GIGWI 0402 User Manual

General advise

1. This game is made for joint games with the dog and owner. Please do not leave the

dog unsupervised with the toy.

2. Set the toy somewhere that allows the dog to walk around it to find his ideal playing

position.

3. Choose a calm training atmosphere. We recommend one-on-one training (if you have

more than one dog, train only one a time,preferably in a separate room).

4. Only set low targets and do not expect too much from your dog. This way you will have

a lot of fun in training.

5. To avoid overtaxing your dog, restrict the exercises to short sections(max.15 minutes)

and repeat several times a day.

6. Help your dog at the beginning to accomplish the task to keep him motivated. It is

necessary-especially at the start -that your dog associates the game with a positive result

which happens when he is successful quickly and gets a reward. At the beginning you

might also give your dog a reward just for trying the toy. As soon as your dog realizes that

it is a “food game”, he will soon understand the lesson and enjoy puzzling.

7. If your dog does not accomplish the task, try to motivate with compliments and stroking.

It is better to take one step back if he does not reach the next target. Never scold or

punish your dog.

8. To arouse your dog’s interest, initially fill the tubes with treats in his presence. To

increase the level of difficulty later you can do this in his absence.

9. Choose the ideal start time. When the dog has been fed, wait approx 1.5 hours before

starting to play. You can also feed your dog while playing by substituting the treats with the

dog’s usual dry food.

10. Always start the game with a signal(e.g. Play!) and finish with a break-off signal(e.g.

Stop!) immediately after your dog got all the treats out. If your dog follows that signal,

reward him with a further treat and ensure a calm and positive ending.

11. The training should always be finished with a feeling of success.

Attention:

Neither “right” nor “wrong” exists in this game. Each dog--like people--is an individual and

is going to find his own solutions. Let your dog decide whether to accomplish the task with

snout or paws. That mean that your dog might differ from the following instructions which

are only advise for a possible way to work out an easy and meaningful solution with your

dog. Nevertheless your dog might show approaches or tendencies that are not described

below. As a general rule, do not allow your dog to carry the toy away or to destroy it(this is

often a sign of frustration or excessive demand).

May you and your dog have lots of fun and be successful

Training

Please carry out all the steps one after the other. Only raise the level of difficulty when

your dog can carry out the preceding training phase without problems. Praise your dog

after each successful action. Please note that the amount of treats ejected varies and

occurs randomly. Sometimes there are a lot of treats, sometimes only a few. This keeps it

exciting for the dog as from time to time there is a jackpot(an extra large amount of treats).

Please check beforehand if the treats fit through the opening easily and adjust it to the

right size if necessary.

The training can start

1. At first practice with the release button only. Set one of the acoustic signals for your

dog. Always use the same acoustic signal. This signal tells the dog “You did this well!”. If

you have two dogs, you can set a different signal for each dog and train them to react only

to their own signal.

2. Take the release button into your hand or place it on the floor and press it. Give your

dog a treat every time the acoustic is heard. Repeat this several times to get your dog

used to the acoustic signal.

3. Once your dog has understood that he gets a treat after the signal, you can train him to

press the release button himself. For this, place a treat on the release button. If the dog

approaches the release button with paw or snout, you can give him a treat to motivate him

further. To create a larger area for your dog to press, please use the rubber holder

included to start with if the release button is on the ground.

4. Once your dog has mastered pressing the release button, you can create the

connection to the food dispenser. Start by pressing the release button or having your dog

press it and then place the treat in tray of the food dispenser.

5. In the next step, switch the dispenser on. Press the release button. Treats will fall

out of the dispenser into the tray. Repeat this several times to get your dog used to the

sound the dispenser makes.

6. Now you can fix the release button to one of the opening intended for it on the

dispenser. Or you place the release button directly next to the dispenser in the rubber

holder. Now let your dog press the release button.

7. Once your dog has mastered all these steps, you can move the release button a bit

further away from the food dispenser.

8. To further increase the level of difficulty, you can increase the distance between the

release button and the dispenser even more. This can be done within a radius of max 40m,

so that release button and dispenser can be in two different rooms.

9. With the aid of the suction cup included, you can fasten the release button to a glass

door or to other smooth surface. With the peg included, it can be secured in soft

ground,e.g. In the garden. This again poses new challenges for your dog and allows