just a daft Q which has been on my mind and kind of came up in one of the other posts too, please don't laugh at me!

right - have taught ruby, 13 wk old cavalier, to retrieve a while ago, she LOVES it! Now i'm trying to teach a new game - 'Find It!' like in Gwen Bailey's Perfect Puppy. SO we have got as far as me holding her collar while i throw/hide a toy - but she can see what i'm doing - then she finds it very well. (will move onto maybe tying her lead to something while i hide it a bit further away.) BUT next phase has got to be covering her eyes so she doesn't see where i put it - how can i do this safely? Obv if family are playing too, they can help, but they're not around when we do alot of our stuff - any safe suggestions?

also - any other ideas for good games for a little pup that will exercise her mind as well as her legs too? she's a lovely pup, loves playing and i am trying my hardest to be inventive but wouldn't mind some direction! (We use do use kongs - she loves them - but i'd like a few other mentally stimulating games that don't ultimately involve food though as she only needs relatively little food compared to bigger breeds - & esp as we use lots of treats while training - i don't want to end up with a chubby or too greedy/food-motivated pup!)

thanks :)

Hi Katie, wont laugh as your doing so well with Ruby and having fun. :) You could sit her facing you and throw the toy out, or chuck into long grass so she roughly knows where it is. You can tie the kong to a rope and drag it along, hide treats/toys in a room and let her potter about finding them. Hide and seek is good - she toddles round the garden and you hide behind a bush and call her then reward her for coming - helps recall too. Theres the give a paw trick, roll over and using another person to play messenger. Pull the rag - she pulls you hold it so she dosent hurt her teeth. Use two articles to retrieve and tell her which one first. Guess who read Gwen Bailey too ? If you use tiny pieces of treat she shouldnt get fat.