Games to Play With Dogs

Finding a great game to play with your dog can be fun and entertaining. It's just a matter of choosing the right game.

The three most popular games that you can play with your dog include Frisbee, or Flying Disk, FlyBall, and Tug- of- War. But, that surely doesn't limit the fun games and activities that you and your dog can play.

If you and your dog get really good, you can enter him into Frisbee Tournaments or FlyBall Competitions. As for Tug- of- War, well, that's just a fun training/ play exercise for you and your dog; as far as I'm aware, there aren't any Tug competitions out, yet.

Playing frisbee, or flying disk, with your dog can be a fun game that will definitely tire your pup out.

You can play just for fun or go competitive. There are different types of flying disk competitions that you can enroll your dog in.

There's the Toss and Fetch, also known as MiniDistance, Throw and Catch, and Distance/ Accuracy. In this competition, you have 60 seconds to throw as many frisbees as you can. The dog must catch the frisbees within a 50 meter area. The dogs get points for each catch based on the distance of the throw. They are awarded more points for mid- air catches. The catch is that you're only allowed to use one disk, so you must make sure that your dog is reliable at returning the flying disk.

The Freestyle Flying Disk competition is by far my favorite flying disk competition. The team (dog and handler pair) has between 1 minuted and 30 seconds to three minutes, depending on the competition rules and regulations, to perform incredible flips, catches, and vaults. Freestyle Frisbee is probably the more popular flying disk sport for dogs. It's highly competitive and very interesting to watch.

But, you don't have to get registered for an actual, official competition, you and your dog can just have fun on the weekends and evenings. This is a great way to rid your dog of all his energy. That's what Wallace's owner did, but now he is the Purina Flying Disk Champion.

FlyBall is a fun sport for any dog to participate in. It's a great way to run out the extra energy in the high- powered, high- energy dogs. But, any dog of any breed can participate in a game of flyball.

I've seen Yorkies to Australian Shepherd to Labs to Golden Retrievers participate in the game.

The object of the game is to be the first dog back to the starting position.

The dogs must jump over various hurdles (usually 4), sized appropriately, until they get to the end where the flyball box (a spring loaded box that releases a tennis ball) is situated. At the box, the dog must jump to release the tennis ball. The dog grabs the ball and runs back to the starting position where the handler is waiting.

Once the dog returns the ball, it's now the next dog's turn. The first team to get all four dogs to pass the finish line without error, is deemed the winning team.

To include the 15 - foot flyball box, the entire stretch is about 51 feet with the hurdles about 10 feet apart from each other.

Flyball is a great sport to get any dog of any breed or mix involved in.

If you don't want to find a flyball group in your area, you can still play flyball with your dog, as an afternoon sport in the backyard or empty field.

Okay, this game really isn't a competition dog sport, more just a fun game to tire out your dog. If played properly, you won't come short of any behavior problems.

This game is a great workout for you and the dog. I know when I play with my APBT pup, she definitely tires me out.

Anyway, tug- of- war is a good confidence builder for shy dogs. In this case, let the dog win every now and then to build confidence, but don't over do it. If the dog wins ALL the time, you can create and over confident dog.

In confident, alpha dogs, don't let the dog win. I remember growing up, always hearing you have to let the dog win. But, when the dog wins all the time, especially in an already confident dog, you can create a monster- a dog who thinks he's in charge because he beat you... Over and over and over again.

For the most part this is a fun game that you and your dog can play. Turn it into a training session where you use commands like sit, down, drop it, etc. Teach the dog a little patience by making him sit before allowed to grab the tug toy. Make him drop the rope, or tug toy, when you want to teach the dog that no matter what you're in charge and if you want it, you'll get it.

This is a fun training exercise where your dog doesn't realize he's practicing his behavior commands.

A lot of energy goes into playing tug with your dog, so be prepared for a fun game of tug- or- war.

Below, is a video of my and my APBT playing Tug- of- War. This was solely, a fun game to tire her out. As a puppy, she has a lot of energy.