A fun game that encourages thinking from your puppy which ultimately helps make it easier to train them various behaviors as they get older is The Box Game.
Simply get a box that you don’t mind your puppy interacting with in any way, five treats, and a clicker.
Be ready, as soon as you set the box down you need to be ready to mark and reward any interaction.
(Video Demonstration of Interaction)
Once you are out of food, make sure you remove the box.
Starting this game with five treats does not mean you are stuck with always using five treats.
In fact, it is the opposite. You can use The Box Game to help build final behaviors.
For example, maybe you have a goal of teaching your dog to curl up in a small space. In that case, you use the box to clicking behaviors that help you achieve that ultimate goal (you would click a sit in the box, then a down in the box, then curling up in the box, then you would continue to reward that final behavior that you were trying to achieve for as many times as you need to for your dog to understand that is the behavior you are working for in that training session).
Questions? Let us know! Or, post a video of your training session to the Puppy Facebook Group!