Reddit mentions of Pet Zone IQ Treat Ball Adjustable Dog Treat Ball (Slow Feeder, Dog Puzzle Toy, Treat Dispensing Toy and Interactive Dog Toy in One)

Warning- my suggestions are QUITE LENGTHY! I really love ACD's and have kept a list of what works with them, so here goes:

All of these can be done indoors or in a fenced in yard:

For 'settling down', impulse control and training an off switch, I found Protocol for Relaxation to be invaluable for my blue heeler. I would start that ASAP.

Kikopup is, in my opinion, phenomenal- find her videos on youtube on tons of topics (she's never steered me wrong)

Loose leash walking is something you have to commit to. Be prepared to walk circles in front of your house/building until your dog understands that you WILL NOT be moving forward with a tight leash. Lots of treats/clicker training will be extremely useful. Start doing this indoors/in your backyard so that when you're allowed in public again, you can transition the skills to the sidewalk/park, etc.

These videos were extremely valuable to me in training loose leash walking. Stopping/going the other direction seriously frustrated my heeler to the point he would attack the leash, so I needed something different.

Shaping Loose Leash Walking With a High Rate of Reinforcement Part 1, Part 2and Part 3 by Helix Fairweather and Lynn Martin. (Read the text below the videos too!)

Formal obedience classes are going to be something you want to invest in with this dog. My 11 month old heeler and I are currently in Obedience 3 (advanced level pre-CGC class) and it has made life so much easier. It also knocks him out the entire next day because his brain is so exhausted. Having access to resources like expert trainers and behaviorists has been great as well. (you mention you're starting this soon- this is great! I've found my ACD really responds well to positive reinforcement-based training).

**Mental stimulation is just as important (if not more so) than physical stimulation. Unless you are actually working your dog, you're definitely not going to hit their physical limits.

What we do:

Formal obedience training (tires them out and provides building blocks for bonding and future fun!)

Protocol for Relaxation (mentioned above)

Sniff walks (roam around letting the dog choose where to go and let them sniff all over the place. Only rule, no pulling- if you pull we stop and stand still until you release the pressure on the leash and then we continue)* to do after you're allowed back out

Nosework (we hide easter eggs filled with smelly treats around the house and let my ACD find them)

Puzzle Toys (our exclusively eats as a reward for loose leash walking, obedience/commands or out of puzzle toys/kongs- no free feeding)

Kong Wobbler

IQ Ball

Buster Cube

Bone Flipper Puzzle

Maze Puzzle Toy

If your dog isn't familiar with puzzle toys, I would start with the Kong Wobbler. It's still my dog's favorite - mostly because it's the easiest! hahha

our own version of fetch (our ACD doesn't bring the ball back)

Tug (LOTS of tug, with rules- no snatching it out of my hand, sit to start, etc).

Bones/chew toys

Frozen Kongs for mandatory settle down crate time

Mat training (surprisingly difficult and mentally draining for ours)

Find it (throw kibble into tall grass and let him find it)

Hide and Seek (self explanatory)

Water play (mine LOVES rivers/shallow water but not actual swimming) *maybe get a cheap plastic wading pool?

Bubbles

Flirt pole (15 minutes max 2 or so times a week) with rules- must be in a down, must wait until I tell him to get it, must drop it when I tell him to, and go back into a down to wait for his next turn, etc.

Hope this helps!

I've posted this before, and it's a great list! Originally posted by u/manatee1010 and I have tried several:

I keep this list of brain toy links handy to send to friends who get dogs. It's getting pretty long...

Toys that get stuffed with food and frozen:

• Kong Classic (15-20 minutes) (it sounds like Watson is lukewarm toward this… have you tried mixing a spoonful of canned food in with some kibble and freezing it?
  
