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Snowstorms and freezing temperatures may keep you from taking your dog for long walks or trips to the dog park, but there are a variety of ways you can keep your canine physically and mentally active throughout the winter.
Provide Interactive Toys
Most dogs love to eat, so why not use food as a motivation to keep their minds busy? Michelle Douglas, President of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, recommends stuffing your dog's meal in a Kong. "This way, your dog will have to work at getting the food and will burn calories in the process." The Buster Cube and the Dog Tornado are other toys that offer your dog the opportunity to work for their meal.
But the toys don't have to feature food to be fun. The IQube challenges your dog to remove squeaky balls from within a plush puzzle-like cube, and comes in a variety of sizes to accommodate both small and large pooches. Babble Balls are another fun -- and noisy -- option. The balls entice your dog by producing realistic animal noises each time he passes by, tapping into his desire to hunt. If, however, your temples are throbbing at even the thought of wild animal calls, Fetch a Bubble may be a good alternative. This clever machine blows chicken-scented bubbles into the air, sending your dog into a frenzy to catch the delicious floating flavor.
Whether you're snowbound or just want to create your own toys from household items, try engaging your pooch in a game of tug of war using knotted old socks or dishtowels. For less aggressive play, ice cubes will keep many dogs hydrated and entertained as they chase after them on the kitchen floor. If your dog is especially hard to entertain, fill an empty plastic soda bottle with rice and roll it around. The rattling noise will drive the dog wild.
Create Indoor Games
Have fun with the space in your home, because no matter how small it may be, there is potential for physical activity. "Play fetch up and down the hallway," suggests Douglas, who in addition to being a Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) is also a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC). "Play with two identical balls, and be ready to throw the second ball when your dog returns with the first." This will help keep your dog in perpetual motion, even if your space is limited.
Depending on the size of your home and your dog, a makeshift agility course can be another way to help your dog blow off some steam. Using household items like boxes, furniture, and even your dog's kennel, create obstacles for your dog to leap over, run through, or duck under.
Develop Play Groups
Improve your dog's social life by taking them to a play group where they can blow off steam with other dogs who are feeling restless from being stuck indoors. "Trainers and training facilities often run play groups," says Douglas. "Dog parks also often have a sheet posted with phone numbers so that dog owners can set up play dates."
If you are in an apartment consider finally making contact with your dog-owning neighbor for a little shared baby-sitting/entertaining. If you don't know any dog owners in your area, Meetup is a great venue for finding like-minded pet owners who live nearby. This site features breed-specific play dates, size-specific match-ups, and meetings in particular parks or other public animal-friendly areas.
Attend Classes
Even if your dog has conquered the basic commands, there is always something new for them to learn. Douglas suggests taking trained dogs to advanced classes like agility, weight pulling and dog sports. Owners can think of a behavior they'd like to teach their dog and pursue it. "This will help instill competition in the dogs [making them more eager to cooperate] and owners will become better trainers," says Douglas..
No matter what, have fun. Your dog wants to spend time with you -- and you know you really want to hang with him -- so go ahead, carve out a few hours to play.
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We have a pair of " doodles " who love to use their noses to search for treats that we hide ( out of sight ) around the house. Not an all day activity, but it does help relieve the winter boredom.
We've been there, done that.
My dachshund has been to play dates, obedience classes, long walks in the woods stopping to sniff and digging holes..
Her solution to wintertime boredom?
She'd rather sleep all day, thank you very much.
Nice article and great suggestions that will certainly be helpful for these cabin fever months. There are also some fun group games that combine training and fun in the form of games to play with your dog in the online community at mysmartpuppy.
Fetch A Bubble, according to their website, is out of stock and discontinued. They recommend something in its place that makes HUGE bubbles - not something I'd want indoors.
Very nice article. A great way to engage your dog's brain in the winter is also to train new behaviors. There are fun group projects going on over at mysmartpuppy--in the community area. Fun easy stuff with expert coaching in case you have difficulties!
It's helped me and my dogs in this snowy Northeast Winter!!
I love dogs.I like Papillons.My best friend likes german shepards
and dachshunds (is that how to spell it)? I love dogs! But I have a cat instead. but I like cats too! But I like dogs more.
