Finding Interesting Things
Dogs need mental stimulation to be happy, mentally healthy and confident.
Exploring new objects is a great way to offer mental stimulation. It is not as difficult as it may seem. The novel object (or place) does not have to be beautiful, it just has to be interesting for our dogs.
In this video Dakota finds something a little unexpected. She is a bit wary but with time she gains the confidence to approach it. She checks it out and moves on when she is ready, without interference from her handler. This allows her to make her mind up herself, which is the perfect way of gaining confidence in her own problem-solving abilities. And with this skill, Dakota can resolve other difficult or tricky situations on her own.
Dogs need time to make decisions, as we wrote in this article:
Dakota investigates her findings during a walk
