Seven Seeking Games with Madison Moore

Ah, January.  The time for resolutions and my Southern friends to scoff at my discomfort in a perpetual twenty below wind tunnel.

Alas, not this year!  The winter of 2010 is leaving much of the country in a deep chill, and the effects of this arctic blast have put dog owners in between the proverbial rock and hard place.  We want to provide our dogs with plenty of exercise, physical and mental, but in many areas, there are advisories indicating that folks should not stay out in the frigid temperatures any longer than is necessary.

Before I proceed, I will say that spending some time in the cold exercising your dog is necessary.  Bundle up, and be safe.  If you usually spend hours on leisurely strolls with your dog, you may want to temporarily make some adjustments to your dog's exercise routine - replacing these leisurely workouts with multiple short walks or shorter, more intense workouts (fetch, tug, flirt pole chases, playing with other pups, skijoring, etc.).  Before doing so, make sure that your dog is physically healthy and able to tolerate the change in activity.  Also, remember to warm your dog up and cool him down after each session with a short walk or jog and some stretches to reduce the chance of injury for yourself and your pooch.

It's good to supplement this condensed outdoor exercise with some fun indoor activities to fulfill your canine's contentedness quota.  Aside from food dispensing and puzzle toys, what else is there for the cabin-fever suffering canine?

Madison Moore, author of the forthcoming book The Conceptual Dog answers that question this week on Rewarding Behaviors as our Pet Expert of the Week with Seven Seeking Games!  Each day this week, Madison will be offering a new fun seeking game with written instructions and video to the RBDT forum visitors. 

Today Madison presented her first seeking game, "Find the Two-Legger."  This game will help your dog practice wait, recall, and impulse control. Here is a link to the topic from our forum:  http://rewardingbehaviors.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=158&t=4636#p19997  Some RBDT members have already started playing the seeking games with their pups and are having a fantastic time!

I can't wait to see tomorrow's seeking game.  I have the day off, it will be the perfect chance to do some playing and training with my own fuzzies!

If you try the seeking games with your dogs, please chime in on your experience, I'll be sure to direct Madison back here to check out any feedback!