Do you ever let your dog freestyle your 2-Minute sessions? Or do you always have a goal in mind when you’re playing training games?
We agree with Apple CEO Tim Cook: “Let your joy be in your journey – not in some distant goal.”
While we do teach our dogs the skills they need to compete in dog sports, that’s not the focus of training games. Giving your dog the biggest, best, happiest life is the reason for this joyful journey.
Cue your dog’s creativity
Just for the fun of it, grab a bunch of random household stuff you don’t really care about. Nothing breakable, please. Then toss it on the floor and let your dog loose. You don’t even have to have any treats. Just let your dog do whatever they want for a couple of minutes.
Sometimes, they’ll come up with a whole new game. In one of Simon’s freestyle sessions he showed Fran he liked to make towers of toys. She’s now working on a container-stacking game.
Other choices
It’s also possible that absolutely nothing useful will come from the play session. Faced with some random objects, Hope’s Torque decided the most fun thing would be to destroy cardboard tubes. That’s what he wanted to do. That’s what he did. And he had fun doing it.
At first your dog may not understand the concept. They may look to you for direction. It takes a while for dogs who have always been under instruction to understand they’re free to do whatever they want.
This is where you have to be patient. Which, as we all know, is the absolute hardest part of dog training. You can encourage your dog to check things out, but try not to interact with any of the objects. If your dog starts moving among them, or sniffing them, encourage the dog. But don’t interfere. Let them figure it out.
Building confidence when you let your dog freestyle
Making decisions helps dogs build confidence. In these freestyle sessions where anything goes, they’ll learn to explore more. Often in dogs’ lives they’re not allowed to go where they want, do what they want, check out interesting things.
These improvised sessions counter-balance both the regular routine and the strict structure of most dogs’ days. It’s another way to enrich their lives. And it’s fun.
