Your dog needs lots of exercise and that's both physical and mental. Finding ways to work their brains out and give them mental stimulation will help them live happier and healthier lives. So these fun brain games for dogs are just what the vet ordered for them!

1. Hide and Seek/ Find the Treats

Classics are classic for a reason. Playing hide and seek will mentally stimulate your dog and make them more in tune with their sense of smell. Teaching them to rely more on their sense of smell than only their sight stretches your dog’s brain so they’re growing and learning.

To play this game, start by training your dog on the game. You can do this by making them sit in a stay position while you put a few treats around them. Next, give your dog the release command and tell them to find the treats. Practicing this behavior will help them understand what they're trying to do, so eventually, you can build this game up until you're hiding the treats in increasingly difficult places for them to search out.

2. Feeding Toys are one of the most fun brain games for dogs

Being rewarded with food is something even humans love, and finding toys that make dogs work for their snacks creates a stimulating game that they’ll be actively engaged in. Treat dispensing toys can give dogs hours of entertainment as they try to figure out how to get the chewy goodness inside, working their brains out as they search for the perfect solution.

3. Put Away Toys Game

This might seem like a game that benefits you more than your dog, but it's fun to play off your dog’s natural desire to fetch and retrieve. In addition, by training to fetch and drop a toy somewhere other than your outstretched hand, you give your dog another set of skills to train and practice. And your floor is clean, so that's a bonus.

4. The Shell or Cup Game is another one of the most fun brain games for dogs

Another classic; you might have even played this yourself as a kid. This game involves putting a treat under a cup or shell and then shuffling that cup around with other empty cups. This game gives plenty of mental stimulation as your dog tries to follow the right cup and then figure out which cup the treat is in.

A variation of this game is Which Hand. It’s the same concept, holding a treat in one of two hands and having your dog guess where the treat is. The benefit of this variation is that it's easy to do on the fly and anytime but still works your dog's brain out a lot.

5. Chew Toys

Chewing is a very intensive activity for dogs. It seems like just their jaws are getting a workout, but chewing requires concentration and focus. Chew toys are perfect for this, especially irregularly shaped chew toys because they’ll spend extra brainpower focusing on their angle of attack and figuring out how to gnaw the different angles and edges.

Give Your Dog Plenty of Stimulation

All dogs need mental stimulation, although more energetic and intelligent breeds need more. You should try to incorporate a minimum of 30 minutes of mental stimulation a day, usually in 2 sessions of 15 minutes, and adjust that according to your dog’s breed. For more ideas on helping your dog live their best life, check out our website.