# Fun Activities to Do INSIDE the Home



## HailieAndMe (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi All! 

It has been rainy and cold outside, and although I walk my Golden, Hailie, 3 times a day, I want to keep her entertained and happy inside the house too. We have wooden floors in the house (except inside the bedrooms) and I don't really like her running around on the wood floors because 1. I don't think it's good for her because she slips around a a lot and I think it may hurt her or cause other bodily harm and 2. the wood gets scratched up. We usually end up playing ball inside the master bedroom (still kind of small to toss the ball around), or I play hide and seek with her (which ends up with her still running around on the wood floors :doh: ). Do any of you have fun games you play with your Goldens inside the home? Possibly ones that don't require running around but still burns energy and uses the mind?


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

We suffer major in the summer from depression and "shut in" syndrome and summer seems to have begun already here. It's tough having two young dogs in this heat. 

We do a lot of clicker games, training, and other mind games! Physical activity is harder... we play a lot of indoor fetch.


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## Katiesmommy (Sep 10, 2006)

I know you asked for games that didnt require running around....I cant help you there. 

What my husband and I do is toss a small toy of Katie's from our livvingroom to the kitchen and she goes and gets it and brings it back for us.


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

wow--that's a tough one--indoor without too much running. Hide n seek could work--but you need two people so the furkids don't peek!!!


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## njb (Oct 5, 2006)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> We suffer major in the summer from depression and "shut in" syndrome and summer seems to have begun already here. It's tough having two young dogs in this heat.
> 
> We do a lot of clicker games, training, and other mind games! Physical activity is harder... we play a lot of indoor fetch.


Oh man do I know what you mean--the gulf coast heat is literally deadly. We do play lots of fetch--sometimes too much--she drives me nuts wanting to retrieve things, if she can't find a ball she has brought me a cat to throw--poor cat. 

I really don't know that it is possible to wear out a young golden in doors--


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## Molly's Mom (Jan 1, 2007)

We play a lot of "hall ball". My entryway is 20 feet long so we go back and forth with it a lot during the day and evening. She also loves a good game of keepaway with her toys. She'll walk up to me and pretend to drop the toy in my lap. As soon as I'm ready to grab it she runs off, probably laughing at me. It's harmless, keeps her busy and she has fun.


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

Check out LaurJen's blog... She has lot's of good ideas in this post: 

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/blogs/viewblog.php?entry=244&userid=1114


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## Jazz's Mom (Feb 26, 2007)

My husband likes to hide a toy from Jazz. Sometimes Jazz thinks he's thrown it, other times he knows he has it but can't find it. Is it under daddy's arm, inside his shirt, under his hat? 

Or we play keep away and roll a ball back and forth between two people. We're just rolling, so there's not a lot of running --just a lot of pouncing.


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Tucker loves chasing a laser pointer around.... he'll follow it everywhere, and try to scale the wall to get it and then sits and barks at the ceiliing if you shine it up there....lol


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## Carsonsdaddy (Nov 1, 2006)

Molly's Mom said:


> We play a lot of "hall ball". My entryway is 20 feet long so we go back and forth with it a lot during the day and evening. She also loves a good game of keepaway with her toys. She'll walk up to me and pretend to drop the toy in my lap. As soon as I'm ready to grab it she runs off, probably laughing at me. It's harmless, keeps her busy and she has fun.


We also do "hall ball" and Carson get's a good workout chasing the cat around....


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## nrhareiner (Feb 27, 2007)

Around here it is called FARPing. (Frequent Acts of Rampet Play) it's a Corgi thing and of coarse Goldens take to it really well too. So there is a Corgi and a Golden puppy running full out through out the house. With wood floors they can really have some fun and the reast of the dogs are entertained by just watching them.

Heidi


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## sleepyspencer (Feb 25, 2007)

*Hide n Seek*

We play an awful lot of hide and seek. My Duncan boy really loves it. It really is his favorite game. I will go out on a limb and say that he even prefers it to swimming. That being said you know how much he loves it.

Here's his "find it" video....

