Bored Boxer....Help!

[savvynme]

So Savannah is constantly nagging me to play, and it seems as though the more we play the same games, the more and more both of us get bored!
Anyone have any suggestions of games to teach Savannah besides the typical games? She knows fetch, frisbee, soccer, hide and seek, tag (with just her and I chasing each other back and forth haha), and search n rescue (She stays, I go off and hide the toy, when I return she goes to find the toy and bring it back).
Even any interactive toys that would keep her entertained during the day while I do the household chores or run errands? She has a treat ball that I've actually had to super glue the little trap door to stay in the semi-open position because she's made it so it easily slides open and gets bored quickly. I really want to keep her mentally stimulated so any suggestion of any puzzle toys would be great! I've seen a few at Petsmart but am always weary of spending 20 bucks on a puzzle that will only entertain her for maybe 2 minutes!
Thanks!

 

[johann]

Does she play tug? A rousing game of tug wears Johann out pretty quickly (me too, our agility instructor said that the person should be out of breath at the end of a tug game). :p
It's also a really good game to help them learn impulse control and self control.

Other thoughts-
Teaching a formal retrieve (send to get an object, dog brings it back, sits in front of you, drops it, then swings around to sit at heel).

Teach her to jump over things, go under things, go thru narrow passages (make with chairs).

Teach a drop on recall (dog stops and lays down in the middle of the recall).

We use raw bones to keep Johann occupied when we're gone or I'm trying to sleep. He gets rib bones, marrow bones, and knuckle bones (his fave and they last the longest).

 

[savvynme]

We do love a game of tug! It helped to teach her the "drop it" and "take it" commands. I am a bit cautious with how much tug I play with her mainly because of how strong she is now and how small I am, and I have a joint disorder so it's pretty painful for me. My fiance is usually the one who enjoys a good game of tug, haha.
The formal retrieve sounds like a nice challenge, especially since she usually brings it back, drops it, and starts running to go get it, haha! I think we'll go ahead and research how to learn that one and get started! Thank you!
I like the idea of the narrow passage ways and jumping over things! I've thought about trying to see how well she does with some simple agility in the yard, nothing competitive, just for fun! Using the chairs is a good idea!
I also like the drop on recall.
I think these new tricks and games are going to keep us pretty entertained!!! I've also signed her up for therapy classes and evaluations so we can volunteer with the local therapy dog group here, so I think we will be entertained for quite some time!
Thanks so much for the help!!!!

 

[BendyBoxers]

Does she seem to enjoy the 'search and rescue' stuff? You could expand on that and teach her to target stuff. Teach her to target multiple items reliably, then hide them. While you are cleaning or doing household chores, you can tell her to fetch these hidden items for you.

I like Kongs for 'babysitting' dogs.. Tell her before you leave, 'Find the Kong!' She will spend the time you are gone trying to find it. You can hide a treat inside it that takes awhile to chew, like a bully stick, so that when she finds it she is rewarded.

 

[savvynme]

She does seem to enjoy the "search and rescue". That is a good idea with the kong! We had a full day of learning the "drop" on recall. She is picking it up pretty well. The first few times we worked on it, she looked at me like "you want me to lie down? why? you're crazy." but eventually gave in. And once she got it the first time, i got so excited she started running around the yard and suddenly diving to the ground to lie down, looking at me like "see! i did it again! praise me!" she's such a brat, haha.

 

[BendyBoxers]

She does seem to enjoy the "search and rescue". That is a good idea with the kong! We had a full day of learning the "drop" on recall. She is picking it up pretty well. The first few times we worked on it, she looked at me like "you want me to lie down? why? you're crazy." but eventually gave in. And once she got it the first time, i got so excited she started running around the yard and suddenly diving to the ground to lie down, looking at me like "see! i did it again! praise me!" she's such a brat, haha.

I think that those games are 1,000,000 times better at teaching a 'lay down' command than the traditional methods (be it treats, manually positioning the dog etc). It wasn't until we incorporated 'Sit' and then 'Lay down' into his games that he really had those puppy commands down reliably, especially with the kids. It's great, IMO, for kids.

 

[whiskers]

Trick training is fun and can tire them out. Try teaching her "useful" things so she can help you out around the house... you can teach her to close cabinets/doors, put her toys away, pick up clothing and put it in the hamper/dryer, etc.
Even if you never actually get to the finished product, the training sessions will be good for her.

For a little puzzle, you can take a muffin tin and hide food in some of the cups, and place tennis balls in all of the cups... it probably won't take much effort for her to realize she just has to pick up the tennis balls in order to get the food, but it's still something, and who knows maybe it will take her a while .

My all-time favorite toy is the flirtpole. And since you're in FL, you can take advantage of it since you don't have piles of snow preventing you from being able to play outside . Just tie a toy to an old leash... plush toys work best. It's essentially like a cat teaser toy, except this is boxer-sized (cat teasers actually work just fine, especially for playing indoors in a smaller space). Run around and have her chase it! It's mental AND physical exercise, because they're running and jumping but the hunting aspect is mental. Make sure you let her catch it and tug it once in a while, so she doesn't get bored of it and give up if she's always chasing. My dog loves this toy. What I love doing is going to an open field, putting Juno in a sit/stay, and then I walk across the field with the toy, and then release her. And she just TAKES OFF at lightning speed toward me, and then she gets to chase the toy. It wears them out and it wears them out quickly. I love, love, love my flirtpole.