Mental stimulation for high drive, hyper dogs

​After spending an hour walking Toto in the morning, 30 minutes at lunch, 1 hour in the afternoon, and playing games in the house - I was sure that it would wear out our high energy bundle of joy. I was convincing myself that the more consistency I had, and the longer i would walk, will eventually wear him out and help my cause. However this was not the case, and the opposite was actually happening. He wanted to play for several hours after every walk, would follow me around inside the house, and did not seem to settle whatsoever. The general theory of walking your dog every day was failing miserably, and i knew that he was lacking something that not all dogs specifically require on that level. 
It was not until I began doing some research into anxiety, destructive behavior, and specific breed needs that it started to dawn on me that physical exercise alone was not going to be enough to keep my pup calm and relaxed. We started working with several dog trainers, who were highly recommending incorporating some mental stimulation into our training regiment, as much as possible, as often as possible. This means training, structured play, and food dispensing puzzle toys.

Here are some tips for what worked, and what didn't.

DO

• Give your dog plenty of puzzle toys (See my puzzle toy reviews HERE)
• Make your dog work for every reward -
  • This could be making him sit before giving a command to eat
  • Asking him to sit/down before before exiting the house
  • Putting half or all of his food into a food dispensing toy
  • Using a toy as a reward (i.e during training) rather than food
• Train impulse control with a place board. Teaching place not only works your dog mentally, but can be a handy tool when having visitors over
• Only reward calm energy when inside the house
• Allow your dog to sniff and explore on walks often. It is his time to explore, and that will not happen on the concrete sidewalk
• Keep an open mind. If something is not working for weeks, see if you can tweak it, get advice, or change to a different strategy to see what will work

DON'T

• Give your dog attention if he is whining (unless that is the cue to go potty)
• Let strangers ruin your progress by allowing him to jump or bite
• Give into emotional reactions and yell at your dog. Like humans, dogs want to please, and if there is a constant negative energy then it will not be healthy for either of you. Do be firm and reinforcing as much as possible.
• Be inconsistent - Training takes time and patience, but it will pay off!

The first puzzle toy we tried was the Nina Ottosson Dog Brick. We bought ours online, as I was not entirely sure if they are available in any pet stores. 
It wasn't the cheapest, and being the clever dog Toto is, he figured it out in about 10 minutes the first time, and 5 minutes every other time after.

It will be a learning experience to see what works for you and your dog - and you could be surprised at how smart your pup can be! 

As the saying goes: The smart dogs can be the hardest to train! 

​