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Dog Games: Tunnel Fun With Your Dog
By using two chairs, you can make a tunnel for your puppy to walk through. Place two chairs facing each other and drape a blanket or sheet over the chairs. You have created a small tunnel. You can also buy a vinyl tunnel at any toy store or a dog agility club, or you can use a pup tent that has a back entrance. Remember that if this is a new experience, the animal may be slightly hesitant initially. If you make the experience fun, and reward the behaviors that you want the dog to perform, quickly the learning will take place. Reinforce the desired behaviors with small treats and verbal positives, gradually reducing the treats but contining the verbal reinforcement.
Have your puppy sit with one family member on one end of the tunnel while you are at the other end. Call her to come to you as the other family member helps guide her through the tunnel. You don't want her to make a U-turn to escape from the tunnel. The object is to get the puppy to run the length of the tunnel from the inside.
If the puppy is a little distrustful about going through, hold a motivator to get her to meet you on the other side and call her with plenty of enthusiasm. You can also have a child crawl through the tunnel to entice the puppy to follow. When your puppy does go through the tunnel say the "Through" command. This is the first step for the "Come" pattern, where you teach your puppy to blindly come to you.
Once your puppy is comfortable moving through the tunnel, you can add more steps to make it more challenging. Have your puppy at one end of the tunnel and put her in a Sit position. Give the "Through" command to make your puppy run through the tunnel. You will be running along the outside of the tunnel to greet her at the other end. Reach in with the hand holding the motivator to get her attention, and state the "Come" command as she exits. Quickly walk straight backwards, even a few steps along the side of the tunnel and pop straight up and say "Sit," to put her in a sit position again. Then gradually work your way backwards, leading your pup back to the starting point of the tunnel again.
Your objective in this game is to teach her the "Through" command when she goes into the tunnel, and the "Come" command when she comes out of the tunnel and goes to the spot where you are waiting for her. Eventually, this game can be done in one smooth motion where she will go through the tunnel on the "Through" command and come to you on your "Come" command no matter where you are standing.
Eventually, you can hide somewhere else when your puppy comes out of the tunnel. "Whistle for her to locate you. This will help sharpen your skills to control your dog in any environment, especially in park environments, by having her come to you by the sound of your whistle. You might want to make the experience a little bit more challenging and fun by tossing a soft toy though the tunnel, especially if it is one that your pooch pal enjoys as a favorite.
Read more in the article Toys: The Soft, Plush and Cushiony to get further ideas.
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