Hide and Seek the Kingsdale way!

Cara Doll is an expert at hide and seek when we are out on walks. Mike and I can hide wedged in between shrubs or crouched behind a tree and she will find us! She then does the Cara shuffle as her head goes one way and her bum goes the other and she darts off to celebrate winning the game!

Last night, I decided I would raise the bar on the Hide and Seek Game! So, I went into the bathroom, turned the light off and hid in the bathtub. I then whistled Cara and waited whilst trying to stifle my giggles.
Mayhem ensued as Cara, Khan and Benny Bear tried to locate me; I heard them storm into the bedroom, then the kitchen and finally the study. Silence descended and I imagined them scratching their heads in disbelief! Where is Mum?
So, I whistled again and they repeated the whole process of going from room to room but NEVER once came into the bathroom. Third time lucky, I thought, and whistled again(I'm getting hoarse and a tad cold!!) I heard Cara Doll come in and leave immediately and then Khan, the magnificent, came in and peered over the edge of the bathtub!! Seconds later, Cara came in and very slowly peered over the edge, rather as if she was expecting to see a ghost!!

Khan is the champion at Hide and Seek constantly beating Cara at finding me. I have to admit she doesn't look very happy at coming in a poor second.

I then tried hiding behind a door, thinking this game would be too easy. No way the dogs chorus! It took ages before, yes you guessed it, Khan looked around the door and found me.

Khan has handed down the gauntlet to Cara Doll and I'm not sure whether she is up to taking the challenge. Mayhem will ensue at Kingsdale tonight and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my lovely Cara Doll can do better than Khan!

If you have never tried this game, I would recommend it. Dogs love to play as I'm sure you do; this game will also get their brains into action and hopefully(thinking of Cara!) improve their memory!

Bye for now from Kingsdale Happy Hounds and a very smug Khan!

Cara's Party Tricks!

I am having fun teaching Cara some tricks to entertain her and me! She is an intelligent dog and learns new tricks really fast, unless I am having trouble teaching her, then chaos follows!
The adage that the dog is as good as the dog handler is very true; at least in my case!!

'TAKE IT' Game

To begin with, I held Cara's jaw in the palm of my hand and placed a treat on her nose. This was actually the hardest part of the whole learning process for Cara as she kept following my hand with the treat; I refused to allow her to have the treat and kept gently trying to place the treat on her nose. Eventually, she understood and allowed the treat to rest on her nose; I kept my hand under her jaw and with my other hand I held my finger up in front of her to indicate that she was to stay. Amazingly, it worked and I allowed her the treat. I then introduced the cue "Take it" which allowed her to knock the treat off her nose.

Cara learnt the basics of this trick within a few attempts and we have now have polished the trick, so that she can hold the pose for 30 seconds until I give the "Take it" command. As the picture indicates, she is very focused(on me and my finger); I give in after 30 seconds as she looks so cute and I can't refuse her!!

Do you have any dog tricks that you would like to share? Cara and I would love to hear from you.

Happy New Year from the Kingsdale Happy Hounds

Have a super licking woofing 2015!