Mental Stimulation and Play Dates

[MissMetric]

Hello, all.

I've had Talos for about two weeks now, and we're getting to the point where I want to start really working him mentally. So I was wondering what you all do to mentally stimulate your dogs and pups.

He's ten weeks old on Tuesday and his focus on me when we're training is spot on. Even with distractions (not intentional yet, but I live with roommates and sometimes they just happen upon us) he won't break his focus when we're training. In public as well, he tends to give strangers a cursory check out, and then re focus on me.

But he'd run forever if I let him. The first time I've ever seen him tired was today after a puppy social, and he still came home and ran around until put him in his crate to enforce nap time. So when it comes to wearing him out, I want to work out his mind. After training is the only time I legitimately see him want to have a bit of rest. (right now we're only working on engagement and eye contact for his name)

He has a treat ball and I rotate his toys every three days, but he's already bored of his treat ball since all he has to do is roll it around.

So at this age, I'm just wondering what is too much and what is too little. I want to start with hide and seek, but I was wondering if it's too early.

ALSO I want to get him a little better socialized with dogs. Like I said, we went to a puppy social today, and that was pretty good, but I want a bit more than what it offered and a bit better behaved dogs/more engaged owners. During the social, he was fine to play, but always returned to me or sat under my chair, and the lady kept saying I needed to push him away from me which didn't make any sense to me. I felt like forcing him away from me to interact when he was clearly done would just make playing with other dogs a negative experience for him.

I know that going on craigslist is an option, but I was so confused when I tried to figure out where the dog meetup area was, as opposed to the seller's section. I live in Houston, if that's any help.

Sorry for the legnthiness of this, and thanks for any feedback in advance!

[KB007]

Well I don't have an advice but will be watching this thread as my new pup arrives in 2 weeks! Also saying "hello" from just south of you!

[llombardo]

What about puppy classes?

[MissMetric]

All of the puppy classes in my area require the puppies to be four months old for some reason. I can't find a single kindergarten that doesn't want him to be four months old (and I think that's sort of pushing it on the late side for socialization/training).

Also, hello! You'll have to post pictures when your puppy is home! Good luck on night one, haha.

[Malika]

Great thread. I'm with you for seeking proper play/mental stimulation. For my own fun, I've started tying stuffed chew toys up in interesting ways...about to venture into pulley systems.