YouTube - find it


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

Our house is small and our dining room is wood so we have the same problem. Charlie will take a toy and get me to chase him. He stays in the living room and goes around in small circles until I fall over from dizziness. No wonder I'm a little wacky...LOL

HE also likes the laser pen but we stopped because he got a little too obcessed with it.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

We also play 'Find-it'....I use a work glove and put some food in the glove....
When first teaching them to 'Find-it' I would put it where they could see it..working up to completely concealing the glove so they actually have to use their nose to 'find-it'. They get the glove and the treat....then when they bring it back...they get lots of praise...sometimes some tugging and sometimes another treat food....

The love hide and seek....the girls are put in a wait....
my husband or boys hide-they seek...big party when they find them! Both of our dogs LOVE to be surprised - but some dogs HATE it so would not reccommend that everyone pop-out and 'surprise' their dog until you get a feeling of how your dog will respond...

We work on 'give' games - they retrive and hold....but work on getting a longer and longer hold before being told to 'give'

I have them carry things around the house (from room to room)...usually stuff they like but only get to carry on special occasions.... i.e. plastic soda bottles...a washcloth...

They help with laundry...
Pick up item-after-item from the laundry basket then give them to me ....I put in the washing machine...

We work on simple tricks - 'wave', spin, 'go through' (weave around legs)

Both dogs LOVE to tug....so I get out the 'tuggie'. They work for an opportunity to tug with me or my husband... Liberty loves to pull us around as we sit in the computer chair....


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## Liams_Mommy (Jan 11, 2006)

If you do any training at all sometimes you can mentally exhaust them by working on training (sit, down, stay, heel, etc). We do this with Liam a lot.

Another thing I do is play "kitty" with him. I have a cat toy (a few feathers with a bell on the end of a long stick) and he will chase it around (like a kitty). It's pretty funny to watch, he keeps trying to eat it!! He does jump around a lot but you can control the amount of running/jumping he does.

We also play tug (but we always "win"). 

We like "find it" too, either using us or treats or toys.


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## GoldenGratitude (Jan 25, 2007)

We do alot of training with Theo when it's too nasty to spend much time outside. and also combine learning new tricks and enforcing old ones with games of catch and fetch. He always seems so proud of himself when he learns something new and it seems like it calms him down alot afterwards.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Find it has been Brooks' most favorite game since he was a little guy. 
Back then (before he learned he could rip open stuffed toys and we had to stop buying them), I brought home a stuffed monkey and when I gave it to him I told him I had bought him a New Toy. 
I was looking for it one day and I asked him, Where's your New Toy? Let's find it! To my surprise he looked around the house and found the monkey. That was when I realized he understood the word New Toy meant the monkey and also what Find It meant.
So now this is a great inside game (and though he doesn't get any stuffed toys anymore, he plays find it with the outer covering remains of the last one he got!)


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## HailieAndMe (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your replies and wonderful ideas! "Find It" sounds like a fantastic game that I'm definitely going to be trying out . It's getting more sunny and warm, but it's always good to have a back up plan!


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## tintallie (May 31, 2006)

We play indoor fetch, "catch" where I toss a ball or toy and he catches it in the air in his mouth, DH wrestles with Wiggles and we also put treats in a Hol-ee Mol-ee Extreme ball and he chases that ball for hours trying to get the treats out.


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## goldenluver (Feb 26, 2007)

What I do with Shianna a lot of times is put a few baby carrots in an empty soda bottle and she goes crazy trying to get them out. It keeps her busy for awhile. I also play hide and seek with baby carrots. I hide them throughtout the house and she goes looking for them. She loves it.


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## Gale Graham (Mar 22, 2007)

We do a lot of "hall ball" with a tennis ball in bad weather too which we have a lot of in Seattle. I hung an old beach towel on the door at the end of the long wide hallway to keep the "marks" off the door when it gets "soggy" and I throw the ball and "bounce" it off the covered door. My 2 girls enjoy it - the male isn't big into fetching, he'd rather be digging! I also sometimes put on some "jazzy" music and do my rendition of the "pony" around the house (now I'm aging myself!) and the dogs jump/twist and follow me around.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

Gale Graham said:


> I also sometimes put on some "jazzy" music and do my rendition of the "pony" around the house (now I'm aging myself!) and the dogs jump/twist and follow me around.


