NN - Play

[NinaA]

There are quite a few really experienced people here, and I have a rescue question for you regarding our new Kentucky Porch Dog, Daisy. She's a medium sized ultimate mix (per a DNA test) and we've had her six months. She is absolutely wonderful. She came to us very well trained and beautifully behaved. Almost no baggage considering our Humane Society was the third shelter she had been in. Dogs in our area are shuffled from shelter to shelter to help overcrowding, and most are adopted out of our city. Problem: Daisy doesn't seem to know how to play. We have tried for months. We go to the local pet supply store and she's not interested in anything. We've tried sticks, balls, chew toys, ropes, etc. She won't even sniff most. The store people have been trying to help. Nothing. Any ideas?

 

[R Taft]

Annabelle does not play.... I have just accepted that fact, but she gets so exited over doing the little tricks she knows... Like her agility stuff, going on high stuff, waving, high stepping and high five. That is her play. Toys do nothing for her. I taught her to retrieve by shaping, but there is no joy in it for her. To her it is a JOB.... but waving and shaking and jumping onto stuff is her joy. Agility in her own way is what she loves the most. Find something your Daisy enjoys and that will be her play.

 

[NinaA]

Before we knew about the Husky in her, we realized that she loved doing recalls. So we stand in diagonal corners of our yard (aboout 1/3 acre) and just call her back and forth. She loves it. Then I started hiding behind trees, bushes etc. and calling her and she loves that. The neighbors already know I'm crazy. Doesn't even need a treat. I think she will follow my hand, so when the weather clears up a bit, I'm going to try to get her to do some obstacles, and maybe dancing. She does a mean tap dance when she is excited, say at supper time and can spin like a top. Completely non-Newf. But inside, when it's pouring down rain outside, we have a problem. I tried hide and seek inside, but she freaked out when she could hear me and couldn't see me. No scent or smell skills showing up here. It's funny, her DNA indicates the involvement of eight or nine different breeds, thus we call her a Kentucky Porch Dog, but the Husky is the only thing that shines through. She has become a challenge at the pet supply store and they are determined to interest her in something.

 

[wrknnwf]

Smear some liverwurst on a toy or even try catnip spray. Maybe soft cheese or peanut butter. Messy, but sometimes the smell gets them interested.

Have you tried a treat ball or Buster Cube?

Funny, both my rescue dogs didn't know how to play with toys. Nothing I do interests him except sticks, bones, or rawhides. All of which he can't have. ):

 

[NinaA]

I've tried everything in a Kong and she may lick it a little but that's it. She won't touch a treat ball to get anything out of it. She also has no interest in sticks, any type of bone except decomposed squirrel, or rawhide. She now is so spoiled that she jumps up into my husband's lap,smacks him as hard as she can in the chest to make sure he's paying attention, jumps down and starts tap dancing to get us to go outside and run her back and forth in the yard. She loves that more than anything else, so I guess we're just going to run. However, my husband is pretty sure what we need is another rescue so they can chase each other. Think I'm about ready to give in, because I think he's right. We were totally lost for the three weeks we were completely dogless, and now we think we really need two again. Who knows, maybe more, and another Newf would be wonderful.

 

[BoundlessNewfs]

Sounds like your girl might enjoy some agility stuff. Maybe "work" is more her "play"? When we got our rescue newf, Brenna (who was almost 3 at the time), she did not know how to play with toys. The first time I tossed one to her, it bonked her on the head and scared her. I felt so badly! Eventually, she learned to catch the toys, and to enjoy playing with us.

 

[5PotatoChips]

Both our rescues were pretty clueless on toys as well. It took Coulson close to a year to figure them out. Now he loves to chew nylon bones and tennis balls are his favorite. (And the occasional stuffy toy, but those are dismembered pretty quickly by the other Newfies.:shuffle CK learned faster, but both of them learned off of our girl Newfies. BoundlessNewfs, we did the same thing early on with Coulson! The toy bounced right off his head! Poor guy. :uhoh2:

 

[NinaA]

Daisy had one bounce off her head,too. Just not much retriever in her blended background. Problem is that she feels my husband and I both (guess it's the shepherd in her) should be outside with her for her "runs" and it's really, really cold out there right now.

 

[R Taft]

She sound like a working dog.... Maybe a toy on a pole to chase might be her cuppa tea, I call that a flirt pole.........Tessa loves those. And Tessa loves a squeaky toy that is tossed, Squeak... Toss and it squeaks when she picks it up. Don't get hung up on toys, sounds like a great life now and play a plenty

 

[victoria1140]

Try agility or track and retrieve.
We have had dogs that never played with toys ever so don't worry.

It's just about finding what ticks her boxes

 

[Darwinsnewfie@1855]

I would have to agree with your husband about getting another rescue dog. However, I'm bias because I work at a rescue. It is interesting tho, some dogs come into the rescue and won't play with any of the volunteers, but then they get placed in a home with other dogs and we get pictures and stories about how playful they are with the adopters dogs.

 

[NinaA]

We've tried her with my son's rescue, who lived with us off and on and now lives in the DC area, and they got along great, and they did play with each other, and so I've tried to initiate play interaction with her like she played with Starbuck, and she will do that, but she just has no interest in anything resembling a toy or chewie or ball or stick. We'll keep at it.