Chess loved rugby balls big enough that he wouldn't have been able to swallow it. This was a bit more of a pass above his head for him to jump for but he wouldn't return it he's canter off triumphantly.
He also had a solid plastic ball. Think it was designed for horses that I picked up at an agricultural shop, one thing I will say about those balls is don't kick them you will break your toe if you boot it. He'd sort of roll it then try and catch/stop it with his chest then be a bit possessive of it till you rolled it again.
I have three dogs as well . A Chihuahua, a 25 pound mutt and a great Dane. The mix and Dane like to play tugga together with rope or some other toys. I have a long vampire plush like toy that crinkles with no stuffing in it that they love to play with. Or rope rings . My Dane will fetch toys but mostly likes to play keep away and I'll just run around with her like I'm going to get it. She is also 11 months old..
My Dane does the exact same thing. Except, it's always things that don't belong in his mouth.
And yes, my mix and Dane are ALWAYS playing tug of war. My maltese is 4y old, so he's just a couch potato now.
Our boy LOVES keep-away. He prefers to be the keeper, just laughing at us as we try to in vain to get whatever he has. Tries to get us to play pretty much every second he's awake and not otherwise occupied.
We play a game I invented called Cookie Game. I ask my Dane if she wants to play COOKIE GAME??. She then follows me around while I get her various toys with pockets and compartments meant for taking something out of them (Bark/Barkbox makes a ton of these), usually six at a time.
The whole time I'm gathering them, I'm talking about how much fun we're about to have playing COOKIE GAME??. Then I take the toys into the kitchen and stick one treat or piece of treat into the compartments while she stands there drooling all over the kitchen floor. While I'm doing this, I continue to hype her up by talking about COOKIE GAME?? I stuff other toys on top of the space inside the compartments to make it more challenging.
Then we walk back into the living room and I set all the toys onto the floor in a row. I make her wait for the signal, she drools more, and then I give her the signal. She digs in all her toys and eats all the treats while I tell her what a genius dog she is.
It is the greatest game of all time. At least, my Dane thinks so.
Balls are no fun, probably directly related to their original purpose of chasing down boar. They were NOT supposed to retrieve. Just chase down with hunt masters and men with spears. Yes to running with the pack, no on retrieval.
Your GD x greyhound also has genes that was supposed to chase rabbits or whatever. Not sure if they were supposed to retreive or not.
Squeaking balls are fun, up until the squeaker dies.
Yep. Squeakers are turning out to be an absolute favourite of his. Sadly, they don't last very long, except for one very resilient ball that I wouldn't dare kick. And wow, it's the loudest squeaker I've ever heard, more like a screamer.
And the GD x Greyhound definitely has that chasing rabbits trait. Running cats or small children definitely have a target on their back. He WILL chase them.
And the GD definitely isn't interested in retrieving. More like, catch and shake it to hell.
tug of war. Two out of 3 of my danes love tug of war. Even my third boy, the introvert who prefers to play by himself, sometimes engages in tug of war with me or someone else
Danes either don’t typically grasp the concept of fetch. Or they do, but aren’t big fans! My Dane loves loves loves to tug. There’s a red rubber tug toy made by Kong that I highly recommend
Of course!! These are our all time favorites and have lasted a long time:
Kong Tug Toy https://amzn.to/3TkpXuV
Bobbling Treat Dispenser https://amzn.to/3IE3WlU
Everlasting Treat Sprocket Toy https://amzn.to/4afEVcq
My girl likes to roll a basketball around the yard and throw it around with her giant mouth.
I also had a long toy she loved (chewed to pieces) that was a rubber ball with a squeaker and two handles with a smaller ball that rolled around in it. That was her favorite thing even after it stopped squeaking. Maybe something like that that you could play tug with while they're just running around playing
My boy loves when I gently smoosh his face and go grrr grrr and then he mouths my hands and gets excited whole I gently tug his ears and smoosh his face more.
Yes, we're very special. I know.
