MENTAL EXERCISE FOR DOGS: The 101 best dog games for more agility,intelligence & fun

Mental health Games Active All Good!!! Buy it!! Put the phone down Tell your pup is asleep. Read a book So many good games Lots of games you can turn into training too Games you can modify

As expected

I’m going to preface my review with the fact I’m always trying to come up with ways to mentally stimulate/exercise, to enrich, and to bond with my four-legged kiddo, and I do this (and different activities/exercise/outings/Etc.) with my four-legged kiddo way, way, WAY more than the typical dog owner, so I myself have already come up with a lot of these different things to do with my dog over these last three years that I’ve owned him. With that being said, unfortunately I myself am only so creative, and have, at this time, run out of ideas of new things that I can do with him. With another winter season with its extremely cold temperatures upon us (and thus my dog and I having to stay indoors a significant amount more), I began trying to think of different activities for my dog that could be done indoors. Coming up short, and not wanting to to keep repeating the same ‘ol activities winter after winter, I decided to take my search to Amazon for some help and that’s when I stumbled upon this book. I quickly read through this book, and while, in my opinion, there were a few good, new ideas of “mental exercises” that I hadn’t thought of before, I noticed a few key things about this book: 1. A decent amount of the “mental exercises” that were discussed in the book were things that any and all dogs that are mobile do on his/her own everyday regardless: jumping over a stick/branch that may be in their way, walking through some body of shallow water (creek, large puddle, etc.), jumping up and putting it’s front paws onto something to get a desirable item off of a taller surface (Hello counter surfing!), etc. These activities are something that would only be beneficial to a very young puppy. 2. A lot of the “mental exercises” in the book are extremely basic, common sense exercises/things to do with your dog that most people do somewhat regularly with their dogs anyway (playing fetch, going on walks, basic obedience training, etc.), most frustratingly 3. There was TONS of repetition in the “mental exercises” suggested in this book. It'd be the exact same exercise with one, usually negligible, variable in difference than the author’s previous suggestions, and finally 4. The author did repeat some of the exact same exercises, in the exact same way with no differing variables at all whatsoever. Another potentially large barrier to a lot of people wanting to do the “mental exercises” in this book, that I can see being a problem with is that nearly all of these “mental exercises” require some sort of material item(s), items that are not items that one would usually have on hand in their home, in order to do them. While for a dog owner like me that is not an issue, but BUT that is DEFINITELY something that’s going to prevent a lot of regular/usual dog owners from doing the “mental exercises” that are in this book with their dog. All in all, this book was not really helpful for me, and will not be helpful for other dog owners like myself.

This is a great book if you've never owned a dog before. I you have, however, you probably want a more advanced book.

Our puppy doesn’t have a retriever bone in his body! But this book has lots of other games you can play together. I really like the variety

Love it. Lots of fun activities for my very active dog!

Appreciated the simple formatting, large text; however none of the exercises stood out as something I've never thought of or couldn't find with an internet search. Ended up returning the book 🤷🏼♀️

I've only read through to page 25 so I can't really comment on the content as of yet. I will comment on the quality of this paperback book. in 25 pages, 3 pages have come out. They are not very well set in the binding. Just turning the page pulls them out. Will update with the content once finished.

The author had some good (if not unique) ideas for providing mental exercise for dogs, and her repeated encouragement to use praise and treats was appreciated, but the instructions were vague and sometimes misleading. Often she said things like “just keep trying until it works” which is a frustrating piece of advice when you’re trying to troubleshoot with your dog, and doesn’t provide much insight as to why the “fun game” isn’t working when the reader has only been provided with a sentence or two of instruction.

Some exercizes were really repeats of previous ones...and there were a couple of places where the instructions were: have your dog do-X but then, no instructions for getting the dog to do X were given, any where...i found it to be basically incomplete(not enough and no bibliography or resources) not only in what was covered, but in the instructions for what was covered...this could easily have been a pamphlet ans IMHO too expensive for what is was.

Mental health Games Active All Good!!! Buy it!! Put the phone down Tell your pup is asleep. Read a book So many good games Lots of games you can turn into training too Games you can modify