  
• Zogoflex Toppl Interactive Treat Dispensing Dog Toy (this can be a stand-alone toy, or if you get a big one and little one they can fit together and dispense kibble) (15-20 minutes)
  
  
• Starmark Pickle Pocket (my big dog really likes this one… we put cheese in it) (20-25 minutes)
  
  Kibble dispensing toys, hard material (good for carpeted areas)
  
  
• Bob-A-Lot (~10 minutes… this one can be adjusted to make it harder)
  
  
• Tug-A-Jug (10-30 minutes, depending on the dog)
  
  
• Magic Mushroom (10-30 minutes, depending on the dog)
  
  
• Kong Wobbler (~5-10 minutes)
  
  
• IQ Treat Ball (~10-15 minutes)
  
  
• Pet Zone IQ Ball (this is the ONLY toy my dogs can’t get all the kibble out of. They’ll usually persist for half an hour or so before they give up)
  
  
• Buster Cube (I think this has several difficulty settings… my guys now don’t have one of these, but my dog when I was growing up had one. I’d guess this is probably a 20-30 minute toy depending on difficulty and what you load into it)
  
  
• Treatstik – I have NO idea how long this one takes to load, but it’s on my to-purchase list because it seems like it’s one of the longer lasting toys on the market. If anyone has/gets one, I’m super interested to hear about it!
  
  Kibble dispensing toys, soft material (good for hardwood/tile/laminate)
  
  
• Barnacle (this can be stuffed like a Kong as well… I lost this one when I moved but I think in terms of kibble dispensing it was shorter lasting, maybe 5-10 minutes)
  
  
• Tricky Treater (I REALLY like this one; super easy to load and clean, lasts 10-15 minutes)
  
  
• Tricky Treat Ball (another super easy one… <5 minutes)
  
  
• Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff Snoop Treat Dispensing Dog Toy – this one just arrived yesterday so I don’t have a solid rating of its durability yet, but so far it seems great… easy to load, takes the dogs awhile to empty, and super duper quiet.
  
  
• JW Pet Company Treat Puzzler Dog Toy (this one is super easy for them to empty… I’d say 3-5 minutes)
  
  
• PetSafe Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble Meal Dispensing Dog Toy (this one is okay, not my favorite… I didn’t like that I had to make a decision about cutting it immediately after opening. It takes ~5-10 minutes to unload)
  
  
• Starmark Treat Dispensing Puzzle Ball - this one is new! I almost bought it the other day but haven't yet; I think it's most similar to a Buster Cube in terms of adjustable difficulty, it's just a softer material.
  
  Time-release kibble dispensing toys (good for work days)
  
  
• the Foobler is great because it works on a timer that rotates to the next of six, ¼ cup food hoppers at set intervals of time (you pick, the options are 15-30-60-90 minutes), which makes it last way longer than most of these toys. This is hard plastic.
  
  
• CleverPet – this has a December release date. I’m way pumped about it and have been in touch with the company… hopefully I’ll be getting one of the first models off the line!
  
  Lastly, there are also these two that I haven’t tried yet, so I’m not positive how to classify…
  
  
• Starmark Crunching Barbell
  
  
• Starmark Treat Crunching Multiball
  
  
  ETA: If you have any others you like (or don't like) that I've left off this list, please chime in!

Puzzle bowls are good. Interactive feeders are good too. like this or like this. I would spend some time (as in a couple weeks) constantly reinforcing calm behavior in the house.

One step further than the previous poster. Out of 100 meals... maybe 10 I feed from the bowl. I STRONGLY prefer to feed by hand. And I recommend this as a first step for basically anyone looking to get into training their dog.

They learn that food comes from you, not a bowl. They need to work for the food instead of getting it for free. Builds trust, drive to work with you, increases the bond between handler and dog. Just so many things that are good by hand feeding.

What do I mean by this? Depends on what you want to get out the dog. It could be as simple as having the dog lay down and rewarding for that small handful at a time until food is done. Maybe you take this a step further and working on laying down in a pet bed. If your in a hurry you can do the "find it" game... and toss kibble around the house for him to hunt down.

Of course you can use their normal food for stuff like sit, stay, paw, spin, roll over, etc. all the fun behaviors. In the very beginning of teaching your (first couple years imo) I would have food on your body almost all the time. And just reward for doing stuff you want to see. You get in the car and he lays down? Perfect I want to encourage that behavior in the future so here is a bunch of treats. Being all zoomy in the car? well... no treats for you.

If you want to entertain your pup indoors when it's just too hot to walk treat balls are awesome:


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