Bed Games

As a human I would be in heaven if I were able to lie in bed and have food drop from the sky. One of the most rewarding and easy games to play with your dog is a bed game - sometimes known as the crate game. This is a really simple version - crate games can get complicated and you can do more with them but this is just stage one of creating that safe place for your dog to retreat to.

You will need:

One Dog

Lots of tiny bits of treat (kibble/diced sausage)

A bed or Crate

Start by dropping treats onto your dogs bead, or into their crate. Do this quite liberally - I like to sit at the computer and throw treats onto Ruth's bed of into her crate behind me. Keep going, with a treat every few seconds. After a while take the dog away from the bed by giving them a treat on the floor away from their bed. This is where the fun bit happens: now wait.

Wait until your dog returns to the bed on their own - don't lure them and don't drop any treats into the bed to entice them back. You should find that after a little waiting and watching the dog will return to the bed/crate on their own free will. Treat them liberally!

Your dog has made a choice to return to their bed on their own because they know that's where good things happen! Keep treating the dog whilst in their bed, then take them away from the bed again using a treat on the floor, wait until they return to their bed and treat liberally! You can keep repeating this again and again - you'll soon find that after being release from their bed they will return back to it as soon as they can to be treated again.

Ruth loves her bed/crate games and will sit in bed waiting for more treats to fall from the sky! When we start agility I hope to take her crate with me and be able to put her in their at training for some chill out time without causing any stress.