How To Mentally Stimulate Your Dog At Home

Want to know how to mentally stimulate your dog at home? Puzzle toys, interactive feeders, obedience training, and fun games that the two of you play together will help keep their brain busy.

As the proud owner of a Corgi for the last five years, I’ve asked myself this question many times:

How can I keep my dog’s brain busy so he doesn’t get bored, frustrated or destructive?

Corgis are a highly intelligent breed that require regular mental stimulation to keep them happy and healthy. After many hours researching and experimenting with different methods to keep Winston’s brain busy, let’s take a look at the puzzle toys and training exercises I use to do so!

If you’ve got a smarty-pants dog at home, keep reading to find out how to mentally stimulate your dog at home.

1. Puzzle Toys & Interactive Feeders

Dog puzzle toys are interactive toys that challenge a dog’s mind and promote mental stimulation. They come in various shapes and sizes, and often require a dog to solve a puzzle or perform a task in order to receive a reward like a treat.

The benefits of dog puzzles or ‘brain games’ include mental stimulation, reducing boredom and anxiety, promoting problem-solving skills, and preventing destructive behaviors. Additionally, they can help improve your dog’s cognitive abilities and keep them mentally sharp as they age.

You’ll be surprised just how tiring a puzzle toy can be for your energetic dog! These games, combined with regular daily exercise, will give them all the stimulation they need to live a healthy, happy life.

So, which puzzle toys and interactive feeders are best?

Puzzle toys

Interactive feeders

Interactive feeders can help slow down a dog’s eating and prevent digestive problems. This is great if your dog gobbles down their food too quickly!

2. Obedience Training

One way of mentally stimulating your dog at home is practicing obedience training. Not only is it a great workout for their brain, but it also strengthens the bond between you.

Here are 5 commands you can practice:

1. Sit
2. Stay
3. Come
4. Heel
5. Down

While running through these commands, use positive reinforcement (with treats and/or verbal praise) and practice in a low-distraction environment. This will help your dog focus and give them the best chance of getting the command right.

Canine scent work

Another way to mentally stimulate your dog at home is by teaching them scent work. Scent work involves hiding a treat or an object for the dog to find using their sense of smell. It can be a useful activity for building confidence, reducing anxiety, and improving focus. And since it requires your dog to really concentrate, it’s a great activity to work their brain and tire them out!

To teach your dog scent work, start with a simple game of “find it” using a favorite treat. Your dog should be able to see where the treat is hidden at first, then gradually work up to hiding the treat out of sight. Once they understand the game, different scents can be introduced using scent-detection kits or by using scented objects.

Break down scent work training down into smaller steps and use positive reinforcement to encourage your dog’s progress. For example, in the initial stages of training, they may be rewarded for simply showing interest in the scent, then later for finding the object or treat.

3. Tricks training

Want to teach your dog something a bit cooler than sit or stay? There are a number of tricks you can teach your dog including play bow, high five and spin. Not only will these tricks impress others, but the process of teaching them is a great form of mental stimulation.

Here are three tricks you can teach your dog at home:

1. Play bow
2. High five
3. Spin

Let’s take a look at how to teach these step-by-step.

Play bow

1. To teach your dog to play bow, first have them stand on all fours facing you.
2. Hold a treat in front of their nose and move it towards the ground.
3. Say ‘bow’ as you do this.
4. When you dog lowers their front, reward them with a treat.
5. Say ‘good’ when you reward them.
6. Repeat this process.
7. After a few goes, use only your hand motion as a visual clue when saying ‘bow’.
8. If they lie down, stand beside them and place your hand under their tummy to encourage a ‘bow’ stance. Use the other hand to lure their nose down to the ground.

If you’re struggling to get your dog to lower to the ground without sitting, make sure they understand the ‘stand’ command before attempting ‘play bow’.

High five

‘High five’ is an easy trick to teach your dog and gets them used to having their paws handled.

1. Hold a treat out for your dog in a closed fist. Allow them to sniff your hand and eventually, they’ll paw at your hand.
2. As soon as they paw at your hand, give them the treat. Praise them with the word ‘yes’ or ‘good’ or mark the action with a clicker.
3. Continue this process a few times before marking the action with the words ‘high five’.
4. Once they have this mastered, change your hand position so that rather than a closed fist, you hold out an open palm. When they touch their paw to your hand, reward them with a treat or verbal praise.
5. Now go and show off your dog’s new trick!

Spin

If your dog doesn’t know the ‘stand’ command yet, teach them that first. It will make it much easier for them to learn how to spin.

1. Hold a treat in front of your dog’s nose and slowly pull it towards the side of their head so they have to turn to keep following it.
2. Pull the treat in a circle all the way around your dog’s body so that they have to spin.
3. Once your dog has followed the treat in a complete circle, click your clicker or reward them with verbal praise: ‘yes’ or ‘good’. Then give your dog the treat.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 several times.
5. Once your dog seems to understand the action, add the command word ‘spin’ before repeating steps 2 and 3.
6. Work on this trick for a few minutes multiple times a day until they’re spinning around on cue with no hesitation!

4. Games you can play together at home

Playing games together at home is not only a lot of fun, it’s also a great way to keep your dog mentally stimulated.

Here are five games I love to play at home with Winston:

1. Hide and seek
2. Fetch
3. Tug of war
4. Which hand?
5. Three cup game

Hide and seek

To play hide and seek with your dog, start by asking them to stay in one room while you hide in another room or under a blanket. Once you’re hidden, you can call your dog’s name to come and find you. As they become more familiar with the game, you can hide in more challenging locations.

Fetch

To play inside fetch, you can use soft, lightweight toys and clear a safe space for your dog to play. Then you can toss the toy and encourage your dog to fetch it, rewarding them with a treat or verbal praise when they do.

Tug of war

To play tug of war with your dog, use a tug toy and encourage them to grab onto one end while you hold onto the other end. You can gently tug and release the toy to encourage your dog to engage in the game.

Which hand?

Hold a treat in one hand and close both hands into fists. Your dog must then guess which hand the treat is in by nudging or pawing at one of your fists. Once they guess correctly, they can be rewarded with the treat.

Three cup game

Place a treat under one of three cups and encourage your dog to guess which cup the treat is under. Once they guess correctly, reward them with the treat. As they become more familiar with the game, you can add more cups or move the cups around more frequently to make the game more challenging.