Is Your Dog as Smart as a PreSchooler? Bead Maze with Dog

Pushing with the nose is a fun mental activity to teach your dog. Lucy has mastered on a bead maze. The second direction is harder than the first as she has to push it backwards to get it over the second hump.
I taught this by breaking the puzzle into smaller bits first, then chaining them together. Great canine enrichment or indoor brain puzzle!

[@fairydogmother4738]

Her tail tells a tale that makes me very happy ♥️

[@danabecker2098]

How do you teach this?

[@dogsexplained]

This is a great example of modifying the environment so the dog can succeed, then gradually change it so it's a a little bit more of a challenge. Start with a nose target to a bead on a straight part of the wire (holding it level) and mark if the bead moves at all. Once the dog is consistently pushing it along a short level stretch, you can hold the wire so it has a slight incline and the dog has to learn how to modify the push to get it higher. Most of these toys come with three different shapes of wire so I isolated it with the easiest on to start with. Then we switched to a slightly harder one. Each shape offers a different challenge and adds to the dog's learning. Have fun!

[@danabecker2098]

@@dogsexplained thank you! We’ll give it a try.

[@supernaturalbc2008]

@@danabecker2098 Great! Would love to hear the outcome!