# Fun Dog Activity Toys



## BoosDad (Mar 8, 2020)

About 13 years ago, I was looking for some nicely-made puzzle games for Boo. I looked high and low until I found these games by designer Nina Ottosson. They are made in Sweden from solid birch, and still are in good shape after all these years. One, called Dog Smart, involves removing pegs from a puzzle board to reveal a treat. The pegs fit tightly on the board so that the dog must pick them up with his/her mouth. The second game, called Dog Tornado, has three spinning levels. Your pup must spin each level to reveal the treat compartments. The game comes with two pegs, which increases the difficulty. Boo loves these games. In younger years, he would breeze through them in a matter of minutes. Now, he still likes to play these games. However, it takes a little longer for him to find the treats. 

I think these games are still available. However, I am unsure if they are still produced in Sweden.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I LOVE hearing your Boo stories and seeing your pictures! I'm so happy you found this forum. Remind me how you happened upon it? (That would be a good thread: "What brought you to this forum?")


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## BoosDad (Mar 8, 2020)

ShamaMama said:


> I LOVE hearing your Boo stories and seeing your pictures! I'm so happy you found this forum. Remind me how you happened upon it? (That would be a good thread: "What brought you to this forum?")


After I retired at 53 (two years ago), I began to spend more time on the internet. I've never been a fan of social media, and do not have any social media accounts. However, I just happened upon this site in early 2020. I was intrigued, as there were so many Havanese fans out there. When Boo became a part of my family, he was kinda a celebrity of sorts, among my friends, as they had never heard of his breed. So I threw caution to the wind, and joined the board, thinking maybe I will learn something new about the delightful Havanese. That's basically how I got here.

I highly recommend The Havanese by Diane Klumb for any new Havanese parents. It was published in 2005, when Boo was an adult. However, I still enjoyed reading it.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

BoosDad said:


> About 13 years ago, I was looking for some nicely-made puzzle games for Boo. I looked high and low until I found these games by designer Nina Ottosson. They are made in Sweden from solid birch, and still are in good shape after all these years. One, called Dog Smart, involves removing pegs from a puzzle board to reveal a treat. The pegs fit tightly on the board so that the dog must pick them up with his/her mouth. The second game, called Dog Tornado, has three spinning levels. Your pup must spin each level to reveal the treat compartments. The game comes with two pegs, which increases the difficulty. Boo loves these games. In younger years, he would breeze through them in a matter of minutes. Now, he still likes to play these games. However, it takes a little longer for him to find the treats.
> 
> I think these games are still available. However, I am unsure if they are still produced in Sweden.


Yes! They still make these! We have several. I put them away fro LONG times in between uses, because, like Boo, my dogs all learn them VERY fast. If they haven't seen them for a year or more, it takes them a few minutes, at least to remember how to do them! LOL!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

That is funny because I was on a waiting list before Christmas for one, and I forgot about it! But the one I was going to get is plastic  I wonder if my notification ended up in junk mail or something, it seems like they’re in stock at lots of places now. 

I picked one of the easiest ones but now I’m wondering if that really matters. Which styles do you both like best?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> That is funny because I was on a waiting list before Christmas for one, and I forgot about it! But the one I was going to get is plastic  I wonder if my notification ended up in junk mail or something, it seems like they're in stock at lots of places now.
> 
> I picked one of the easiest ones but now I'm wondering if that really matters. Which styles do you both like best?


If he's not used to doing puzzles, start with an easier one. Once he gets the hang of it, you can step up to harder ones. I think starting with "intermediate" ones, you can set them up in "easier" or "harder" ways, if I remember right.

I have a stack of them in the closet. LOL!


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## BoosDad (Mar 8, 2020)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> That is funny because I was on a waiting list before Christmas for one, and I forgot about it! But the one I was going to get is plastic  I wonder if my notification ended up in junk mail or something, it seems like they're in stock at lots of places now.
> 
> I picked one of the easiest ones but now I'm wondering if that really matters. Which styles do you both like best?


Boo's favorite game is the Dog Tornado. I don't know if that one is still made by Nina Ottosson. It's a little more difficult game, as it involves spinning each game level with the paw to reveal the treats. If Sundance is not familiar with puzzle games, I would start with something like Dog Smart, where Sundance simply picks up the blocks with the mouth to reveal the treats. Boo seemed to understand this intuitively, and raced through the game without my assistance. Of course, he had been playing other types of puzzle games for a while. Still, to this day, he will dance around excited, if he sees me bringing out Dog Smart.


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## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

BoosDad said:


> Still, to this day, he will dance around excited, if he sees me bringing out Dog Smart.


Video, video, VIDEO!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Some people here have already seen this, but last spring and summer, while Kodi was so limited in terms of what he could do physicially, but was DYING to do some "brain work" I taught him this game, called "Match to Sample". The idea is that I put out two (eventually 3 or 4) different items, then hold up one item, and he has to indicate the "match" to the one I'm holding.

