I own a wonderful Great Dane who I believe is smarter than I am sometimes! He has seemed to be getting bored lately though. I walk him several times a day and let him run around in the back yard as well. He has dozens of toys and my hubby and I play with him in the house and let him lie in our laps and I constantly talk to him while I do homework at night. The thing is, he has been restless these last few weeks. He lies on the floor or the couch and just stares off into space (without napping like he usually does!) while constantly letting out these big sighs. I'm not sure what more to do with him! I hate that he looks so bored!

Any suggestions?

You haven't said how old he is. How about enroling him for dog training classes?
Engaging their brains tires them out far more than walks IMHO.

Oh I did forget to mention that he's almost 6 months old now but very well trained. He knows how to sit, lie down, come, stay, is potty trained, and knows thresholds like not going outside if we don't tell him to and knows never to go into the street. He knows what toys are his and hasn't chewed up anything that isn't his.

I'll admit, I don't know much about professional training but it seems like the training classes for dogs his age cover all the basics that he already knows. We also take him on play dates with other dogs just about every weekend!

You could buy him some interactive toys if he doesn't already have them.

You get food dispensing ones like the kong wobbler/buster cube/nina ottenson games etc etc.

You also get some that have actions like the babble ball(speaks/makes noises when touched) or zigzag ball(moves on it's own) which would stimulate him too

Mental stimulation is very important, you could play games like "find it" (scatter some food in your garden and he'll have to use his senses to find it all) where the dog will be kept amused(my dog loves "find it").

You could also up his training, he has all these commands that he does for you but does he do them with distractions like in the garden or out on walks...you could start with little things like sit/stays then progress to things like lie down/stays, stop/starts, etc etc....this is even more tiring as the dog not only has to concentrate on you but he has to really focus on not being distracted.

Have a look on youtube for ideas of novelty tricks you could teach him, there's loads

Another idea would be to put all his toys away and only leave out a few for him, then every few days swap them for others...he might be more likely to play with them

Do you have a kong? Kongs are a great way to stimulate a dog as you can fill them with just about anything and they can also be frozen

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Owned by Tummel the rottaridgeador and Dante the Italian Spinone

Get him retrieving, searching for toys and food, tracking, following trails of food to start with, teach him tricks, the list is endless of things you can do with him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TessaM Oh I did forget to mention that he's almost 6 months old now but very well trained. He knows how to sit, lie down, come, stay, is potty trained, and knows thresholds like not going outside if we don't tell him to and knows never to go into the street. He knows what toys are his and hasn't chewed up anything that isn't his.

I'm not suggesting for a minute that he isn't well behaved. I was thinking more on the lines of a local club that either do the Good Citizens tests (and believe me the Gold Standard is no push-over!!), Rally-O or competitive obedience type training.

Thank you ballybee and Jenny! Those are some some great suggestions! I do not have a kong for him yet but it seems I should definitely get one.

And Twiggy, I know you weren't implying anything about his behavior I am going to look into some local training classes for him now though. Maybe even start getting him trained as a visitation dog for hospitals. You have made me curious lol so thank you