Play, Activities And Sports with The Miniature Pinscher🐾
Contents
As we know the Min Pin is a very active breed, always full of energy with an active mind. They can be very happy curling up with you on the sofa but they can get bored very easily and restless if they are in a state of inertia for too long. We would say that they are truly at their happiest when they are engaged in an activity that exercises their minds. For those of you with time to spare and who want to try something exciting and different we offer below some great ideas to get your Min Pin involved in. These activities we’ve listed aren’t just excellent ways to keep your Min Pin fit but can be an incredible bonding experience for you and your dog whether your intention is to just have fun with him or to go further and try your hand at competitive dog sports. For more information about dog events and products listed on this page see Product Links And Resources For The Miniature Pinscher.
The Importance Of Play🐾
We all know dogs love to play and if the play includes their owners, for their perspective that’s even better. Playing with your Min Pin will be the most rewarding thing you can do for the both of you. More importantly though it’s essential for bonding especially when your Min Pin is still a puppy. Play during your Min Pin’s formative years helps him learn about how to interact with you e.g. what’s acceptable behaviour with humans and what’s not and regular play can really help facilitate the beginning of your puppy’s training. Play also plays a pivotal role in the development of canine to canine communication. A puppy learns how to behave properly around his own species through play. When your Min Pin is an adult play also helps keep him stimulated and therefore healthy mentally and physically. As small as he may be, this breed needs as much activity in his day to day life as possible to keep him from becoming destructive in all ways. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere on this website boredom can contribute to or worsen separation anxiety in dogs because they are already frustrated and often don’t have a suitable outlet for their energy. But even if your Min Pin is confident and secure within himself, you want him to living his best full life.
A Strong Play Drive🐾
Regarding play Min Pins on the whole have a strong play drive and love playing with them no matter their age. Play drive in our pet dogs is derived from prey drive which in wild carnivores is responsible for their desire to catch and kill their food. This is a strong deep-seated instinct from dog’s wild cousins and is very much present in domestic dogs including your little Min Pin. However some dogs won’t have as strong play drive as others. A healthy play drive is responsible for a dog’s participation in any kind of play. Toy drive and play drive is the same thing. Put simply some dogs will pretty much be grateful for any kind of toy you give them (as well as taking your personal belongings!). But other dogs may only enjoy playing with certain kinds of toys and not others. It may take some trial and error to find out what kind of toys your Min Pin actually likes and uses. Puppies are typically very easily pleased and will play with anything. Mikki was the same as a puppy but when he matured he became disinterested in hard plastic toys. Min Pins are aroused and stimulated easily so you should not have a problem getting him to respond to toys.
Getting Your Min Pin Interested In Toys🐾
If your Min Pin is an adult and hasn’t much toy drive or isn’t interested in playing with them don’t fret because you can train him easily to want to become involved with toys by using basic obedience. If you have read Training Your Miniature Pinscher you’ll understand the fundamentals of how to train your dog. You can begin by trying to rouse his attention by shaking the toy in front of him. Toys with squeakers are great for getting your Min Pin’s drive to kick in. The moment he makes a movement towards it such as to sniff it you then reward him and praise. Keep enticing him to make initial contact with it and carry on rewarding and praising praise him. Repeat and repeat until your Min Pin eventually picks up the toy and starts to show real interest in playing with it. Training him this way may take some time so be patient. You should also use this positive reinforcement technique to instigate your Min Pin’s interest in any of the games below some of which require actual intensive training. We’ll now have a look at some of the most popular and exciting games you can play with your Min Pin indoors and outdoors.
Popular Games To Play With Your Dog🐾
Tug Of War
This interactive game is excellent for working off your Min Pin’s excessive energy. Mikki loved this game as a youngster and still loves to get us involved with a game of tug of war with his toys even at his age of 5.5 years old. Tug toys and stuffed toys are great for this game and the pulling action works your Min Pin’s muscles, making him fitter as he pulls to try and get the toy from you. You’ll see he quickly becomes tired with this game! This game automatically rouses your dog’s natural prey drive and he’ll instinctively want to grab the toy as you entice him by dragging it along the ground. If your Min Pin doesn’t quite get it use the above technique to rouse his interest. Playing this game can double over as a training session in basic obedience as you can teach your Min Pin when he can grab the toy and when he can let go. We always say every opportunity when interacting with your dog is a training opportunity so you can teach him manners and self-control by commanding him to sit, stay and wait during the game and when he’s allowed to resume tugging. During this game, it’s inevitable that you will be nipped or grazed by your Min Pin’s teeth by accident so you can train him to respond to a release command or word of your choosing such as ‘drop it’ by presenting a food reward so he let’s go when this happens. When he let’s go reward and praise. You can use any variation of training commands during this game or any game to reinforce training and keep your Min Pin on his toes. Remember that when it comes to teaching your dog anything consistency is always key. If you’ve never played tug of war you’ll notice that your Min Pin will growl quite a bit which can sound aggressive and he may become very aroused and excited but it is completely normal and never directed at you, so no need to correct this.
