Hide n seek with my aussie

[organus]

This is super random, but I thought I'd ask everyone if they think hide n seek is a good game for dogs. I just learned that my aussie really likes it! She's 2 yrs old and super smart.

I told her to sit and stay in the hallway, so that she couldn't see me. And then I went into the living room and hid between the doorway to the attic. She found me pretty quickly. So we did it again, and I hid between the couch and the wall. She went straight for attic door, but realized I wasn't there. She turned around and saw me, and immediately got so happy and excited. She started getting very excited about my telling her to stay in the hallway. She was already understanding. But this time, I hid between the giant China cabinet, and the corner of the wall. Which is very difficult to see between. I gave her her release cue, and she ran into the living room, and checked the attic door, and then behind the couch. So she's catching on pretty quick. But she's so silly. She paced back and forth between those two spots, and I was laughing, but she couldn't figure out where I was, until she finally saw me. She ran up to me and got so happy.

We played a few more times, and now she's sleeping away. I just wanted to share this experience.

Is this good mental stimulation for her? Is it good brain work, or am I just teasing her? I don't want to do it if it's torture to her, but she seemed super into the game, so I thought I'd ask what you guys think.

Lmk if you guys have tried hide n seek with your pups

 

[ackerr]

@organus My bf and I play hide and seek with our two dogs and they love it!! They don't use their noses too much, so they're not very good at it lol. But it seems like they understand the concept, and are SO HAPPY when they find one of us that I never thought it was teasing. I feel like its great stimulation for them!

 

[organus]

@ackerr Yeah, me too! I was just wondering, bc I'd hate to think that she was worried about me, or sad that she couldn't find me haha

 

[martinthomas]

@organus I think if she seems happy and looks like she’s having fun, you can go with it. We used to have our Aussie look for stuff we hid around the house for fun. He knew my husband’s name and would go find him when I asked. Aussies do need a lot of mental stimulation, so games are a good option!

 

[organus]

@martinthomas Yeah! Mine knows everyone's names too! Even the cat's names haha.

 

[serge282]

@organus It’s an awesome way to reinforce recall! She’s having a blast going to you. You could further reinforce this by rewarding her when she finds you.

 

[organus]

@serge282 Yeah, I agree! Thx

 

[christinaswartz1]

@organus Hide with her toy and throw a big party lots of play when she finds you. If you take this outside make sure you hide upwind so she gets your scent. It’ll help teach her to use her nose. Keep the hiding easy and after a while you can start making them more challenging. (There’s more to it but this is in cole notes how I taught my dog search - she’s a search and rescue dog in training)

Scent work is tiring for them. It’s awesome

 

[excatholic]

@organus Great game to play. You can also hide things and get them to find. Good for the nose, good stimulation.

 

[apostoliclife]

@organus I had a beagle/Brittany spaniel mix as a kid…she was my bestest friend. After school I would do my homework with her, she would steal my stuff and take it to her bed…when we played outside I would frequently play hide and seek. It was fun for both of us (even though I was climbing all over things I should not have climbed on ever), and we would spend hours doing this in all sorts of season. My sister would hold her and I would run across fields and rivers and she would still find me in minutes. She would also pull my sled downhill in winter and then jump on and ride down with me when we got going really fast lol. I think it’s great mental stimulation if your dog doesn’t get worried about it

 

[sdr77]

@organus That's adorable! I'm trying to get my lab puppy to do this, but once she gets excited about the game she can't hold a stay longer than 5 seconds lol. We usually only get one round in.