I'd seen it suggested that a good way of tiring out dogs was to do games with them that exercise the mind rather than the body, and now nightfall is so early, this seemed worth a try.  I thought I would try a simple 3-cup trick this evening.

I plonked myself in front of Brythen with three small dishes and a handful of biscuits, with a cheery cry of 'Right then!'.  Brythen fled upstairs to his bed and hid.   He is such a wuss!

Rosie, surprisingly, proved to be of sterner stuff.   Once she realised that there were BISCUITS under the cups, she was all attention.  Only a little encouragement was needed for her to nose and prod them.

I put a biscuit under the end cup, then took the cup off.  She ate the biscuit.

 Then I did the same thing, but I swapped the cups.  She bopped the end cup with her paw, then tried to turn it over with her long pointy nose.  I turned the cup over so she could see it was empty - and she continued to try to lift it up, convinced the biscuit must be hiding somewhere!

I wonder if she will get better at this.    Maybe I should have started with two cups.