We worked up to 3 items on the table, but I don't have video of that, and since he's gone back to "real" work, we've let this one slide. It's fun, though. If we can get his Utility title finished, I'd like to go back to this and other "trick work" with him, just because he likes it!:


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## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Oh Kodi you are as smart as you are handsome!!:smile2::smile2:


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

krandall said:


> Some people here have already seen this, but last spring and summer, while Kodi was so limited in terms of what he could do physicially, but was DYING to do some "brain work" I taught him this game, called "Match to Sample". The idea is that I put out two (eventually 3 or 4) different items, then hold up one item, and he has to indicate the "match" to the one I'm holding.
> 
> We worked up to 3 items on the table, but I don't have video of that, and since he's gone back to "real" work, we've let this one slide. It's fun, though. If we can get his Utility title finished, I'd like to go back to this and other "trick work" with him, just because he likes it!:


WOW!!! :surprise: That's an amazing video on how smart these little dogs are.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

BoosDad - it looks like the toys you own are made of wood. Looks like the current ones are plastic. I wonder if they still make the wooden ones anymore. I feel wood would ( that sounds a little funny!) be safer.


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Jackie from Concrete said:


> BoosDad - it looks like the toys you own are made of wood. Looks like the current ones are plastic. I wonder if they still make the wooden ones anymore. I feel wood would ( that sounds a little funny!) be safer.


i have ordered some of the plastic toys for Ricky where the pegs can't be removed but must slide to reveal the reward. Ricky would gnaw on the wooden pegs or hide them under furniture. The plastic toys work much better for my piece of mind. I re-introduced one of Ricky's older puzzles last night that he hadn't played with for a couple of years. He remembered immediately exactly how to solve it and he enjoyed every minute of it.

Last night I hid his evening meal under a box for the first time. He had a devil of a time finding it but he didn't give up and I didn't help him. He was so proud when he succeeded. This morning I hid it under the box again. He went right to it. I can fool him once but not twice!

I want to teach him Karen's game next.

Ricky's Popi


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> Some people here have already seen this, but last spring and summer, while Kodi was so limited in terms of what he could do physicially, but was DYING to do some "brain work" I taught him this game, called "Match to Sample". The idea is that I put out two (eventually 3 or 4) different items, then hold up one item, and he has to indicate the "match" to the one I'm holding.
> 
> We worked up to 3 items on the table, but I don't have video of that, and since he's gone back to "real" work, we've let this one slide. It's fun, though. If we can get his Utility title finished, I'd like to go back to this and other "trick work" with him, just because he likes it!:


Karen how did you introduce this game to Kodi the first time? I suppose I might rub some treat scent on one item so that Ricky would "nose" it then reward him with that treat. Then work up to using the same "marker" to identify the correct choice. Do you think that would work? What treat were you using in that video? That is an awesome game and I think works best with a "food motivated" dog and their initials start with "K" and "R". :hungry:

Ricky's Popi


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Karen how did you introduce this game to Kodi the first time? I suppose I might rub some treat scent on one item so that Ricky would "nose" it then reward him with that treat. Then work up to using the same "marker" to identify the correct choice. Do you think that would work? What treat were you using in that video? That is an awesome game and I think works best with a "food motivated" dog and their initials start with "K" and "R". :hungry:
> 
> Ricky's Popi


No, you don't want to rub food on it, because the whole point of THIS game is for him to use his EYES to discern the difference between items, NOT his nose. So you would only confuse him if he thought he was supposed to smell a difference between items. Plus, the dog needs to stay back from the table and look... something that Kodi was not excellent at.

Ideally, the dog returns to a "down" position, further away on his mat, and you toss his cookie rewards to him. We modified that for Kodi, because the repeated downs were too hard on his damaged shoulder. As a result, his "returns" are not as "clean" as we'd like, and I have to repeatedly remind him to "sit on his mat". But I wasn't even able to work on THAT independently because even too many reps of THAT aggravated his shoulder.


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## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

BoosDad said:


> About 13 years ago, I was looking for some nicely-made puzzle games for Boo. I looked high and low until I found these games by designer Nina Ottosson. They are made in Sweden from solid birch, and still are in good shape after all these years. One, called Dog Smart, involves removing pegs from a puzzle board to reveal a treat. The pegs fit tightly on the board so that the dog must pick them up with his/her mouth. The second game, called Dog Tornado, has three spinning levels. Your pup must spin each level to reveal the treat compartments. The game comes with two pegs, which increases the difficulty. Boo loves these games. In younger years, he would breeze through them in a matter of minutes. Now, he still likes to play these games. However, it takes a little longer for him to find the treats.
> 
> I think these games are still available. However, I am unsure if they are still produced in Sweden.


Welcome, glad you finally joined us here on the Havanese Forum, your Boo is a cutie


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## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

krandall said:


> No, you don't want to rub food on it, because the whole point of THIS game is for him to use his EYES to discern the difference between items, NOT his nose. So you would only confuse him if he thought he was supposed to smell a difference between items. Plus, the dog needs to stay back from the table and look... something that Kodi was not excellent at.
> 
> Ideally, the dog returns to a "down" position, further away on his mat, and you toss his cookie rewards to him. We modified that for Kodi, because the repeated downs were too hard on his damaged shoulder. As a result, his "returns" are not as "clean" as we'd like, and I have to repeatedly remind him to "sit on his mat". But I wasn't even able to work on THAT independently because even too many reps of THAT aggravated his shoulder.


Well.....I showed Patti what Kodi was doing and she and I gave him an A+++. :grin2:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Mikki said:


> Well.....I showed Patti what Kodi was doing and she and I gave him an A+++. :grin2:


Awwww, tell Patti that she is very kind!


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