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A lot of dogs are made to work with people or do certain jobs. Some pets can get bored if they can't use these instincts, which can lead to behavior problems. If you have a high-energy dog at home, you can keep them busy and active by giving them "jobs" or "responsibilities" around the house.

By giving your dog a job, you can give your pet's day more structure. It also gives you a chance to spend time with your dog and teach it something new. Your dog's physical and mental energy can be used up by giving it access to sports, activities, and jobs around the house.

Dog Sports

Dog sports can be a great way to use up your pet's mental and physical energy. In addition to sports like agility, dogs can use their natural instincts in barn hunt, earth dog, herding, Treibball (urban herding), lure coursing, fast cat, scent work, bikejoring, and drafting.

Shut the Door After You

You can build on your dog's skills to give him or her a job. Does your pet know how to do a nose target already? Once your dog can confidently nose-target things like a post-it note or yogurt lid, use that skill to teach them to close doors when you tell them to.

Hold and Move Things Around the House

Dog owners can use their dogs' desire to catch things or put things in their mouths to their advantage. Before you put your dog to work, you should make sure it knows how to fetch and drop something. Once your dog knows how to do these things with toys, you can teach them to do them in other situations.

Put Away Your Toys.

Even if your dog likes to play, the toys need to be put away. And your pet can do it on their own! Teaching your dog to put away its toys is both cool and helpful. Start by trading putting away toys for treats. Give your dog one of their toys while they are standing over the toy box and ask them to drop the toy in.

Finding Things

Dogs learn about the world by smelling it. With a little training, your dog will not only be able to find lost items but also be able to tell you where they are or bring them back to you. Start with simple "hides," like leaving something out in the open, like your keys.

Search the Home

You can teach your dog to do a parameter search of your home to let you know if someone is there. This job is a fun game that doesn't take much training, especially for dogs that bark when people come in. You can start teaching this skill by putting a small plate or target with a treat on it in each room of your house. Walk your dog around the house on a leash and show it each dish.

Then, take the leash off your dog and bring it to your front door. Give your dog a search cue like "patrol" or "look" and tell it to go from room to room until it finds the target plate. When your dog has been in every room, praise him and give him a treat. After a few times, you'll be able to tell your dog to do the task without a treat target plate. When they come back to you, you'll be able to reward them.