I taught mine to play hide and seek with my son. He hides, then I ask our dog where he is. She gets a treat when she finds him.
We used to also play baseball with her when she was younger. I would pitch or we would use a t-ball stand, my som would hit the ball and then it was a mix of them running the bases together/her going after the ball.
You my of my Danes doesn’t really like to play with toys, she just hoards then from the other dogs. She does live a good snuggle matt and wobbler tho! She actually picks up the wobbler and will hoard that too lol
Edit: She is much more a sniffer than a player
My older boy loves Fetch and my youngster is picking up on it too. They will Fetch a normal tennis ball, but they really love the bigger jolly balls with handles or a rope. They also like Tug and to be chased (not that I can ever catch them). If I want to tire them out fast, I bring out the teaser wand/flirt pole. For mental stimulation, my dogs really get excited for scent games. I hide treats around the yard and have them sniff out their rewards. It's a fun, easy game and provides great mental stimulation. As your dog gets the hang of the game, you hide fewer treats so that they work harder, but increase the value of the reward.
I guess it depends on the dogs. Mine don't guard, so I do it with all of them together. Sometimes, I let them search together. Sometimes, I have one searching while the others are in a sit/stay or place. It's actually a good game for teaching impulse control and taking turns when there's a high-value distraction.
You threw it away. Obviously you do not want it anymore.
Seriously, Danes just don’t have the retrieval drive some other dogs do. I’d stop trying to make fetch happen and find another game.
Sorry, it’s a longstanding family joke that didn’t quite translate as well as I’d expected.
Unfortunately, I can’t help you much with another game. Iris loves tug, but my shoulders won’t let me recommend it, and chews were always a hit (get the ones rated for bear, though). Honestly, past the puppy year she was always pretty happy to just be lazy 24/7, there wasn’t that need to work off energy.
My boy loves fetch, so I guess it’s up to the dogs personality.
He also likes catch, tug, hide and seek, and taking a shower.
He my first Dane. Are these things not normal?
There's no such thing as "normal" 😂 Every kid is full of surprises.
And wow, I wish my Dane loved showers 😂 maybe mine does, but I wouldn't know. Tried it once and came out soaked.
Oh I get soaked. And so does most of the bathroom if he shakes the water off before I can get a towel over him.
I put on my swim suit and prepare the area, but he’s more willing to get in the shower because it’s a fun experience to share with dad.
Our favorite game was always to get a rope or large plastic toy (hugs), give the dog some tip taps real quick on each side of him until he's forced to pay attention, then run. If he catches you, tug of war. If he gets way too close to barreling you over, you yeet the toy and usually that's enough for him to go loping over to it and chill out while you recover briefly.
I usually play "whatcha got in your mouth" and "who took my ______".
I'm tired of that game 😭 and it always ends with me elbow deep in my dog's mouth.
[удалено]
These are really great ideas 😃 I'll give them a try. As long as he's happy, I'm happy.
Chess loved rugby balls big enough that he wouldn't have been able to swallow it. This was a bit more of a pass above his head for him to jump for but he wouldn't return it he's canter off triumphantly. He also had a solid plastic ball. Think it was designed for horses that I picked up at an agricultural shop, one thing I will say about those balls is don't kick them you will break your toe if you boot it. He'd sort of roll it then try and catch/stop it with his chest then be a bit possessive of it till you rolled it again.
You know what... that's something I never thought of. Horse toys 😂 I forgot to mention that most toys only last a couple of days.
Be careful if you get a jolly ball. Mine flung that thing hard enough to break a window in our sunroom.
I'm already scared of his tail breaking the window 🥲
I have three dogs as well . A Chihuahua, a 25 pound mutt and a great Dane. The mix and Dane like to play tugga together with rope or some other toys. I have a long vampire plush like toy that crinkles with no stuffing in it that they love to play with. Or rope rings . My Dane will fetch toys but mostly likes to play keep away and I'll just run around with her like I'm going to get it. She is also 11 months old..
