Eight Mind Games For German Shepherds You Should Try Now

When it comes to training your German Shepherd, you don’t only condition their minds to know certain words. You also train to hone their minds and learn more about logic and building up their physical strength! Think of these intelligent dog breeds as children who want to have fun while learning a ton along the way.

So if you want to learn more about the different mind games for German Shepherds you can play with, then read on! I’ll show you the top ten you should try with your German Shepherd now.

Eight Mind Games For German Shepherds

Want to learn more about what you can play with your German Shepherd other than the usual? Here are eight cool ones you can try out now:

1. Treasure Hunt

This is a great game to train your dog’s nose and stimulate his brain! It utilizes all his senses and is pretty fun to watch. Make sure that you start off with hiding easy to spot items to encourage him to continue playing.

Have your dog on sit-and-stay mode while hiding the toy or treat then have him find it. Reward him for finding the item and amp up the difficulty as you both go.

2. Hide and Seek

Hide and seek adds more excitement to your dog and more fun for you, too! You’ll need two people for this, so have one person distract your dog or do the sit-stay cue while you hide, then give him the signal that it’s time to look for you.

When he finds you, give him a treat and other rewards. Start hiding in other areas, even playing outside for more fun!

3. Ring Stackers

These are great for eye-hand coordination for your dogs, though a bit tough to learn at first. It will take a few hours to weeks to perfect this game, but it really works in having your dog learn balance and coordination. You might want to consider clicker training to perfect the fame and once he does, change things up and mount the stick on your wall as a challenge!

4. Shell Game

For dogs who love the treats right after the game, this one’s for them! It’s simple and challenging for your dog, really working with the mind. So take two cups and turn them over, placing a treat under one while your dog is watching. Let him guess where the treat is and reward him with it if he gets it right. If not, show him the treat in the other cup and try again.

5. Hot and Cold

For owners who do clicker training for their German Shepherd, this is an ideal game that also shapes their behavior. It’s best for intelligent dogs who aren’t frustrated quickly.

For example, if you want your dog to pick something up, just say “hot” as he closes in on the item and through a treat at him. If he moves away, say “cold.” As they are very near and get the item, say “hot!” excitedly and give a treat.

6. Toy Pickup

This teaches your dog to clean up after them. Start off with teaching them the command, “drop”, which has them drop anything they’re holding in their mouth. Once he mastered drop, the next is to teach him where to drop the toy or item in, which should be in his toy box. As you continue to train him to pick up and drop his toys, he’ll learn to clean up after himself!

7. Name Game

Once you teach your dog how to do the toy pickup, try to teach him how to get his toys by their names! This is great for German Shepherds who can learn a TON of words in their lifetime, so teach him names of his favorite toy (just one word though) by holding it out in front of him, saying its name, and reward him when he grabs the toy.

8. Jump Rope

Jump rope is such a fun game for both humans and dogs, teaching eye and body coordination! Have them concentrate on the rope’s speed and the specific spot on the ground the rope hits. Let them focus on one object on the ground like a stick, then teach them to jump on the spot with a cue. Add in the jump rope and continue practicing!

For more mind games to try out, check out this cute video to learn about it:

Wrapping It Up

Instead of the usual fetch or tag with your dog, why not go all out and start playing games that exercise the brain AND the body? Not only is it fun for both of you, but your German Shepherd will definitely appreciate the games. Plus, they’re so easy to do at home or in the park, so you can begin playing right this moment.

I hope that this article on the different mind games for German Shepherds helped you out. So don’t wait any longer and try playing any of these games now!