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Ever notice the thing that makes your Malinois easy to train is also what makes them exhausting to live with?

If you're like me then you'll run out of gas before they do.

Here are 5 games that satisfy their brain and body.

Weekly Bite

Here are 5 games I rotate with my boy, Aki, listed from easiest to hardest.

Because some days we have more gas in the tank than others…

1️⃣ Hide and Seek

If you haven't seen Monkey (the trick Belgian Malinois) in action, this is the bar Omar Von Muller has set.

How to play?

• Have a helper flash a high-value treat to your dog

• Hold your dog back as the helper ducks into a room

• Release your dog to find the source

• Wait for an indication (a sign that they've found them) at the door

• Open it and reward

Here's a live demo from American Standard K9.

Best for: Hot days indoors, or off-leash walks when your dog drifts too far ahead.

2️⃣ Sneaky Fetch

You don't even need a helper for this one. Just a ball.

How to play?

• Play 3-4 normal rounds of fetch so the ball gets coated in your dog's scent

• Hold them while you toss the ball into tall grass, behind a bush, or over a hill

• Release with a "Search" cue

• Wait for the indication when they pinpoint it

• Reward big at the find

Best for: Mental stimulation and building drive for scent detection.

3️⃣ Flirt Pole

A flirt pole is a stick, a rope, and a tug toy on the end.

It's the closest thing to remote-controlled prey drive you can buy.

Best for: When their battery is full and yours is dead. You can run a whole session from a lawn chair.

4️⃣ Urban Parkour

Think of it as personal training for your dog.

How to play?

• Pick a stable surface (bench, log, rock, low wall)

• Cue them up

• Hold a sit, down, or stand on top

• Cue them off

• Reward at every step

Playgrounds, parks, hiking trails. They're all built-in obstacle courses once you start looking at them through your dog's eyes.

Best for: Building body awareness, confidence, and turning your walk into a workout for both of you.

5️⃣ The Triangle Game

This is the hardest game on the list.

It asks your dog to listen to a marker word, not just pick their favorite toy.

How to play?

• Place your dog in a down position at one corner of a triangle

• Stand at another corner holding a toy while another toy sits on the ground

• Say a specific release word while the dog stays focused on your verbal cue

• Release your dog to grab the specific toy associated with the word you spoke

• Play with your dog briefly then reset them to the exact same starting spot

This drill is part of the Kynology training system developed by Forest Micke.

Avoid giving physical hints like leaning because your dog will stop using their brain and just guess.

Best for: Sharpening marker discrimination and building precision.

TL;DR: These 5 games work your dog's brain and body at the same time. Start with Hide and Seek or Sneaky Fetch, then work your way up to the Triangle Game.

Tail End

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Until next Thursday, ✌️

Sam