Homemade Dog Enrichment: Spin the Bottle
To mentally stimulate your dog is important. Mind games and enrichment keeps your dog sharp and tires out the energetic. Spin the Bottle is an excellent way to stimulate your dog's intellect. It's a fun homemade toy that promotes your dog's focus and problem-solving skills. Here's how make it:
Creating the "Spin the Bottle" for dog activation: step-by-step
Three bottles:
Take three suitable-sized plastic bottles for your dog. Make holes in the upper part of each bottle using a sharp knife.Thread them in a row:
Thread a stick or rod through the holes of all the bottles, so they are placed in a row with some space between them. Alternatively, you can thread them on a sturdy string if you prefer.Fill with treats:
Fill each bottle with treats or other rewards that your dog enjoys.Place or hold:
Place the rod with the bottles in a stand you've built, hold it in your hands or secure it between your knees if you're sitting on a chair, for example. If you threaded the bottles on a string, you can fasten the string to two stable anchor points.
Set up the toy at an appropriate height for your dog, usually chest or nose level is good.
- Spin the bottle:
Let your dog nudge and spin the bottles so that the treats tip out and can be eaten from the floor. Once your dog understands the concept, you can say "Spin the Bottle" while your dog nudges the bottles. With a little training, you've established a cue for the activity.
Follow these simple steps, and voila, you've created a new, inexpensive, and challenging interactive toy for your dog. Have fun!
Adjust the difficulty level to your dog's ability
To increase the difficulty level and stimulate your dog's intellect, you can fill the bottles more or less depending on your dog's ability to handle the task. A well-filled bottle provides a greater reward and can be useful in the beginning when you want to reward your dog frequently and quickly.
Give your dog some brain exercise every day; it will benefit both your dog and your relationship. You can also read more about how enrichment can help your dog develop and be happy.
Share your activation tips with others
Do you have tips on activation? Please share them in the comments. Don't forget to also play with your dog to boost your relationship, which you can read more about in the article on Playing with your dog.
Written by: Caroline Alupo
Caroline Alupo is Petli's co-founder. She has a master's degree in ethology and is also a trained dog trainer and dog psychologist. She has 19 years of experience as a professional dog trainer. Read more about Caroline here.
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