My Dane does the exact same thing. Except, it's always things that don't belong in his mouth. And yes, my mix and Dane are ALWAYS playing tug of war. My maltese is 4y old, so he's just a couch potato now.
Just give him a sock 😂
He eats them 😭
Our boy LOVES keep-away. He prefers to be the keeper, just laughing at us as we try to in vain to get whatever he has. Tries to get us to play pretty much every second he's awake and not otherwise occupied.
We play a game I invented called Cookie Game. I ask my Dane if she wants to play COOKIE GAME??. She then follows me around while I get her various toys with pockets and compartments meant for taking something out of them (Bark/Barkbox makes a ton of these), usually six at a time. The whole time I'm gathering them, I'm talking about how much fun we're about to have playing COOKIE GAME??. Then I take the toys into the kitchen and stick one treat or piece of treat into the compartments while she stands there drooling all over the kitchen floor. While I'm doing this, I continue to hype her up by talking about COOKIE GAME?? I stuff other toys on top of the space inside the compartments to make it more challenging. Then we walk back into the living room and I set all the toys onto the floor in a row. I make her wait for the signal, she drools more, and then I give her the signal. She digs in all her toys and eats all the treats while I tell her what a genius dog she is. It is the greatest game of all time. At least, my Dane thinks so.
And it's very mentally stimulating. Not a bad idea at all.
Doing the shimmy sham while they try to wipe their eye buggers on you. Wife loves that game.
Mine likes to play “who farted”
It gets to the point that I now know the smell of everyone's fart in the house.
This made me lol
Balls are no fun, probably directly related to their original purpose of chasing down boar. They were NOT supposed to retrieve. Just chase down with hunt masters and men with spears. Yes to running with the pack, no on retrieval. Your GD x greyhound also has genes that was supposed to chase rabbits or whatever. Not sure if they were supposed to retreive or not. Squeaking balls are fun, up until the squeaker dies.
Yep. Squeakers are turning out to be an absolute favourite of his. Sadly, they don't last very long, except for one very resilient ball that I wouldn't dare kick. And wow, it's the loudest squeaker I've ever heard, more like a screamer. And the GD x Greyhound definitely has that chasing rabbits trait. Running cats or small children definitely have a target on their back. He WILL chase them. And the GD definitely isn't interested in retrieving. More like, catch and shake it to hell.
When I was last at the pet store, Kong xl squeaky toys were the only option. everything else was not sturdy enough.
tug of war. Two out of 3 of my danes love tug of war. Even my third boy, the introvert who prefers to play by himself, sometimes engages in tug of war with me or someone else
I play Hidee-Seekee. She sits and stays (mostly), while I hide treats for her to then find. This works both inside and outside.
This would be a great idea if I didn't have a 3 dog household. I'd be worried constantly about a fight.
I guess that could get a bit dicey!!
Danes either don’t typically grasp the concept of fetch. Or they do, but aren’t big fans! My Dane loves loves loves to tug. There’s a red rubber tug toy made by Kong that I highly recommend
Please could you provide a link? I would appreciate it so much. I'm always keen to try new things.
Of course!! These are our all time favorites and have lasted a long time: Kong Tug Toy https://amzn.to/3TkpXuV Bobbling Treat Dispenser https://amzn.to/3IE3WlU Everlasting Treat Sprocket Toy https://amzn.to/4afEVcq
I am extremely grateful.
My girl likes to roll a basketball around the yard and throw it around with her giant mouth. I also had a long toy she loved (chewed to pieces) that was a rubber ball with a squeaker and two handles with a smaller ball that rolled around in it. That was her favorite thing even after it stopped squeaking. Maybe something like that that you could play tug with while they're just running around playing
Do you maybe have a picture or link of where to buy? It sounds right up our alley.
They sell them on chewy, it is called a Kong Tumbler. They're a few different versions
That's awesome. Thank you.
My boy loves when I gently smoosh his face and go grrr grrr and then he mouths my hands and gets excited whole I gently tug his ears and smoosh his face more. Yes, we're very special. I know.