As expected

I’m going to preface my review with the fact I’m always trying to come up with ways to mentally stimulate/exercise, to enrich, and to bond with my four-legged kiddo, and I do this (and different activities/exercise/outings/Etc.) with my four-legged kiddo way, way, WAY more than the typical dog owner, so I myself have already come up with a lot of these different things to do with my dog over these last three years that I’ve owned him. With that being said, unfortunately I myself am only so creative, and have, at this time, run out of ideas of new things that I can do with him. With another winter season with its extremely cold temperatures upon us (and thus my dog and I having to stay indoors a significant amount more), I began trying to think of different activities for my dog that could be done indoors. Coming up short, and not wanting to to keep repeating the same ‘ol activities winter after winter, I decided to take my search to Amazon for some help and that’s when I stumbled upon this book. I quickly read through this book, and while, in my opinion, there were a few good, new ideas of “mental exercises” that I hadn’t thought of before, I noticed a few key things about this book: 1. A decent amount of the “mental exercises” that were discussed in the book were things that any and all dogs that are mobile do on his/her own everyday regardless: jumping over a stick/branch that may be in their way, walking through some body of shallow water (creek, large puddle, etc.), jumping up and putting it’s front paws onto something to get a desirable item off of a taller surface (Hello counter surfing!), etc. These activities are something that would only be beneficial to a very young puppy. 2. A lot of the “mental exercises” in the book are extremely basic, common sense exercises/things to do with your dog that most people do somewhat regularly with their dogs anyway (playing fetch, going on walks, basic obedience training, etc.), most frustratingly 3. There was TONS of repetition in the “mental exercises” suggested in this book. It'd be the exact same exercise with one, usually negligible, variable in difference than the author’s previous suggestions, and finally 4. The author did repeat some of the exact same exercises, in the exact same way with no differing variables at all whatsoever. Another potentially large barrier to a lot of people wanting to do the “mental exercises” in this book, that I can see being a problem with is that nearly all of these “mental exercises” require some sort of material item(s), items that are not items that one would usually have on hand in their home, in order to do them. While for a dog owner like me that is not an issue, but BUT that is DEFINITELY something that’s going to prevent a lot of regular/usual dog owners from doing the “mental exercises” that are in this book with their dog. All in all, this book was not really helpful for me, and will not be helpful for other dog owners like myself.

This is a great book if you've never owned a dog before. I you have, however, you probably want a more advanced book.

Our puppy doesn’t have a retriever bone in his body! But this book has lots of other games you can play together. I really like the variety

Love it. Lots of fun activities for my very active dog!

Appreciated the simple formatting, large text; however none of the exercises stood out as something I've never thought of or couldn't find with an internet search. Ended up returning the book 🤷🏼♀️

I've only read through to page 25 so I can't really comment on the content as of yet. I will comment on the quality of this paperback book. in 25 pages, 3 pages have come out. They are not very well set in the binding. Just turning the page pulls them out. Will update with the content once finished.

The author had some good (if not unique) ideas for providing mental exercise for dogs, and her repeated encouragement to use praise and treats was appreciated, but the instructions were vague and sometimes misleading. Often she said things like “just keep trying until it works” which is a frustrating piece of advice when you’re trying to troubleshoot with your dog, and doesn’t provide much insight as to why the “fun game” isn’t working when the reader has only been provided with a sentence or two of instruction.

Some exercizes were really repeats of previous ones...and there were a couple of places where the instructions were: have your dog do-X but then, no instructions for getting the dog to do X were given, any where...i found it to be basically incomplete(not enough and no bibliography or resources) not only in what was covered, but in the instructions for what was covered...this could easily have been a pamphlet ans IMHO too expensive for what is was.

Annoying to read as words are hyphenated incorrectly from line to line. Written at a child's reading level, however, don't want to say that as the hyphenated words would set a bad example for kids learning to read/write.

Zero insight. If you're a dog owner and familiar with a dog's intellect, keep searching for a better resource.

I was very disappointed when I received this book. There are absolutely no illustrations in this book, and some of the text is difficult to understand without actually seeing a picture of what the author is trying to describe. I bought this book because it was recommended with 2 other mental dog training/dog trick books on Amazon as being bought together. The other 2 are very good. And it's not that I am a novice at dog training. It have had 2 agility dogs, and my current dog has 2 AKC titles, 1 in obedience CGC(Canine Good Citizen) and his AKC Novice Trick title. I just enjoy training with him and learning new things along with him. I did not get much out of this book.

A great book with simple to advanced games. I wish I had purchased when my dog was a pup because they include training tips as well.

Honestly, you’d be better off looking up dog games on YouTube. This book is far from comprehensive, and the writing is borderline insulting in terms of how simplistic it assumes the readers intelligence must be. If I was looking for someone to suggest “the crawl game” where the steps are as detailed as: (1) teach your dog to crawl by using treats (2) make them crawl around for short distances (3) have fun! — I would have asked a 12 year old.

Dopey suggestions for dopey dogs. I threw it out shortly after browsing it.

Nothing interesting or unique in this book. Just basic basic info. The style of writing is for preteens. It would be a good book for a young person just getting interested in dogs.

Keeps me and dog active

very good book

Nobody edited the intro and it had horrible grammar and punctuation. Plus, the author kept referring to my dog as "it," which seemed off-putting.

Very basic.