24/06/2025
Have you heard of movement puzzles? It builds on patterns , which patterns are used so much in dog training, but it helps with confidence, it also helps nervous and or fearful dogs too. It teaches both dog and handler the skills needed for performance excellence without the danger of over-arousal (hallelujah!). This builds on movement (physical) and thinking (mental). This also can help with building space between the handler and the dog. So many benefits really. So how do you do it? Let me first say there are some great videos on it, but let me dive into it a bit.
You can start with a plastic lid, a bowl, a vinyl dot whatever you want to use to place food on. You will need two of them to start. Step 1. Place the 2 lids in the ground adjacent to each other with enough space that your dog can fit with the front part of the body. Place a piece of food on one of the lids. When the puppy goes to the lid, place a piece of food on the other lid. (If you need to help your puppy at first it’s ok but try to let them figure it out). When the puppy goes to the other lid place a piece of food on the first lid . Alternate between the lids I like my hands to have equal amounts of food and my left hand places the food in the left lid and my right hand places in the right lid. I also like to mark what they are doing with a verbal “yes!”
Step 2: build the space a bit more between the lids. Repeat the above.
Step 3: place an obstacle for your dog to go around (like a cone) between the two lids. Repeat like above but now your dog has to go around the obstacle. You can also use your body instead of a cone.
From here you can keep adding and building to the pattern.
Most importantly: have fun!
