Indoor games for dogs and puppies

How to play with your puppy

Just like children, pups can get bored. Keep these tips in mind to keep your pet’s tail wagging when playing games with puppies:

• Keep games short – remember your pup only has a short attention span. If your game is too long, they may get distracted, and you could lose their attention.
• Reward with treats – try and make your games rewards-based with tasty, but healthy, tidbits.
• Watch for bad behaviour – don’t accidentally reward bad behaviour, like nipping. You don’t want to encourage bad habits.

Fun indoor games for your puppy

Not sure where to start with indoor games for puppies? No problem – we’ve got a list to chew on.

These games are fun for you and your dog, and will help teach new skills, build your bond and tire them out. Here are seven pup games to try:

Find it

This game is like hide and seek – but instead of hiding, they’re seeking out a tasty treat. Hide treats around a room for your puppy to find. You can make it increasingly challenging by popping them out of sight or underneath things.

Not only is this entertaining for paw-rents, but it uses your pup’s nose to help them to develop scent skills. This serves as a great starting point if you want to take your pup scent training.

Training tip: Teach the ‘wait’ command so your puppy doesn’t start searching before you say so. They should wait until you give them the signal.

Tug of war

Tug of war is a fun way of keeping puppies busy and is entertaining for paw-rents and pups alike. Not only does this puppy game help to tire them out, but it also satisfies their predatory instinct.

Make sure you use a suitable tug of war puppy toy. A tug-toy or rope long enough to hold and pull should do the trick. You hold one end, and your puppy the other. Easy.

Make the game rewarding by letting your puppy ‘win’ every so often by letting go – otherwise they may get overexcited or frustrated.

Training tip: Use this as an opportunity to teach your puppy the “drop it” command, so the game remains controlled. 

Puzzle games

Enrichment games encourage your dog to use their brain and tires them out faster. There are plenty of puzzle toys you can buy for your furry friend, or you can get creative and make your own. You’ll be amazed at how much fun can come from a few toilet rolls and cardboard boxes. Screwed up paper and egg boxes are also cheap materials to incorporate into brain games for puppies. 

Training tip: Hide treats inside the puzzle toys or in and under boxes for your dog to find. 

Learn a new trick

Spend some time training a new trick, beyond the basics. ‘Paw’ is a simple one to learn and can be handy when it comes to trimming your pet’s claws. Other fun party ticks include ‘spin’, ‘roll over’ or play ‘dead’.

‘Middle’ is useful trick to know – particularly if you have an anxious or reactive pup. By asking your dog to come to ‘middle’ (sit in-between your legs), it can help to distract them from other dogs or people and focus on something positive, like a treat from you. Once they associate this space with treats, it’ll quickly become their happy and safe spot.

Training tip: When training your puppy you need to keep training sessions short and give lots of praise and rewards to keep them engaged and eager to learn.

Hide and seek

Just as fun for you as it is for them, hide and seek is a simple dog game at home. Ideal to play as a pair of paw-rents, one of you can keep the pup restrained while the other hides. Once your dog knows the drill, you can play with just one paw-rent by using the ‘stay’ command. Just instruct your dog to ‘stay’ while you go and hide yourself. Then call the dog and reward them when they find you.

Make it more rewarding with a smelly treat, like a little bit of cheese, to give your pup when they find you.

Training tip: This puppy game is great for reinforcing recall as it makes the dog coming back to you a part of the game. 

Obstacle course

This brain game for dogs unlocks a world of possibilities. While it’s usually easier outside, with adjustments it can make a great indoor game for puppies too. Teach your dog to jump over things or crawl underneath them to create their own obstacle course in the living room.

Fun for all the family, this indoor game for puppies promises hours of fun. Just use treats to guide your dog through the game.

Training tip: Be careful not to confuse your puppy by allowing it to climb on the sofa or do things they’re not normally allowed to do. This could encourage the wrong sort of behaviour!  

Naming toys

Teach your dog to recognise the name of their favourite toys and bring the specific toy back to you on command. For example, you could use their favourite ‘ball’, ‘toy’ or ‘rope’ and teach them to retrieve the specific item.

It’s easier to do this than you might think. Put a single toy on the floor, use the word associated with it, and reward your dog if they interact with it. Once they understand, change the toy and word. You can then add extra toys to make it more difficult. 

Training tip: You can make this puppy game even harder by asking your dog to fetch a toy that isn’t in the room, to really test their retrieving skills.