One Simple Game: Three ways to change your dogs behaviour

Games aren’t just for fun! I teach this simple game to many of my clients dogs because it has so many benefits. It can boost confidence, keep fight or flight mode at bay and even trigger a calm behaviour as part of a behaviour sequence . I use it in lots of ways, but here are three ways to change your dogs behaviour with one simple game.

What is the game?

Start with three treats. Ask a volunteer to hold your dog while you place all three treats, in a line, in front of him. Once the treats are all on the ground, pause and then ask your volunteer to release your dog whilst saying “find it”. He’ll move forward (hopefully) and gather up all three treats with ease. Repeat in rounds of three treats, for a further 5-10 times.

In these early rounds, the goal is only to teach your dog that there are three treats every time. This is important, because on the next round you’ll place (not toss) one treat just out of sight. If he hasn’t learned that there are three then he’ll take the first two and stop. If he has learned that there are three treats in the game, he’ll start searching for the third one, and the searching game begins.

As he gets good at this game, you can hide two, and then all three treats. And once he can manage that, you can hide the treats in more and more challenging places.

Important notes: always place the treats in their hiding places, don’t toss them. He’ll follow your hands scent trail as part of the search. If you toss them, there will be no trail to follow. This also means that your dog will search with his nose and not his eyes. Looking (with his eyes) for treats doesn’t come with nearly as many benefits to your dog as searching with his nose.

Once he has learned the game at home you can use it as part of his training plan, here are three ways…

When your reactive dog struggles to recover after being triggered

Curiosity counters anxiety, so encouraging your dog to use his nose to find something is a great way to reduce any anxiety left over from being triggered. This can reduce trigger stacking, which will help your dog meet the next trigger from a calmer place.

Once the trigger has passed, take your dog to a quiet spot and play a few rounds of the game to help him lower adrenaline and settles his nerves.

Why not hide them your treats in the long grass, or even better, in the cracks of a fallen tree. A fallen tree makes it more challenging because he’ll have to look up to find the treats. Most dogs are used to following scents on the ground, so this is a great way to level up the game.

When your dog is anxious to step on scales/surfaces

The game is simple, repetitive, and predictable, so it can be used to prepare a dog for walking on a surface they don’t like. Play the game on a surface that is next to one he is anxious about to start with. This will relax him and get him ready for when the third treat is placed on the new surface. Through repetition you can very slowly encourage your dog to step on the new surface with one, two, three, and eventually all four feet!

The fact that it is easy and can be scaled up means it suits most dogs. The simple nature of the game means that even anxious dogs can have a go and feel the benefits!

When your dog can’t settle

This simple game completes the hunting loop. When stuck in the loop, the body can get trapped in a state of readiness, which stops your dog from relaxing into rest and digest mode. When the hunting loop doesn’t complete the dog can become fidgety and reactive and can struggle to achieve a restful state.

The game starts with the search and completes when the dog finds food. When you repeat this several times. and your dog gets a decent amount of food, his body will naturally choose to rest. This can happen to dogs that chase balls (chase and search, no food captured), dogs that graze and don’t eat full sized meals (hunting but no full belly to trigger rest), and light/reflection chasers (chasing and searching, nothing caught)