THIS thread is now worthless without video footage


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

We play search games inside..
Dogs in a sit stay..Hide a glove....FIND Glove---dogs find the glove..BIG PARTY!
Dogs in a sit/down stay...person hides....FIND Daddy---Dog finds person... BIG PARTY!!

Inside games with the clicker are endless....

The dogs know the names of most of their toys and several other household objects.... I will send them off to FIND/leash - FIND/remote - FIND/ball - FIND/keys - FIND/tuggie etc...

Games are where it is at!!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Gale Graham said:


> I also sometimes put on some "jazzy" music and do my rendition of the "pony" around the house (now I'm aging myself!) and the dogs jump/twist and follow me around.


I'd pay to see that!!  
What a hoot!!


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## boyd114 (Mar 7, 2007)

we put boyd in one room hide sum treats around the other then let him in to seach for them, (put them in hard places and they really have to use there noses) or we fill his kong with peanut butter (put it in the freezer for an hour) or melted cheese and stuff it with some of his food! he seems to enjoy that!


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## NancyLu (Jul 28, 2006)

We do all of the above. I spent a lot of time training her to put her toys in the bin. All I have to do now is say, "put your toys away," and she puts them in the bin, helps me close the lid, and helps me push the bin against the wall. I also have spent alot of time setting out objects like a ball, leash, etc., and I ask her to bring me one of them. She loves anything that makes her think!


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## luvmygoldenlinus (Jun 4, 2007)

This is a very good thread! We've all been stuck inside with our Goldens groaning behind us wanting to play, lol

Linus and I normally play keep-away with his toys or fetch inside. I also like to have him stand on a carpeted part and bounce tennis balls off the floor or off of a wall for him. He loves jumpin up and catching them.

Training is also a great thing...some times he gets a little bored with it though. The greatest thing I ever taught him was "Stay" and how to put his toys up in a toy box.

For the days when he's reaalllllly wanting to go outside, I let him wrestle  I don't let him do it all the time because I don't want it to form habits, but I'll let him cut loose and we'll wrestle for a while. Also...a specialy treat for him is the flashlight. You can't even get "Fla" out before he's running to the closet where the flashlights are. He loves chasing them around.

Anyway....as you can we've developed many ways to keep busy indoors, lol. I also work night-shift...meaning I sleep from 7am-3pm. So he's up through the night with me...and obviously we have to stay inside because of it.


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## Brinkleysmom (Dec 17, 2005)

Your going to laugh but when it is nasty outside or just too hot, I sit on the sofa and use the laser light. I aim it up the stairs and down the stairs, in the dining room, in the kitchen and back to the living room and then up the stairs and down the stairs. They get so tired in fifteen minutes that they sleep for like an hour and a half after we do it. They love it. Barney will come in the den looking for it. He will stand there and bark and run back out. That is his way of telling me he wants it. Brinks will grab her stuffed bone and that is her signal. They are too funny. They love it. It wears them out too. Just be careful to not point it near their face.


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

I really need this thread. I have a baby puppy who hasn't gotten his 2nd set of shots yet and its too hot to go outside anyway.


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## Brinkleysmom (Dec 17, 2005)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> I really need this thread. I have a baby puppy who hasn't gotten his 2nd set of shots yet and its too hot to go outside anyway.


I am telling you the laser light is a riot to watch them try and get it. Its a riot. When they finally sit because they are pooped, put it on the wall up to the celing and watch their head. Its too funny


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

I'll give it a try... I bet the puppy would chase it! My old dog won't (we tried it at my dad's house once LOL)


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## Brinkleysmom (Dec 17, 2005)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> I'll give it a try... I bet the puppy would chase it! My old dog won't (we tried it at my dad's house once LOL)


Try putting it on his paw when he is lying down. It will or should get his attention and then just move it back and forth. I did that with my neighbors german shepherd who is older and he went nuts after that. Now he loves it.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Brinkleysmom said:


> I am telling you the laser light is a riot to watch them try and get it. Its a riot. When they finally sit because they are pooped, put it on the wall up to the celing and watch their head. Its too funny


Please be VERY careful with these types of games. Many dogs become OCD about reflective lights after lots of laser pointer play. Friend of mine can't even keep tags on her dog's collar w/o putting duct tape over them now b/c if the light would reflect off the tag, the dog would go nuts.


