dogs who don’t enjoy fetch or people with limited play space will benefit greatly from flirt poles.

When you stay calm, control your energy, your dog will feel that, and they will feel comfortable.

Free Shaping

With the help of a marker (or a clicker), and rewards, you can train your dog using a technique called free shaping. Free shaping is a fantastic way to develop and teach your dog new tricks to perform certain behaviors and reward them for doing so.

Free shaping is the method of gradually teaching your dog to perform tasks, such as giving high-fives, using a doggy door, or even brining the newspaper in for you, on command.

It is the process of gradually praising and marking actions as they get closer to doing what you want them to do. It works like the following: When your dog behaves appropriately, reward them with treat to reinforce the behavior. Rinse and repeat.

This game works the mental aspect of your dog, and can be mentally draining. So remember, it is okay to take breaks often.

Hide And Seek

A game of hide-and-seek is another entertaining thing to do on days when the weather forces you to stay inside.

Teach your dog to find you, it’s that simple! Then once they know there job, you are to hide in various locations around your home.

Consider keeping a treat nearby for when your dog finds you, to reward there job well done. Giving your dog an extra reason to find you will make the game more fun for him because they will have another goal.

More Advanced Dog Games To Play

Now these games that we mention here can be considered games, but some are even considered jobs for your dog. Meaning only certain breeds will excel here, and most of these ill require a ton of training. The reason here is because these dogs will look at this as there job, not just a game.

They will eat, sleep and breathe this job. That leads us to our first one, Herding.

Heading

Herding is really great for dogs that are bred for it, and that is about it.

A group of livestock, typically sheep, goats, or cattle, must be moved into pens or through gates.

This game / job takes place on a working farm (there are a few competitions as well for this.)

Unlike most other games and sports on this list, herding is a truly specific game and job that’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do without the right dog.

Border collies, Australian shepherds, and cattle dogs are the ones to look for here, with each herding breed specializing in a different type of stock or style of herding. There isn’t much benefit for using treats to train your dog to do it because it is simply too instinct-based.

Dock Diving

Dock diving is a different fetch-based sport where dogs are judged for their dives into a body of water to retrieve a toy.

It is one of the most popular games around today, dogs love it and fans of this.

There are events around the US, but you will need to focus on teaching and training your dog on how to participate and do dock diving.

Many active dog breeds can be found here including Labrador Retrievers, Belgian Malinois, Border Collies and much more.

Rally Obedience

This sport, contains a series of obedience exercises that dogs and handlers must complete. Scores are based on how well the dogs and their handlers complete the various tasks at each station.

If your dog is not as an active, this game could be ideal. Dog handler who enjoy practicing obedience usually do well here and will enjoy this game.

Agility Training

For dogs who enjoy a challenge, this game is fast-paced and physically demanding.

In this situation, dogs navigate an obstacle course while being instructed by their handlers to complete tunnels, jumps, weave poles, and see-saws in the proper order.

Agility is a sport that will test your physical and mental limits, even if you and your dog aren’t as fast or elite. It’s crucial to make sure both you and your dog are prepared. You can get on track with the majority of beginner courses.

Another thing you can do is create your own agility course.

Together, you and your dog will have a great time learning some new tricks, and your dog will gain a lot from the mental stimulation that it offers.

By using an agility course, your dog can gain both mental and physical fitness.

Using things like hula hoops for your dog to jump through or cones for your dog to run and zip through are great starters.

Other Mental Games & Tricks For Your Dog

Another thing we want to share with you are some other games that you can incorporate into your dogs daily life is using interactive dog treat toys.

When it comes to mentally stimulating your dog, all of the above will work greatly. But what about when you’re just hanging inside. Well, you can start to incorporate interactive dog toys that challenge your dog.

You simply place dog treats into the toy, and your dog has to figure out how to get these treats out. There are various different shapes and levels, with the higher levels making it more difficult.

You can read all about these treat toys, and look to see which ones are best for your dog.

Conclusion

No matter what game you and your dog choose, there is no doubt they will have a blast.

The mental and physical benefits of playing with your dog are critical in the overall health of your dog. As for you, the dopamine and happiest that they will bring you are also crucial to your health.

Experiment what games your dog likes to play and focus on those. Learn more about your dogs breed and what they were / are breed to do.

The more time you devote to this, the quicker your dog will start to get the hang of it, and the faster they’ll be able to amaze you with there skills.

As always, here at Jacktra we are devoted to helping dogs, cats and animals all around the world. By using our site, your helping us change the world one search and tab at a time. Keep using Jacktra to help us grow and spread the word!

Nick

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