Games to play at the dog park

Visiting your local dog park is about more than just exercise for your dog. It’s a chance to play games, reinforce training, and provide opportunities for the two of you to bond. It’s also a great way for you and your dog to make friends.

I’ve made some amazing friends from chatting with other owners and dog walkers at the dog park. Dogs are a real ice-breaker!

Try adding a few of the following games into the mix and your dog will love you for it.

As always, when it comes to reward-based training, the best approach is to practice at home first.

That way your dog (and you) will be able to concentrate fully and it will be easier for your pup to learn.

Use plenty of high-value rewards like delicious food treats and keep the training upbeat and fun.

Repeat each step many times and only progress to the next step once the dog is successful every time. If you move to the next step and your dog gets confused, go back to the previous step and keep practicing.

Only take your training and games to the park when you’re confident your dog is likely to succeed.

1. Find it  

This is a particularly helpful command for dogs who often drop their ball, walk away and then forget where they left it.

Teach them how to play while you’re at home by hiding the ball somewhere quite obvious, such as under a rug.

Tell pup to “find the ball” and when they do, give them loads of praise.

Increase the difficulty of your hiding places and make your dog travel further to find the ball, and then take the game out to the garden.

Once your pup is successfully finding the ball in the garden, take the game to the park. 

2. Sit and Watch 

Ask your dog to sit before putting the lead on and taking it off, and regularly throughout play time. This will give your puppy a chance to rest and refocus on you.

Also teach your pup the “watch” command using the following process as this will encourage them to keep an eye on you throughout your walk.

1. Hold a treat so your dog can see it and then say “watch” and raise it up beside your eye. When they look at the treat say “yes” and give them the treat.

2. Hold the treat up to your eye but only give it to pup when they look you in the eye, not at the actual treat.

3. Leave the treat in your treat bag, say “watch” and hold your hand up to your eye. When pup looks in your eyes say “yes” and give them a treat.

4. Leave the treat in your treat bag and your hand down, say “watch” and when pup looks in your eyes say “yes” and give them a treat.

5. Practice the command in different situations, like when they’re walking beside you, or looking at another dog at the park.

3. Spin around

This is a cute trick and a useful one. Once you’ve taught your dog how to spin by following the instructions below, you can ask them to spin each way on a towel to clean their feet when you get home.

1. Stand with your dog facing you. Hold a treat above his head and then make a circle with the treat so that they follow the treat in an entire circle and end up facing you again.

2. Do the circular motion with your empty hand, treating pup when they return to the front.

3. Say “Spin” and then do the circular motion with your empty hand, treating pup when they return to the front.

4. Say “Spin” and treat your dog when they return to the front.

More fun and games

If your dog loves the games you’ve taught them and is ready for more challenges, teach pup to weave in and out of trees.

Or, if there are benches at your local park teach your dog to jump onto them, or over them (depending on the size and ability of your dog). You can also use the same park benches to climb under like a tunnel.

It’s all about having fun and inventing new and exciting ways to stimulate and tire out your dog.

These are also useful ways to keep your dog’s attention on you so they don’t find something more interesting to do (like going rogue and chasing bunnies through the forest for hours).

Some dogs need more stimulation and training than others, so remember to work to your dog’s abilities and interests.

For more puppy raising tactics, save your seat in my free masterclass

“3 Simple Tactics for Raising a Well-Behaved Dog”