Flirt Pole
You may know this tool to be associated with powerful bull breeds such as the American Pitbull Terrier. However any breed of dog particularly ones with an abundance of energy can really benefit from it. Flirt pole games share certain characteristics with tug of war but you are not actively tugging on the other end (see photos below). A flirt pole is typically a plastic pole which the owner holds and a fluffy material item is attached to the other end for the dog whose goal is to catch and grab onto it. However it’s called a flirt pole for a reason! Your aren’t meant to make it easy for him allowing him catch it right away. Rather he is meant to mostly chase it getting him tired but satisfied in the process. The true beauty of this game is that it will cause your highly active Min Pin to burn off a huge amount of energy in a short space of time with relatively little physical exertion for you as the pole is of a decent length (no bending over like with tug of war). You can have flirt poles as long or short as you wish. Regular games with a flirt pole can very quickly help to keep your Min Pin fit and healthy and even condition him building up those little muscles! Such is the attraction for those owning more powerful bull and hunting breeds. You can either buy a flirt pole ready-made or make one yourself.
Mikki engaging in a tug of war with a stick. Below you can see him in action
These photos (below) shows Min Pins in action chasing long flirt poles during training. You can see just how much they’re enjoying the game!
Credit: [email protected]
Fetch
Another extremely popular game to play with your Min Pin. As a puppy Mikki loved to play fetch. We played with balls, stuffed toys, squeaky toys indoors and when we took him down to the beach we used sticks that we found there. It’s another instinctual trigger as the dog will chase and grab a toy and very often bring it back (the challenge is getting it off him). If your Min Pin has trouble getting the knack of returning to you with the toy (instead just picking it and playing with it) then once your Min Pin has the toy in his mouth you can then call him to you. With repetition he will get into the flow of retrieving any object. Some dogs apparently cannot grasp the concept of the fetch and retrieve sequence and some dogs do it automatically. Usually a dog that has a good play drive will engage a game of fetch very quickly. Still when trying to teach your Min Pin any game bust out the food rewards and start training him by using the same techniques as we highlighted above for playing with toys.
Mikki playing a game of fetch on the beach
Agility🐾
Agility is most often heard of within the context of the competitive sports arena. It is a sport that truly engages the dog’s abilities to think, pay attention and focus. You probably have seen dogs competing in agility on television in the world famous dog show Crufts which holds agility competitions. These shows are typically tense, fast-paced and exciting for both exhibitors and viewers. The dog must negotiate obstacle courses by jumping over obstacles and running through tunnels, over planks, weaving through poles amongst other things. The owner or ‘handler’ must work with the dog as a little team. Excellent communication is needed between them to achieve the objective which is to help the dog navigate the obstacle course in the correct order. When done competitively the dog must complete the obstacle course in the correct order in the shortest time with no mistakes (or at least the fewest mistakes). Some breeds are well-known to excel at this sport and you often see them on Crufts or other competitive events. Amongst these breeds are the Border Collie and small mixed breeds such as the Jack Russell. The required traits for agility tend to be athleticism and speed and this is because the sport is physically demanding. Intelligence is definitely a third trait that’s a must however other important attributes that can both be breed and specific to an individual dog in order to enjoy and succeed at agility include independence, confidence, sociability and trainability. The Min Pin with it’s abundance of energy is known amongst it’s community around the world to be a very good contender for agility and potentially has all the aforementioned traits in one neat and tiny package. The Kennel Club has some good information for those wanting to get started with agility and The Dog Vine lists some locations were you can begin training your Min Pin in agility classes.
(below) Min Pins navigating the different obsticals in agility training
How Do I Begin Teaching My Min Pin Agility?
