Suggest any good "brain games" or "brain training" for greys

[codiesmum]

Hi there - my boy, Codie, is going from strength to strength.  His reactivity to dogs is lessening, (helped by training him on every walk with treats for good behaviour when near other dogs).  His destructive phase, (chewing his mum's candles etc.), seems to have passed and he's the picture of health with 3 walks a day and a good ol' leg stretch in a field every other day. Just one thing I'd like to do with him and I have no idea where to start.  I'd like to do some brain training with him as he is an extremely demanding boy in terms of walking/exercise and attention.  He's 4 years old so I guess still quite young.  He's got lots of squeaky toys, and we do play with torn up newspaper and cardboard boxes etc which he loves. He has 1 butcher's knuckle bone a week which keeps him busy chewing for an hour or so before he goes and buries it. I bought him a Foobler ball which he intermittently plays with - but I'd really like to get him engaged in some more taxing games/training.
Not sure what to try as I know that g-hounds are not like regular dogs (e.g. labs and border collies) in this respect.  Thoughts/advice most welcome please.  Susie & Codie

[lilliput]

Sounds like you've come on leaps and bounds with Codie, well done both of you! No idea if this game is suitable for Codie, but we like to play 'three cups' with Lily. Put three cups upside down on the floor. Then place a training treat under one of them. Say 'touch'. As soon as Lily touches the cup with the treat, lift the cup immediately and praise. And repeat a few times, putting the treat under different cups. Once Lily got the basics we also move the cups around to add to the concentration/difficulty. We only play this occasionally and always keep it to only a few minutes, so the game stays interesting for her. We also like to put new cuddly toys in bags within bags when we give them to Lily. The bags for life are good, so they cant eat them, they also make a great crinkly noise. Obviously close supervision is needed, so they don't get into a pickle with the bags! We'd be really interested to hear other peoples greyhound brain games too!

[codiesmum]

Many thanks Lilliput for that suggestion. Apologies for taking soooo long to write back to you on it. I'm going to give the cup game a try - will buy some cheap but heavy plastic kiddies beakers and try it out on the kitchen floor. He's got a Foobler ball, which he quite likes but he's not really "big" on playing games indoors. Loves the odd game of "boxy" (Boxy = cardboard box that I've flattened and he jumps up and grabs it from me and then rips the guts out of it!!) :-) He likes stuffy duck games in the house - but he's a bit big to go walloping around in the living and dining rooms - so we tend to reserve stuffy duck games for the garden. He's very keen on his weekly knuckle bones from the local butchers and spends endless time planning where he's going to bury it and then digging a HUGE hole (thankfully at the back of the borders!) in which to hide it. The lad can't rest if he feels he's not buried his bonie nice and securely.
Someone else suggested a snuffle mat - something like a rag rug from what I an gather, then you put bits of treat hidden in it and he has to snuffle them out.
Also, turns out it's just non-greys that he's reactive with - I walk him each Saturday morning now with a local greyhound group and, apart from the odd grumble, he's not aggressive with the other greys at all! Thanks for the cups game - I'll give it a shot with Codie and let you know how I get on. Codie's mum

[codiesmum]

Hi Lilliput - I've adapted the cups game for Codie. (Don't think my boy is a member of mensa like your gal! so he couldn't get the hang of it try as he might). However, I bought some squashy beakers which you can see through and I put a small treat in one then crush it up so that the treat is trapped inside the beaker. Put the beaker on the floor with a couple of other plastic beakers (without treats inside) and let him figure which one has the treat and which ones do not. Keeps him amused for a few minutes. Also, I've wrapped up small treats in pieces of old newspaper and then thrown them around in the living room. Took him a while to get the fact that there was a treat inside, but finally the penny dropped. I'll keep trying to be inventive and see what other "brain" games I can do for the lad.

[sueb]

Good idea the games you've thought up.

We got Willow a windmill, where you have to put treats in the "sails" which they turn for treats to fall out, but it's too easy.

I also got one of those Nina Ottoson brain games (Brick) which she enjoys, though.

Our other hound, Brennan just cant be bothered with them, I could say it's because he's nine now, but even when young, he couldn't be bothered with a Kong toy, just licked it and went back to sleep!

[codiesmum]

Yes, Codie's got a Kong and does use it but not as much as some dogs do - with going nuts over them. Having said how BRILLIANT he was doing the other day, he's decided to bite me today - giving me a bruise on my arm. I must admit, I was so cross with him when he did it that I did smack him on the bum - must have stung him as he turned round and had another "go" at me, as a result. I'm not proud of giving him a smack but it was an automatic reaction to him going for me. He has a wonderful life (truly spoilt and adored) so it makes it doubly hard for me when he bites me. He used to do it all the time when I first got him but he hasn't gone for me now for months and months - so was a bit shocked this evening when he did. Hey ho .. he's lying on the sofa reflecting on what he did. :-)