Connect With Your Dog Through This Month’s First Scavenger Hunt
Do what feels good to you and your dog.
Living with dogs is not always easy, but there are so many gifts. In a world that feels heavy, we thought it would be nice to create an invitation of sorts to create little moments of connection with your dog, yourself, and the world around you.
You can either cross off the squares or post over them with an emoji as you complete them or at the end of the month (or share nothing and just enjoy it). The goal with this scavenger hunt doesn’t have to be to “do them all.” Do what feels good to you. That might mean skipping ones that don’t speak to you, or it could mean very intentionally doing the ones you’re more inclined to skip lol (for example, I sometimes struggle to slow down, so I could see myself avoiding some of those tasks despite those being the ones that would really serve me).
If you have any questions about any of the training squares, ask away! I am here to help. I am so curious if anyone will try this (I have lots of other ideas to put in future “hunts” if you do). Excited to hopefully hear how it’s going!
Tips for Participating in the March Scavenger Hunt
The Merlin app is free and amazing for identifying birds! You can even capture a recording of the calls you hear and it will tell which birds are making them.
We teach you how to teach your dog to search your house or yard for food in our training e-course, Challenge 2.0. We also teach TONS of cooperative care there. We did not do a good job marketing that course, but it’s got the foundations for SO many useful skills. I highly recommend it – and you have access to me through Substack to ask me any questions you have during the course. Obviously no pressure, but I wanted to plug that here in case it is helpful to you. :)
PS: There’s a prize. If you complete the scavenger hunt and share it with us (DM us on IG), we will randomly select a winner to get a free annual subscription to our Substack! If you already subscribe, you can pick a friend that we will enroll as a gift!
Scavenger Hunt Tasks: Here are the items on the March Scavenger Hunt bingo card in case you’d prefer to see them spelled out this way
Learn to identify one bird you hear on walks with your dog
Sit on the ground with your dog & feel the sun on your face
Do 10 Sit-to-Stands with your dog
Hide food throughout your home or yard for your dog to find
Do 10 alternating high fives with your dog (left, right, left, etc.)
Grab a toy, turn on a favorite song, and dance while you play with your dog
Use cooperative care to put a dish towel over your dog
Read a fiction book while your dog rests
Have your dog decide your entire walking route (would love to hear where they took you!)