Mental Stimulation for Dogs: How to Mentally Stimulate Your Dog

Mental stimulation for dogs includes any activity that challenges your dog’s problem-solving skills and critical thinking abilities. Dogs require mental stimulation as part of their daily exercise, and some dog breeds need more than others. Many large dogs and herding dogs need dog trainers who can provide activities with higher levels of difficulty to provide the right amount of mental stimulation each day. Dog owners can provide mental stimulation by using interactive games like treasure hunts or by using different toys that offer brain games for dogs.

Just as they need physical exercise, dogs also require mental stimulation. Your dog’s brain is constantly active and pet parents can provide problem-solving activities and games to keep their minds healthy. Providing enough mental stimulation for your dog can help with their overall dog training, including with impulse control and eliminating destructive behaviors. Small dogs and puppies especially need mental stimulation as their minds develop.

Dog owners can try many different methods to help keep their dog’s mind alert using common mental exercises. You can mentally stimulate your dog by:

1. 1. Allowing your dog to explore: Dogs explore the world by using their sense of smell. When you go on a walk, allow them some time to roam and smell their surroundings. A dog needs to have the chance to wander a dog park or walking trail while they get their regular exercise, so try to plan for long walks each day.
2. 2. Making them obey commands for food: Use your dog’s favorite treats to encourage them to obey commands and learn new tricks. You can use dog treats like peanut butter or kibble as motivation to have them sit, stay, or roll. Try teaching your dog a new trick every day before you give them their dog food for mealtime.
3. 3. Playing with your dog: Spending time playing with your dog is a great way to give them attention and mental stimulation. You can try playing a game of fetch to help provide physical activity or set up an obstacle course for your pooch to run through. Make playtime exciting with dog games like hide and seek or create a scavenger hunt with hidden treats or dog chew toys around the house. Play tug of war with your tog with a plus dog toy or a squeaky toy, or push around a wobbler toy for them to chase.
4. 4. Providing puzzle toys: You can give your dog many different types of interactive dog toys that stimulate their mind with puzzles. Some chew toys have brain games that reward the dog with a treat if they roll or bite it in the right way. These stimulating toys are interactive puzzles that have a slow feeder of treats. The interactive treat puzzles are some of the best dog toys and are often dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. You can find food-dispensing toys in many difficulty levels as well as enrichment toys that wobble or are very chewy. You can also create your own DIY treat-dispensing dog puzzle toy by puncturing a hole in a tennis ball so you can hide treats inside for your dog to try and get out. These treat balls are great interactive chewers to use as brain training exercises and are a fun way to keep a bored dog entertained.

Your dream of having a dog who understands words like “sit,” “stay,” “down,” and—crucially— “no” is just a MasterClass Annual Membership away. The only things you’ll need to train up a well-behaved pup are your laptop, a big bag of treats, and our exclusive instructional videos from superstar animal trainer Brandon McMillan.