The best way to introduce your Min Pin to agility is to start training them in a familiar environment for example at home or in your back garden (if you have one) and set up an obstacle course there. These settings also offer the advantage of being a secure environment free of distractions which is important as this breed gets distracted easily. If you don’t have a garden but you have some space indoors you can use that. Basic obedience training is a must to start agility training as your Min Pin must be able to listen, focus on you and follow basic commands. You could also pay for your dog to train in agility classes which you are sure to find plenty of around. You can use a variety of random household items to start with to create a little obstacle course to warm your Min Pin to the idea and get him starting with smaller items. You can get as creative as possible especially the more space you have. You can also invest in built for purpose agility equipment however it’s worth baring in mind that they do not come cheap. For some items it’s far better to buy them from children’s toy stores as these will be cheaper and are exactly the same (just with a different label). If you are good at building simple things and putting them together you could even make some of the obstacles yourself. Here is a quick guide on how to proceed with introducing your min pin to your home agility course.
The most important thing to remember is that it must be a fun activity for your Min Pin. Don’t put pressure on him to complete the obstacle course the first time he’s introduced to it. It’s key that you build positive associations with anything that’s new to your dog. When you first introduce your Min Pin to the obstacle course let him explore the items first and gave him lots of praise so he feels comfortable. You can then put a lead on him and just slowly guide him over the obstacles. You can even go over some of them yourself and get him to follow. Whenever he does follow you or clears a piece of equipment reward and praise him immediately. The tunnels may need quite a bit of encouragement because they can appear a bit scary for some dogs as was the case with our Mikki. Patience is key and you should be sure to reward and praise any time you see your Min Pin make motions towards the tunnel. After many fun exercises your Min Pin should begin to get the hang of it and negotiate the course items himself. We’ll reiterate it’s important to allow your dog to be comfortable with the obstacle course and ensure that he sees it as a fun activity first and foremost. When you see he is confident in doing this he should begin to work up speed. Again don’t rush him and respect his limits. If your Min Pin is a little overweight or just simply used to a lot less exercise work him up to it slowly because the last thing you want is for him to feel put off. It’s important to take your Min Pin’s level of fitness into account for his physical health because the typical agility course involves the dog needing to very quickly climb, descend, balance, jump, weave, run fast, make quick turns and abrupt stops, all physical challenges which he may not be able to do right away. Dogs who are recovering from an injury should not be allowed to begin agility training.
Toys🐾
Toys are vital for keeping your Min Pin occupied and happy. See here for some good quality toys we recommend for your Min Pin. Also check our blog out for toy reviews. Min Pin will likely remain playful throughout their adulthood and well into old age so it’s advantageous to have a well-stocked toy box. Mikki had all kinds of toys when he was a puppy and throughout his years (see photos of his favourites). Amongst his favourites was the rope toy and semi-soft plastic balls. His absolute favourite was the stuffed toys (as all dogs would attest). Min Pin puppies will play with pretty much every toy you give them and it’s a good idea to get them to play by themselves as much as possible to get them tired. Dog toys come in two categories; interactive and non-interactive. Although you can pretty much play a game with your Min Pin with any toy interactive toys are good for playing certain games with e.g. a rope toy is great for playing tug of war. Balls, rubber toys, stuffed toys, treat balls and everything in between it’s little wonder that many dog owners often end up with an entire room dedicated to dog toys! It’s worth reiterating that Min Pins can be aggressive chewers meaning they can chew on toys until they have created holes in them or have damaged them. This renders them unsafe and they should be disposed of immediately. Always inspect your Min Pin’s toys regularly for signs of damage. This especially true of soft/material/stuffed toys and some foam and rubber balls. Stuffing from the soft toys can be pulled out by your dog once he’s torn a hole in it and rubber bits can be bitten off balls. These materials can be swallowed and cause intestinal blockages at worst if they are not passed (see photos). This is why we strongly recommend that you supervise your Min Pin with these types of toys or just use them in games of fetch. Mikki was always left to chew on his toys by himself which is why he destroyed so many.
