The original idea for Kibble Party came to me at the end of a particularly difficult training session; I was having a hard time communicating the behaviour I wanted to see (the trainer’s fault, never the learner’s!) and was getting frustrated, which made it no longer a productive training environment. My dog was getting bored and needed some mental exercise, and all I had energy for was just to toss a few treats around the room and have her find them.
To my surprise she loved it, and Kibble Party was born! I like to do a Kibble Party before a training session to get dogs in the zone and warm up their brains. I’ll often do one after a training session as well, especially after introducing a new cue or ramping up the difficulty, as a way to decompress and have some easier wins to ensure training is the most positive experience it can be. This can be a great way to keep your dog entertained if you are busy or tired, as it does not require you to move or interact too much. You can also make it more challenging, especially for hound breeds and keen sniffers, by making them work for it a little bit more. This can be done indoors or outdoors, but scan the environment beforehand to make sure there isn’t anything else they can eat that could be harmful to their health (or your wallet). I also recommend doing this one dog at a time, at least at first, to eliminate competition and avoid conflict. Here are a few variations of the Kibble Party to get you started!
SUPPLIES:
– treats/dry food in small pieces (I usually use the dog’s kibble if they are kibble-fed, and/or chopped up dry treats like these raw turkey bites)
– one or two people
BASIC KIBBLE PARTY
(sniffing, foraging, hunting)
Toss a few treats (start with a low shot, like bowling, or go higher if your dog likes to catch treats) for your dog to grab.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
If your dog is not interested or gives up, it is usually because the task is too difficult and needs to be scaled back, and/or the object you’re using is not ‘worth it’ to them. Try tossing treats one at a time at first until they understand the game, and/or use their favourite treats (in smaller pieces if you want the game to last longer). If your dog is not particularly food-motivated, you can use a toy or chew instead.
INCREASING DIFFICULTY
Manually hiding the treats around the room (Kibble Hunt) instead of letting gravity do the work can make the activity harder and longer-lasting, especially for dogs who master it right away and start to get bored. If your dog is very skilled at scent work you can also hide the treats while they are out of sight or occupied with something else, so they are not expecting a treat. I like to hide treats around the house all the time throughout the day to prevent boredom!
KIBBLE IN THE MIDDLE
(hunting)
To introduce some indoor exercise, slide a treat along the ground to a partner. Sit a few feet apart, leaving plenty of room for your pup to move around between you. Your dog will likely follow back and forth as you slide the treat. Never pass the treat more than 4-5 times before letting your dog have it, or you may inspire resource guarding (they may think they will only get food if they steal it from you).
You can also play alone by sitting down and sliding it across the room at different angles, far enough that your dog has to run back and forth or play ‘goalie’ to get the treat.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
As before, using a higher value item is more likely to interest your dog and motivate them to play, but don’t use their favourite treat/toy. Make sure your dog succeeds often, between 1 and 5 passes, to prevent frustration, boredom, and resource guarding. This is not the best game to play if your dog has any resource guarding tendencies, as it will only reinforce them! You can also play with a toy, as this is more interactive and less likely to cause resource guarding.
INCREASING DIFFICULTY
Move closer to your partner to work on your dog’s response time/agility, or farther from your partner to help your dog get their steps in! Vary the number of passes before your dog gets the treat, but do not exceed 5.
KIBBLE HUNT
(sniffing, foraging, hunting)
Hide treats around the house for your dog to find throughout the day. This can include burying them under blankets, in corners, placing a trail of treats, and/or hiding them within toys, their bed or crate, and spaces they like in the house.
INCREASING ENGAGEMENT
If your dog is new to sniffing/hunting or not very good at it (no shame in that!), you can help them out by showing them where you’re hiding the treats, using stinky treats (cheese, peanut butter, dog-safe fruits, wet food, and meat treats are good for this), or cutting the treats open to release some of the smell. You can also rub the treat on the ground leading up to where it’s hidden, so that there’s a scent trail they can follow instead of relying solely on the source smell.
INCREASING DIFFICULTY
Experienced sniffers can find less fragrant treats like dry food or even toys that have their scent. You can also ‘mask’ the scent by hiding stinky and non-stinky treats, which may help with their scent discrimination.
SIGNS TO WATCH OUT FOR
OVER-AROUSAL
Take it down a few notches if your dog is displaying these signs. They are overwhelmed and less able to respond to/pay attention to you.
– panting
– licking lips
– yawning
– ‘shaking it off’ excessively
– barking
– jumping or having ‘zoomies’ (only in combination with other signs; dogs also do zoomies when they’re having fun)
FRUSTRATION/FEAR/REACTIVITY
Stop play immediately if your dog is displaying these signs. This means they are over threshold and no longer having fun nor learning.
– grumbling/growling/barking
– hyper-fixating on you and freezing
– turning away from you and freezing
– ‘whale eyes’ (seeing the whites of their eyes)
– hunching over, leaning away from a stimulus
– tucking their tail between their legs
– slow or very fast high tail wagging (called ‘flagging’; can be difficult to identify in dogs with naturally high tails, so watch for other signs as well)
– snarling/showing their teeth
Don’t worry that stopping play will somehow encourage these behaviours! You cannot reinforce emotions. Taking away an unpleasant stimulus (ex. leaving the area) and/or presenting a positive one (ex. comforting them) when your dog expresses fear/discomfort does not reinforce the fear/discomfort behaviour. If you are sad and someone helps you not be sad anymore, that doesn’t make you want to be sad more often; it just makes you grateful that someone helped!
KIBBLE PARTY 