Bowl → Back to You

This version uses the same Back to You pattern, but with food placed in a bowl instead of being tossed.

With the bowl, reinforcement stays in one location. Your dog leaves to eat and then chooses to come back, without the motion of a thrown treat pulling them away. It’s a simple shift that adds clarity and a slightly different challenge while keeping the learner’s job exactly the same.

What You’ll Need

• An open, quiet space

• Small, tasty treats

• A small bowl or plate to place the food on

How to Play It

• Place a bowl on the ground a short distance away from you.

• Put a treat in the bowl.

• Let your dog get it.

• When their head comes off the treat, mark and place a treat in the bowl— 🚫 no treat to mouth.

• Repeat the pattern Bowl → Back to You → Bowl

You’re not calling your dog back and you’re not asking for a position.
The learner’s job stays the same: finish the food and choose to re-engage.

3 in 3 Breakdown

Skills

Engagement
Your dog practises finishing reinforcement and immediately re-engaging with you as the food appears at every angle around you.

Re-engagement with delayed reinforcement
Because the next treat is placed rather than tossed, your dog learns to re-engage without relying on visible movement to pull them back.

Focus and attention
Your dog needs to pay attention to where the food will show up but also focus on you and your movements to earn the reinforcer.

Enrichment

Cognitive enrichment (mental stimulation)
Your dog tracks the pattern, remembers what comes next, and stays engaged in the loop. It’s simple, but it still requires focus and thinking.

Social enrichment
You’re actively doing this together. It’s real one-on-one time that feels more like fun than work, building communication, cooperation, and connection.

Confidence building
The predictability of the game creates fast, easy wins. Your dog knows what’s coming and how to succeed.

Movement

Controlled movement away from a stationary food source
Moving to and from a fixed bowl helps your dog practise turning away from food and reorganising their body smoothly without relying on motion to guide them.

Body awareness
Each rep includes weight shifts, turns, and controlled direction changes as your dog moves away from the bowl and back toward you.

Low-impact functional movement
Short away-and-back reps add movement without speed or intensity, making this a useful option for a wide range of dogs.