Winners! Instagram Guessing Game for Dog Treats!

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

On a whim last week I tossed in a #Good Buddy giveaway with an Instagram post. Tanner was busy having himself a Fetch game that was more fun that life itself. We have an advanced version of Fetch that requires Tanner to retrieve multiple toys from the swimming pool before any additional ones can be tossed in. The rules may sound beyond your average dog, but Tanner figured it out fairly quickly after discovering that I was not going to toss until he retrieved. And retrieve he did!

Now that Tanner has successfully retrieved as many as 12 toys from the pool without a single additional toss, he'll soon be moving up to the next level of this advanced game--13 toy Fetch! I hope you'll get behind him and give him some encouragement. This isn't easy for a toy-crazed, water-loving Retriever. He has trouble deciding which toy to bring to the pool edge first, so many a toy gets dropped before any make it to land. It is quite entertaining to watch him as he picks up and then drops multiple toys before finally getting one toy to the side. And often, that very toy ends up back in the drink. Silly dog!

Some of you are probably wondering what the answer to the Instagram question is: "How many Fetch toys does Tanner have?" I pulled them all out of toy baskets in various locations--at least I think I have them all--and started to count. I knew there were more than 18 but was surprised to see how close I had come in my estimate--19! Wow!

I'll admit that many of these toys only get tossed in occasionally, being that their condition is quite tentative and I worry we'll be having a funeral soon. We've all but planned one for Firefly, but Tanner is having none of it. This is one of his favorite toys, and for good reasons. It's soft, light, squishy and fun. What's not to love, right?!!!

I got to wondering how long Tanner has had this toy. Surprisingly it has held up quite well for a fabric toy. Who knew that this toy has lasted 3 1/2 years of daily fetch play. That's nothing short of amazing. I guess a funeral will be due when the toy finally kicks the bucket. We'll keep you posted. Who wants to step up for a eulogy?

Now it's time to announce the winning guesser, the first person to guess the number of Fetch toys that Tanner has. The correct answer is currently 19, giving the winning entry to @jjmentos of Instagram. I'll be in touch, but if you see this, please email me your address at AllThingsDogBlog@gmail.com. Congratulations!

Thank you all for playing, and watch for another game soon.

The @CastorPolluxPet treats were provided by my advertiser, Castor and Pollux Pet. No compensation was received for running this IG giveaway, but CP is my primary advertiser.

Dog Toy Name Games Get Tougher

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

© AllThingsDogBlog.com
When's Our Next Fetch Game?

Last week I talked about how Tanner and I have enjoyed the game of naming his dog toys. This is particularly fun with his Fetch toys, the ones he places the highest value on. Today I'll share a couple of our more advanced versions of multi-toy Fetch.

Soon to be 7, he is showing no signs of reducing his social life, and still enjoys his favorite forms of exercise. We're officially sticking by our statement that he's not yet a senior :)

Here's one of Tanner's favorite games that you can play inside, outside, or in the water. Collect 5 or 6 of your dog's favorite toys to Fetch. It's important that he sees them as toys that are part of this game, so he'll understand that he's supposed to bring them back to you. 

With your dog in a "Stay", but watching what you do, spread the toys out in a number of locations, all in his view. Now I'll give you a couple of different versions to choose from:

• If your pooch knows any of his toys' names, ask him to retrieve them by name, waiting for the requested toy to return before throwing any of the others that he returns in the process. Avoid giving him praise for returning the wrong toys, and encourage him to collect the one you specifically requested. That's the goal! Sometimes this takes a while to sink in. Tanner had to understand that I was only going to toss again after he returned the toy I requested. Tough concept, but once he got it, it was super easy and fun to watch.
• If your dog doesn't know toy names, try this version: Give the Fetch command and wait to toss the toys a 2nd time until after ALL of the toys have been returned to you. This is a completely different skill that is very tough because their ADD gets in the way. As your dog heads out to pick up a toy, he'll see another one in his peripheral vision, dropping the first and heading after the 2nd. These momentary lapses of keeping the eye on the goal will keep him from learning this game for quite a while. It's a great challenge, and after he successfully completes the return and  you toss the toys again, he'll begin to understand the goal. Be patient and give lots of praise for his efforts. While you watch your dog learning, you'll also be learning a good deal about his ability to focus and what his distractions are. Enjoy this!

Let me know how your dog does with these games. I'd love to learn from you. Do you have any creative versions of Fetch that you can share? The comment link is open. See you again next week for another version of the Weekly Wag, when I share tips and strategies for bonding with your dog.

Join us each week for the Weekly Wag bonding series, held during the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop. The hop is hosted by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume. You are welcome to link up here, or check any of their sites for their rules of participation. Happy hopping!