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## samchu_mammy (Jun 20, 2008)

Here's what I do when Sam hasn't finish his shot or it's too rainy to go outside:
- training, of course
- find it
- laser pointer chase
- Magic show! --> seems like no one has said this yet? 
I usually let him see the treats I have, and then I'll let him smell it. Then I'll put in one of my hand, closed in fist. Let him smell both hands, and ask him 'which one'? He'll use his paw to pick a hand. If he picks the right hand, I praised him and give him the treat. If he chose the wrong one, I'll just say 'oh oh...'! I'll still give him the treat though. And keeps doing it would tired him out a bit since it's a mental game!


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## Bob-N-Tash (Feb 24, 2008)

*Stairball*

This is a variation on hall ball... you need a two story house... preferably carpeted stairs (for safety reasons -- dogs get better traction) and a collection of balls. Great for rainy days.

If I take the position at the top of the stairs the dogs get a good workout by running down for the ball and bringing it back up to me. I will usually limit the game to 2, 3 or maybe 4 runs.

If I take the position at the bottom of the stairs the game can last as long as the dogs are interested. Here I toss the ball up.. the dogs catch... and then they drop the ball and it rolls/bounces down the steps to me. Bob will often place the ball on the top step and then gently nose it over the edge. And he watches it with great fascination as it rolls down to me. 

The other day... playing with both dogs, they were sending balls down two at a time.


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## LucyD (Nov 20, 2008)

GoldenLover84 said:


> Tucker loves chasing a laser pointer around.... he'll follow it everywhere, and try to scale the wall to get it and then sits and barks at the ceiliing if you shine it up there....lol


I wonder why dogs love this so much! I'm going to buy this for my lil Lucy today.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Those pictures have got to be the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. They are just totally enjoying themselves!



Bob-N-Tash said:


> This is a variation on hall ball... you need a two story house... preferably carpeted stairs (for safety reasons -- dogs get better traction) and a collection of balls. Great for rainy days.
> 
> If I take the position at the top of the stairs the dogs get a good workout by running down for the ball and bringing it back up to me. I will usually limit the game to 2, 3 or maybe 4 runs.
> 
> ...


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## MyBaileyGirl (Jun 11, 2008)

mylissyk said:


> Those pictures have got to be the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. They are just totally enjoying themselves!


I was just thinking the same thing! I love their faces when they look down the steps, Bailey does the same. It's hard to describe how they look, I'd say "mushy". Very kissable faces that's for sure!!!!


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## Bob-N-Tash (Feb 24, 2008)

samchu_mammy said:


> - Magic show! --> seems like no one has said this yet?
> I usually let him see the treats I have, and then I'll let him smell it. Then I'll put in one of my hand, closed in fist. Let him smell both hands, and ask him 'which one'? He'll use his paw to pick a hand. If he picks the right hand, I praised him and give him the treat. If he chose the wrong one, I'll just say 'oh oh...'! I'll still give him the treat though. And keeps doing it would tired him out a bit since it's a mental game!


I call this game find it.... but the goldens do not get the treat if they choose the wrong hand. 

Oh I used to have my own version of magic show that I played with my poodle, Buster Brown. Now mind you, I'm pretty clumsy when it comes to slight of hand. In fact, this didn't even require my switching the treat from one hand to the other. I would show Buster the treat and then close my hand. Then I would quickly move both hands together and apart several times and then fling the imaginary bisquit in the empty hand into the air. Time and again Buster was surprised and amazed by this trickery . His ears would prick up... he would sniff my opened hand... he would look in the direction of the "toss" and sometimes he would go off in the direction of my toss in search of the vanished cookie. 

Oh, I miss the little guy... he must have weighed all of 8 pounds. He did all sorts of tricks for me. I remember when I taught him to bring my slippers... and from that day forward, one at a time my slippers followed me around the house.


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## Trids (Jan 22, 2009)

*Ball Recommendations, please?*



Bob-N-Tash said:


> This is a variation on hall ball... you need a two story house... preferably carpeted stairs (for safety reasons -- dogs get better traction) and a collection of balls. Great for rainy days.
> 
> Can someone tell me what kind of balls are safe for Goldens to play with?
> 
> ...


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