23/08/2026
This afternoon with Solar, Millie and Bungle wasn’t about covering loads of ground. I wanted to tire their brains as well as their bodies.
Solar is a working breed, Millie is obsessed with the ball & Bungle is learning the ropes, so I used that to our advantage.
We practised a wait while I threw the ball into some long bracken. Millie was struggling with the excitement and kept launching herself the second my arm moved.
So, lead on, foot on the lead, and we worked through it.
She started to realise that rushing after the ball wasn’t getting her anywhere. She stopped, listened, sat, and waited for my instruction.
Then came the fun part…
“Find it!” 🐽🐾✨️
Off they all went, noses down, searching through the bracken. Millie eventually found it and, unsurprisingly, won the ball!
That’s the difference between simply throwing a ball until a dog is physically exhausted and actually using the game as training.
The ball becomes a reward for thinking, waiting and listening. The nose gets worked. Their brains have to problem-solve. And most importantly, I’m an integral part of the fun.
For a ball-obsessed dog like Millie, I don’t want the ball to mean “GO! GO! GO!” every time it appears. I want her learning that she can regulate herself, wait for information and still get access to the thing she loves.
With repetition, the aim is that the sight of the ball, my arm moving or the excitement of the game becomes less of a trigger to explode and more of a cue to pause and wait for me.
You don’t need a ball launcher and a green to make a dog tired.
Sometimes, the best workout is the one that makes them think. ✨️🐾💛
