Help! How to Spend good quality time?!

[Risa]

I have a very cute puppy and I spend lots of time with him but I don't know what is the best thing to do with him besides training him. I don't know any fun games that I could do with a dog. I am worried that he won't get any interest from me! What should I do? My dogs life depends on this forum! Please answer fast!

[kjd]

Risa,

At the age your puppy is, most of your games are going to be training too.

Can you get your family to join in? Or maybe some of your friends? If so, one fun game is "Come to me." You sit in a circle and take turns calling your puppy. He gets praise and pets when he comes to the person who calls. This teaches him to come when called, a very important lesson, but he will think it is a great game.

You can play, "Where is it?" Get some small treats that he really likes. Hide a piece in one hand, then hold both hands out to your puppy and ask him to "find it." At first, you may have to open the hand with the treat (and close it again) so he knows to go for the treat. After a while, he will learn to sniff your hands and ask at the hand with a treat. Be sure to let him have the treat when he "finds it." And never forget to praise him!

Once he is housebroken, you can play "Find Me," where you hide and call him to you.

Now, I am sure he already has a favorite game of "Chase Me." You don't want to ever play his version. Instead, you be the one to be chased. He'll love chasing after you!

Does he have any toys? If so, tell us what he has and what he likes and we can suggest some more games.

kjd

[MaxHollyNoah]

Hi Risa,

kjd gave you a lot of wonderful advice and suggestions

I just wanted to repeat one thing - don't let your Beagle wander around your mother's garden if indeed she uses some chemicals in it. Beagles are famous for following their noses as well as eating something they find on the ground. It is life threatening so please be careful.

Also, puppies at the age between 6 to 12 weeks need to learn a lot of things, usually from their moms and through playing with their siblings. Your Beagle puppy doesn't have him mom and litter mates anymore so YOU will have to be his mom and sister, and everything else. Please read about how to raise a puppy - beside potty training, you will need to socialize him with people and other puppies/dogs for him to grow a well-behaving and confident dog. It will be very helpful if other family and friends of yours can help you.

One last thing - when you "where is it?" game that kjd introduced, I would modify it a little bit. Don't let the treat go even when he finds it in the right hand. Keep both of your fists tight, until he looks at you, even very briefly, just enough so that you can tell he turns his eyes to you. Then say "Yes! Good boy!" and release the treat.

You will find this very helpful when you train your puppy to be obedient, or to teach him some tricks later on.

Good luck