Treat games for the days nobody wants to go out

Indoor treat games for dogs need only small pieces of a treat and a bit of floor: hide a piece and say find it, shuffle one under cups, or lay a short trail down the hall. Count pieces out of the day's treats first, and stop while your dog still wants another round.

Which treat games work in a small space?

Any room with a floor works, and so does a hallway. You do not need a toy, a mat or a yard. The games below fit an apartment as well as a house, and each one runs on a few small pieces.

• Find it: show your dog a piece, drop it nearby, and say the words "find it" as the nose goes down.
• Cup shuffle: hide one piece under one of three cups, slide them around a little, and let your dog pick.
• Which hand: close a piece in one fist and offer both, and reward the nose that picks the right one.
• Treat trail: lay a short line of pieces down the hall and let your dog follow it to the end.
• Hide and seek: one person holds the dog while another hides in the next room with a piece, then calls.

Pick one game for the day and stick with it, rather than running through the list. A dog who has just worked out the cups will not mind doing them again.

How do you teach find it?

Start in plain sight. Toss a piece a step or two away, point at it and say "find it" once. Once your dog goes and gets it, the words start to mean something. Do that a few times until the dog is heading off before you finish the sentence.

Next, hide a piece just out of sight. Put it behind a table leg or half under a rug edge while your dog watches, say the words, and step back. Let your dog work it out with its nose. If it stalls, point a little closer instead of saying the words again.

When that is easy, take it into another room. Leave your dog with a family member, hide a piece, return and say the words. Give the same job to everyone in the house so the game sounds the same whoever plays it.

How small should the pieces be for games?

Small enough to eat in a bite and a lick. Break pieces by hand before the game starts, so you are not wrestling a treat in front of a dog who is waiting. Bits about the size of a fingertip are a fair place to start, and smaller still for a small dog. Tiny pieces also let you play several rounds without going over the day's share.

Game pieces come out of the day's treats, counted before you start. Everything in the box is for intermittent or supplemental feeding, an extra beside regular meals and never one of them. When the pieces you counted are gone, the game is over.

Our box is our own single ingredient treats, freeze dried or air dried and made in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Some have Greek yogurt or cheddar cheese bases. Break up a few of each before the game and see how they behave on the floor.

The dog box page has more on what the box holds each month.

How can a new month's treats keep games fresh?

The theme and lineup change each month. Favorites return, but the assortment is different from the one before, and that gives a dog something new to find. The photos on the page are examples, and what arrives in your box depends on the month.

Use that. Keep the piece your dog likes best for the hardest hide, like the one behind a door left open a crack or inside the shoe rack, and use a plainer piece for the easy rounds. A game with a smaller prize still holds up, as long as the best piece shows up now and then.

For an older dog, run the same games with gentler hides: pieces in plain sight, on a soft rug, with no jumping or fast turns. Our guide to a subscription box for senior dogs goes through the pace.

How do you end a game so it stays fun?

Choose a word that means all done, like "finished", and say it every time. Show your empty hands, put the bag away and step off the game floor. The same word and the same empty hands every time make the sign easy to read.

Finish with one easy find, a piece in plain sight, and then stop. That way the last thing your dog does is succeed, and the next game starts happy.

Skip the game if your dog is not interested. Try again later in the day, after a walk or a nap, or on a different day. Stop while the dog still wants another round, rather than when the interest has drained.

Put the bag away somewhere the dog cannot reach, and sweep up any stray piece you missed. For more ways to use a month's treats around the house, see the guides.