[Spiritguardian3]

Well puppy is 4 months today and it is going to be a little bit longer until my vet gives the ok for her to go to puppy classes/doggy daycare. So I am trying to think of fun games to play with her to learn basic obedience and good manners. She's getting very bored of the normal short training sessions and is actually refusing to do sit on command even with chicken as bait! (She glares at me and barks then scoots off to find something to chew on that I'll yell at her about ) She's a young hyper boston who has no formal training before I got her two weeks ago. I've been mostly working on the important stuff such as house training, going up/down stairs and little victories as well as dealing with her health. She has gained 2 pounds and is doing much better so now I think if I can find fun games to teach her things like no bitting (she doesn't nip me, just everyone else lol) sitting on command, etc in a fun positive manner where a hyper puppy isn't going to get bored. I have tried doing a sit for her tug toy then when she sits play tug-o-war but I'm not sure how to change it up. Any suggestions would be great!

[TooneyDogs]

You can do PUPPY PUSHUPS; sit, down, sit, down.
SNIFF and FIND is a really fun game for dogs of all ages. Have puppy sniff a really good treat, giving the Sniff command, then throw the treat a couple of feet and give the Find command. Once the puppy understands the Sniff & Find commands you can start working on STAYS and start hiding the treat a little further away like behind a chair leg in the same room. Once the stays are solid, you can start hiding the treats in the next room.
Running through a small tunnel builds confidence and is a great start for Agility. Toys R US have inexpensive nylon tunnels. You can also make a low dog walk with a long board a few inches off the ground...another great confidence builder!
One of the most important games/life lessons you can teach is OBJECT EXCHANGES. The idea is to teach the puppy, or even the older dog, that if they williingly give up whatever is in their mouth, they will get it back and do not have to guard it. You teach the game the same way as Sniff and Find but, use two objects. Two balls are ideal. Roll one ball and say Get It of Fetch. When the puppy brings it back, show the 2nd ball, shake it, make it enticing/desirable and when the puppy drops the 1st ball (which they usually do as you have the 'better' ball, throw the 2nd ball and pick up the 1st one. Repeat.

[reverend_maynard]

If you're not doing clicker training already, I suggest that you do. It will be much easier for the puppy to figure out what you want, and when he has done it right, with the consistent sound of the clicker delivered at just the right moment.

Here's a link to a good site on clicker training...
http://www.clickertrainusa.com/click...g-articles.htm

Get a clicker, read the clicker training theory articles and then commence with the teaching cues, starting with charging the clicker.

HTH.

[skelaki]

A clicker can be a great tool but it's just a marker that the dog's done something right. You can do the sam thing with your voice, a whistle, or even snapping your fingers. But whatever you use, at this point training should be all fun and positive as you are now establishing the bond between you and your puppy and a foundation for later, more formal training.

One game that my pups have loved is doggy version of follow-the-leader. You start doing it with the puppy on leash, tethered to you. It's basically played just like the game you remember from your childhood. You walk and puppy walks behind you, you run and puppy runs, you sit and puppy sits, etc. It's ok to help the puppy do any action/s it's not familiar with. As the puppy gets the idea of the game you'll see him watching you to see what you're going to do next. And yes, go ahead and give the command word/s you'll be using for him. As he gets better and better at the game you'll graduate to on lead without tethering and eventually to playing the game with him off lead in safe locations.