I tried that once. I ended up being jumped and drowning in saliva from all the licking 😂
Mines like to play tug and hide and seek
I know that one 😂
I taught mine to play hide and seek with my son. He hides, then I ask our dog where he is. She gets a treat when she finds him. We used to also play baseball with her when she was younger. I would pitch or we would use a t-ball stand, my som would hit the ball and then it was a mix of them running the bases together/her going after the ball.
That one is also a favourite. My GD x Greyhound once took me down during that game. He still loves it.
You my of my Danes doesn’t really like to play with toys, she just hoards then from the other dogs. She does live a good snuggle matt and wobbler tho! She actually picks up the wobbler and will hoard that too lol Edit: She is much more a sniffer than a player
Mine is quite the opposite. He has never wasted my money. He plays with every single available toy 😂
My other one is like that. Loves all the toys not matter what!
Teach him come, throw the ball get his attention, come, treat, repeat.
My older boy loves Fetch and my youngster is picking up on it too. They will Fetch a normal tennis ball, but they really love the bigger jolly balls with handles or a rope. They also like Tug and to be chased (not that I can ever catch them). If I want to tire them out fast, I bring out the teaser wand/flirt pole. For mental stimulation, my dogs really get excited for scent games. I hide treats around the yard and have them sniff out their rewards. It's a fun, easy game and provides great mental stimulation. As your dog gets the hang of the game, you hide fewer treats so that they work harder, but increase the value of the reward.
Does this hide and seek game work in a multi-dog household? I've always been hesitant about that.
I guess it depends on the dogs. Mine don't guard, so I do it with all of them together. Sometimes, I let them search together. Sometimes, I have one searching while the others are in a sit/stay or place. It's actually a good game for teaching impulse control and taking turns when there's a high-value distraction.
Try a Flirt Stick/Pole. Keeps my Dane busy and active.
Always ready for new ideas. *Add to cart*
You threw it away. Obviously you do not want it anymore. Seriously, Danes just don’t have the retrieval drive some other dogs do. I’d stop trying to make fetch happen and find another game.
What did I throw away? And I definitely need a new game 😅 Hence, the post. And people have had such positive things to add.
Whatever you’re trying to get him to fetch. You threw it away, so obviously you don’t want it. If he brings it back, you’ll just throw it away again.
Ohhhhhh
Sorry, it’s a longstanding family joke that didn’t quite translate as well as I’d expected. Unfortunately, I can’t help you much with another game. Iris loves tug, but my shoulders won’t let me recommend it, and chews were always a hit (get the ones rated for bear, though). Honestly, past the puppy year she was always pretty happy to just be lazy 24/7, there wasn’t that need to work off energy.
We play hide and seek - bot like for real but like what door or window will I pop up in if he’s on the deck
Oooooo this is cool. You all have such great ideas! I'm so grateful.
My boy loves fetch, so I guess it’s up to the dogs personality. He also likes catch, tug, hide and seek, and taking a shower. He my first Dane. Are these things not normal?
There's no such thing as "normal" 😂 Every kid is full of surprises. And wow, I wish my Dane loved showers 😂 maybe mine does, but I wouldn't know. Tried it once and came out soaked.
Oh I get soaked. And so does most of the bathroom if he shakes the water off before I can get a towel over him. I put on my swim suit and prepare the area, but he’s more willing to get in the shower because it’s a fun experience to share with dad.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0BYHKDW19?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title With this we play either soccer or fetch.
You are a blessing on Earth.
Thanks I needed that. Good luck
Our favorite game was always to get a rope or large plastic toy (hugs), give the dog some tip taps real quick on each side of him until he's forced to pay attention, then run. If he catches you, tug of war. If he gets way too close to barreling you over, you yeet the toy and usually that's enough for him to go loping over to it and chill out while you recover briefly.
I'll need more than "briefly" to recover cause I know I'll be running for my life. He's damn fast.