My Gorgeous overweight Basset Hound would rather sit around the house looking beautiful than play games. Its tough being a beauty Queen
He might crap in the house? Um, where exactly would you expect him to do it if you don't take him outside? Hide his food. Make him work to find his toys? Make him do whopping 10-ft. sprints playing fetch in the hallway? Form play groups so he can sh*t in somebody else's floor? Set up an activity course allowing him to jump over the sofa, and then when the sun comes out, beat his arse for jumping over the sofa! I'm not sure, but I think this is how Cujo got started. Anyways, dogs and children need exercise. Yes, the snow is cold and messy, but it is temporary and a healthy energy outlet. Sent the whole lot out to play in the snow, warning the children not to eat the yellow snow. If you live farther up North where it's colder than a witch's tit, put a little coat on your doggie and send him out to play. (Playing in the snow is no fun if you're shivering to produce body heat.)
My dog recently began having accidents in the house, just as the winter weather set in. Turns out he had bladder stones that would have killed him had he not seen a vet and had surgery to have them removed. Increase in in-home accidents should not be put off to cabin fever at the risk of your dogs health. Pulling out the toilet paper, knocking over trash cans, ok. But physical symptoms need to be checked out, or you'll have your sick dog struggling to get at his food or something.
Ha. My friend has a treadmill and her dog loves to run on it during the winter. She said it definitely calms him down. It's quite the interesting solution to the doggie winter time blues!
I have a 1 year old Rat Terrier and she doesn't have an 'off' switch. We do all the things listed in this article and she's still ready for more. Playing outside in the cold is a last resort but it works best. Cold is only temporary so when we're done we curl up on the couch under the blankets and watch a movie.
Pretty clear this was written by someone selling stuff and not a dog trainer. Teaching a dog to play tug of war is one of the tricks we use to teach Law K-9s how to bite, grab and hold on. Hope this contributor doesn't have kids.
Food treats are for people that don't know how to train dogs. If the dog is bored get up off the couch and play with the dog. Yes there is thirty inches of snow here and the three hounds were out the first time today at 5:30...playing in the snow.
Actually, I have two children under five years old. My dogs know that the rules of tug include letting go any time a little hand is on the other end of the toy or any time I say "drop it, please."
The game of tug is not what teaches a dog to grab and hold on, it is the trainer who is teaching "grab and hold on" and using tug as a means to teach that.
For a pet dog, the game of tug is different than for a K9. For a pet dog, the lesson of "drop it" is learned as the most important rule in the game. They are not permitted to "tug" unless and until they demonstrate the "drop it" skill effectively.
As far as treats. There are many ways to train a dog. Treats are the most effective for most owners to use for initially teaching a new behavior. However, my recommendations about were about using food...not treats specifically. The games and toys I referred to can use treats, but I suggested feeding them (as in their kibble) out of the toys to keep them stimulated and give them an activity on the long winter days. The interviewer asked me for ideas to keep dogs active during the winter.
I have been worried about my rat terrier lately. But not because he has become more active, but actually less. He wants to sleep all the time and though my husband dug out and area in the snow and now even with the snow almost gone, he's still (I can't call them accidents) doing his business in the house. He kept me up until 5:30 this morning just wanting to be as close to me as possible.Although, in his four years, he's always had both mine and my husband full and undivided. He doesn't even like to play with his food ball. We have to hand feed him or he won't eat. I thought about cabin fever and his hate of the cold. But he is starting to really scare me.
I have jack russles.Does your dog drink alot of water? My male dog Levi was acting like that.I took him to the vet and he had diabeties If your dog isn't eating like usual take him for a vet check, it might save his life. (Don't want to scare you, but i would rather be safe than lose my precious friend and companion) good luck! hope there is nothing wrong with him but the blues!
Take your dog to the vet !!!
We have three German Shepherds at home. They are not bored at all. They play with each other, sleep next to each other, clean each other. There are no presents anywhere, and the toilet paper is unharmed. Most of the time more than one dog is the solution to this. So you don't need fancy playgroups, because when you have two or three dogs, you already have a playgroup. The big problem of course is, when you have dogs, like GSDs, who have the intelligence of four-year-olds!
We have 3 cats, 2 birds and 4 dogs, a german shepard, 2 border collies and a pug....I am up at 5 am every morning, I take the dogs out to do their stuff, then they come in for food and water and follow me from one end of the house to the other, if I'm too long down in basement doing laundry they come down to check on me. By the time I have had my first cup of coffee, they are ready to go back out for the second part of their duty, then of course Daddy comes home from work and he has to give them all his attention, he says Honey you know I love you too !! LOL Then they spend 2 hours in their houses while we eat, read the paper, whatever. The rest of the time they are out of their houses playing, laying down or sitting beside us watching tv and I am usually the one who takes them for their runs and playing outside, ahhhh yes their pooper scooper too !! I give them their bathes and brush them out and yes spoil them, Then its bedtime at 8 pm till midnight then their out again and back to bed till 5 am. Love our dogs and yes I'm their slave LOL