Wednesday 15 August 2012

trying the Nina Ottosson wooden Dog Casino

When I was having a clean-out of all our dog 'stuff' I noticed the wooden Dog Casino puzzle I bought ages ago. The puzzle is by Nina Ottosson, and we've tried out the plastic version with mixed success. (Here's a long - really, rather boring - clip of our try-out of the plastic one.) It's been sixteen months since we used that puzzle, so in our first try I simply allowed Penny to look at it.



Then I put treats in two drawers and Penny had a go. (Wasn't she a good girl to wait so patiently?)



Next Penny waited again




while I placed treats in every drawer



and closed the drawers.


After which her patience was rewarded and she successfully conquered all the drawers.

She had the rest of her evening meal from the toy. Next time, I'll put one a 'stopper' in one of those top holes and see if she can figure out how to pull it out so the drawer can move.

I prefer the wooden version, even though the plastic version can be cleaned and this one can't.

9 comments:

Lassiter Chase and Benjamin said...

Penny you are very patient! And very smart too!

parlance said...

Yes, she's a good girl. Most of the time.

Stewey said...

Wow, Penny - you are very good at sitting, waiting and puzzle-solving!
Stewey

parlance said...

Stewey, I could say Penny loves puzzles, but I think it would be closer to the truth to say Penny love anything with food inside.

Johann The Dog said...

The Casino is one of our favorite Nina games! We were aces at the drawers, but Mum had to clicker train me to pull out the pegs; once I got that down it was a breeze!

Here are our vid: Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOHMcGkTT24 and Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hvDBevTkEA

parlance said...

Johann, I'll go over now and look at the video, because we need to do the next step and learn to pull out the pegs. Remind your mum that way back, years ago, it was she who introduced me to the Nina Ottosson games and told me that Clean Run were having a special sale and mailing anywhere in the world postage free. And that was the beginning of my love affair with those types of toys.

parlance said...

Just watched them and they're terrific. So clear. I'll start with the mouthing of the pegs now.

Johann The Dog said...

Glad they may help! Mum knew that getting me to pull out those pegs was going to be a difficult one for me. I just don't pick up stuff on command...that's why it took me a long time to fetch and put away my toys, lol! But this method of clicking at different stages - touching with mouth, biting, then getting closer and closer to where the peg goes in the toy - did it! Mum also put a command to it after a while - 'use your mouth' - that has worked really well with other interactive toys, so I don't get too frustrated (cause I do that :). Enjoy!

parlance said...

Oh, now you've given me an idea. We're still just at the stage of clicking for touching it, but I might have a think about 'pick it up', which Penny knows really well. Thanks!