As cute and as fun stuffed toys may be, always supervise your Min Pin with them
Cheap rubber balls can begin to disintegrate after being chewed for a while and should be replaced immediately
Tug or rope toys are a great interactive option
Always supervise your Min Pin with stuffed toys
(above) Dogs often chew stuffed toys until they break the material and the stuffing goes everywhere. Swallowing the stuffing material can cause an intestinal blockage if it isn’t passed. Always supervise your Min Pin especially if you know he’s a strong chewer
It’s not only stuffed toys and rubber balls that can present as a hazard. Toys that are made out of thin or flimsy materials should be avoided as well. This is true of toys with squeakers in them and they can also be swallowed if your Min Pin gets it out. There are many companies and brands who know about aggressive chewers who have created different toys made out of more durable and tougher materials. A tried and tested option are Kong rubber toys. Kongs are great to chew on and have more durable options with their extreme range. Kong stuffers are the most popular offering from Kong which doubles over as a toy you can put treats in or even your dog’s meals. Because of this they are good for separation anxiety. Kong stuffers come in many sizes suitable for different size dogs but always ensure you get a size up. Your dog shouldn’t be able to easily fit the Kong in his mouth. Mikki had an XS Kong once and he was able to bite the top off the Kong and we wouldn’t say he’s a very aggressive chewer. Generally it’s good practice to buy tough toys for when you want to leave your Min Pin by himself to play as you won’t have worry about his safety. Nerf Dog rubber toys or harder/firmer plastic ones with stronger materials such as the Rogz Grinz ball are some good options for strong chewers. It’s also always best to give toys to your Min Pin that have been specifically designed for dogs as human toys may be unsafe as well as not robust enough. The Kong stuffer isn’t the only option to put your dog’s treats in. There are treat balls for this (see pics of blue treat balls). The first treat ball is split into two compartments that separate the food to make the dog work to get it out the hole-it’s also adjustable so you can vary the difficulty. This one is made of hard plastic which can be noisy on hard floors. The second treat ball shown is made of soft rubber however it is not durable and can be easily destroyed by chewing. The best thing to do with less durable toys if you must use them is to give your Min Pin a limited time with them. Hard rubber toys are definitely the best option. What we love about treat balls is they can give Mikki hours of enjoyment and exercise playing by himself trying to get the treats out. Really keeps him busy. Again see here for a list of toys we recommend. Remember never leave your Min Pin unattended with toys if he is an aggressive chewer.
Nerf products are great for strong or aggressive chewers. The toy shown is great for cleaning teeth and gums too
Kong stuffers are thick rubber toys that let you put treats or foods. They are great for keeping restless Min Pins busy and are really good options for dogs which are aggressive or rough chewers. Pictured is the Kong extreme which is the tougher version of the original one. Always get a medium sized Kong because any smaller and your Min Pin can get it in their mouths and subsequently break the top off
We thoroughly recommend the Hol-ee roller ball. It’s squishy when your Min Pin chews on it and really durable we’ve found
Brain Games🐾
As we know Min Pins love play which challenges their little brains and there are many different games that can do this. These are some of Mikki’s favourite games. They are suitable to be played indoors and outdoors.
Seek out the treats/nose work
- This mentally stimulating game involves your Min Pin utilizing their excellent sense of smell to seek out the treats you have hidden. You can begin the game by using some basic obedience. Putting the treats on the ground in front of you and your Min Pin, tell him to sit and stay. When you’re ready, give him the release command and let him pick up the treats instead of giving them to him. You can replicate this step as many times as you want all the while placing the treats at a progressively further distance to your Min Pin.
- Once your Min Pin gets the gist of what to do you can start hiding the treats under or behind objects and let him sniff them out.
- Use low fat treats but ensure they are strong smelling like bits of chicken or turkey to help your Min Pin easily sniff them out and encourage him to play the game.
- You could also hide the treat balls mentioned above or his favourite bones.
Which fist holds the treat?
- A variation on the above game is using your hands to hide the treats. Telling your Min Pin to sit ensuring that he has his full attention on what you’re doing (won’t be hard with treats involved!), pick up a treat in front of him and close it in your fist. Give your Min Pin the release command and wait for him to touch your fist (likely with his nose) and when he does, give him the treat. This is to get him to make an association between the action of touching your fist and receiving the treat.
- Repeat the above with both hands interchangeably and your Min Pin should get the game pretty quickly.
Mikki looking for us while we hide behind a tree
Hide and seek outside
- A game that we love to play with Mikki when on walks is where one of us hides behind a tree. Ensure your Min Pin is safe to run around off-lead if you’re playing outside, has good recall and is in a safe area with plenty of trees before you engage in this game. Not all Min Pins may get this game; some dogs will get distracted easily by all the smells and sounds or have all their attention on their environment rather than wanting to look for you. Some dogs may also have a more aloof and independent personality. When one of us hides from Mikki he is so attached to us that his desire to have us in his sights at all times are of most importance so he’ll stop what he’s doing right away and start looking for us.
- If your Min Pin is new to the game get him in a sit and stay command before hiding. When you’re ready, give the release command or call him and when he finds you reward and praise. Once you’ve done this a few times, you can progressively find hiding places further away from him. Try this game indoors first.
- This game engages your Min Pin’s natural scent tracking abilities as well as giving him good physical exercise.
Try these games with your Min Pin today. Whether he is young whippersnapper or an older gentleman he’ll likely appreciate any opportunity to interact and have fun with you.
