Hi my name is Coco and I’m a spoodle puppy. I’m also the new Rural Living Kids Corner mascot and I get to choose what goes on this page each month (when I get really big I’m going to tell them what should go in the rest of the paper as well). 

I told the editor that since they were talking about dogs in the rest of the paper, we should talk about puppies on our page. Playing with your puppy - or your grown up dog -  is the best fun around – much more fun than TV -  and is really good  exercise for you both.

What you might not know is that it’s also a good way of teaching your dog things. Here are some of my favourite games:

Hide and seek

Show your puppy you have their favourite toy or snack and then go and hide. At first you can make it easy and let your dog watch where you hide. Puppy has to find you to get their treat.

Find the treat 

Tell your dog to “Stay” and show him a treat then hide it under a cushion or behind a chair. Go back to your dog with the instruction to “Seek”. After a bit of practice, you can make it harder by using different rooms and shutting the dog out of the room while you hide the treat. But we’re smart, we dogs, you’ll never beat us at this game!

Fetch – MY FAVOURITE GAME

Offer your puppy a toy, and as it mouths and sniffs it, say “Fetch” and reward it with praise or a treat. Once he knows to touch the toy when you offer it and say “Fetch”, offer it again with the command, but without the reward. Say the command again straight away and your dog will be even keener to show you how clever he or she is. 

Now, only reward your puppy when they knock the toy with their nose or even take hold of it. Never move to a new stage until you have a perfect response on the previous one – or you’ll confuse your canine friend.

Once you have reached this stage, drop the toy and say “Fetch”. When your dog starts to pick it up, you can begin to throw the toy slightly further away each time. Only reward your dog when it brings the toy back.

Don’t tease your puppy/dog when playing – or they’ll soon learn not to bring the toy back to you.

What kind of pets do you have? Maybe you could send me some pictures or a letter to coco@ruralliving.co.nz and I could put them on the kids corner. You can even send me a picture of a cat if you have one as a pet.  I like cats – I met some ducks a while ago that I thought were a bit weird – but I like cats.

See you next month 

DOGS ON THE JOB
By: Maria Gill
Publisher: Penguin Books
RRP: $19.95

Maria Gill is a primary teacher and has two children. She lives on a lifestyle block in Matakana and she was kind enough to talk to me about why she wrote Dogs On The Job.

Coco: What made you write the book?

Maria Gill: Curiosity. I saw a lady at the local supermarket selling raffle tickets for hearing dogs and I went over and talked to her. I thought “if I’m interested, children would be too.”  I’d always been curious about guide dogs so I thought I’ve got to find out more.

C: What was the most surprising thing you learned about dogs?

MG: I was amazed at how loyal and intelligent dogs were. I have to admit I’ve always been a cat person but now I’ve got a huge respect for dogs. It’s amazing the things they have to learn.  Mobility dogs have to (learn) lots of skills – they can press the button to cross the road, for an elevator, pick up things their owner drops.

C: Did any one breed stand out?

MG: Well there were lots of Labradors. They seem to be really intelligent and loyal. 

C: So do you have a dog now?

MG: Well I gained such a huge respect that yes I have. About six months after finishing the book  we got a Labrador Collie cross. She’s very quick at learning things – but she’s got that Labrador trait of being a bit greedy.

C: What was the most unusual job you found dogs doing?

MG: I was really fascinated by the sniffer dogs that sniff out  endangered birds. They have to wear a muzzle and they never touch the birds but they help people find them and protect them. Also the ones that sniff out rats and stoats to keep our birds safe on predator free sites.

GIVEAWAY

Maria has a great website – www.mariagill.co.nz – with some of her other books on it.  Why not check it out? When you’re done, how about emailing me at coco@ruralliving.co.nz to tell us about your dog and you could go in the draw to win a copy of Maria’s book Dogs on the Job.

Here are some monthly games for you to try

• Click here to download a page pdf