What is the best stimulating game for dogs?

Mental stimulation is as important for dogs as any physical activity and has been shown to improve their mood, behaviour and even sleep. Incorporating games and play into the time you spend with your dog not only creates bonding moments between you, but can provide that all important mental stimulation and engagement. We’ve compiled a few simple but effective games for you to try to provide more mental stimulation for your four-legged friend. Treasure hunt is one game that tests your dog’s thinking and scent skills, where you hide some tasty treats around the house or outside in the garden and let them use their nose to hunt around for their reward. Hide and seek is another brain game, where you find a hiding place and signal to your dog to start finding you, and when they find you, acknowledge and reward them with treats and praise before repeating the exercise again. Other games such as Scatter Feeding, Obstacle courses, Dog tricks, Find the toy, and Cognitive toys can also provide mental stimulation for dogs, and having some tasty treats on hand to reward and praise them is a must.

We work on training a lot, go out for good sniffs, one of my dogs will play hide and seek. I also have a red heeler and a vizsla and they do require a lot of mental stimulation. Puzzle toys aren’t great with them either though because the vizsla is young and gets too excited to focus on what to do. She wants to pick it up and throw it. So what are some simple brainy games that won’t require I buy an expensive toy to then get chewed/broken or thrown/broken?