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How to keep your dog busy in the house. (Mental stimulation for rainy days!)

1/31/2013

26 Comments

 
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Some days all we can manage is taking our dogs for a quick walk around the block and the rest of the day will have to be spent inside. Whether you're sick, working long hours or the weather is utterly monstrous outside; Some days we just can't get our canine companions out for enough physical exercise.

There are lots of ways we can keep our dogs busy inside the house and rotating these ideas will keep things exciting and entertaining for our pets. From toys, to long lasting treats, to interaction with us we can find a way to tire them out for a day without needing the great outdoors.

There are several very cool puzzle inspired toys to offer your dog on days where you can't get them outside enough. The toys I am about to discuss are thinking toys, which means even though they are fun to play with, they require the dog to think about how to play with them. This mental stimulation is the key to tiring your dog out when they need to stay indoors for the day.

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The Tricky Treat Ball is a very popular, fun toy with many craters all around it and one hole to put treats and cookies inside. As the dog plays with the ball and pushes it around, treats fall out. Dogs can roll the ball, pick it up and shake it, toss it around and roll around with it to get the treats inside to fall out. Since the inside of the toy retains the scent of treats, this toy can keep dogs interested for a long time!

The Kong Wobbler is another fun puzzle toy, which encourages the dog to bump and knock the toy around in order to get the treats out. Once they figure it out, they can be entertained with this cool toy for quite awhile! Not only is it a treat puzzle toy, but it is also simply fun to play with! Dogs love batting it around, nose bumping it and making it roll!

Kong also has it's famous classic kong toy, which is a red or black rubber toy with the center hollowed out. This toy is best used when a liquid or pureed food is stuffed inside and frozen. Take peanut butter and yoghurt or cottage cheese and some broken freeze dried liver treats, fill the kong and freeze it! Freezing the kong will keep the dog working at the toy for quite awhile! This is a great opportunity to get some healthy probiotics in your dog while entertaining their nose and bellies!

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Toys aren't the only way to entertain your dog inside the home! Consider long lasting chew treats like dried beef tendon, dried beef trachea, bully sticks, elk antlers, Himalayan cheese, or raw knuckle bones.

The best kind of mental stimulation can come from training, so teach your dog a new trick or work on formal obedience in the house. Spin, shake a paw, formal heeling, perch work and similar complicated exercises will be both rewarding and entertaining!

There is a game called "find it" that you can teach your dog and use to entertain each other on a day indoors. You will take one of your dog's favourite toys and put all of the others away. Keep your dog in another room and hide the toy, then release your dog and tell him to "find it". The goal is to teach your dog to use his nose and eyes to find the toy, and the reward for doing so is either a treat or playing with you and the toy. Start off with very easy finds, where your dog can easily see it and get it. Then reward your dog immediately, making the reward fun and intense so that he knows if he finds it he will get a really exciting reward.

Even though we may not be able to provide our dogs with adequate exercise outside every day out of the year, we can always find ways to provide mental stimulation and a light version of exercise that will keep them happy and balanced. While there is no true equal substitute for physical exercise outdoors, we can make those days we are stuck inside the home enjoyable for our canine companions.

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Angel
K9 Instinct
www.k9instinct.com

26 Comments
Christian Poulin
3/31/2013 05:55:50 am

The Tricky Treat Ball. I bought two years one when I had only one dog. At first, it was too hard to get a treat out. My dog left it alone. But five minutes later, my dog realized that if he chewed the toy until its broken, he would get all the treats right away. And that is the short, very short story of our Tricky Treal Ball.

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Christian Poulin
3/31/2013 05:57:38 am

Ouch. Always read before posting. Should read: I bought one two years ago.

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Mary Smith
3/31/2013 07:54:21 am

What can I do about my jack russell who keeps having seizures? He was having one right after the other sometime 5 a day. aaaaahe went about 4 months without one and now they have started up again. Any ideas?? My vet wants him on meds. $500.00 a pop.

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Tracey Keefer
8/8/2013 11:19:38 pm

Mary my older pup started the same thing and we used this for her and it helped greatly http://www.allergicpet.com/ctgy_seizures.html
unfortunately after almost a year we had to put her down she most likely has a brain tumor or something it was too old and it was way to expensive to find out what was actually wrong, she deserved better than suffering the way she did but using this product gave us many more months of a good quality life with her and for that I am forever grateful!

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Jamie b
12/28/2014 02:03:40 am

are you kidding me? Your dog has a serious health issue and NEEDS medication. You should have thought of the cost of a living animal before you got one. Either pay the money and get him the card he needs or adopt him out to a family who gives a crap about his quality of life. If you do nothing you should be charged with cruelty. End of story.

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mf
12/28/2014 02:28:26 am

Wow Jamie b...are you kidding me!!?? You should have thought of your insensitive comment before posting!! Obviously this person gives a crap or would not be trying to find alternative solutions...Your comment is more cruel than anything, such a narrow uncaring mind!! End of story.

Kathy Stuart
12/28/2014 01:54:43 pm

I had a JR/Beagle cross who was a Katrina rescue. Not long after we adopted him his seizures began. The vet treated him with phenobarbital and K-Bro which is a supplement. It ran us on average about sixty dollars a month for his meds and another hundered every six months or so for blood work. He still had seizures and often had some really bad stretches but he also had long stretches without incident as well.

The dogs don't suffer (unless of course they hurt themselves during and episode), they are completely unaware of their situation. Our old boy lasted up until just this past summer when eventually he lost the joy in life and let us know it was time to let him go.

Talk to different vets and see if you can find one to work with you. This does not need to be either/or situation; there is plenty of room for compromise if you find the right vet and get a diagnosis that doesn't include a brain tumor. Just understand that your life will change. Your time away from home will be limited and you simply must have a safe room for the dog if you do have to leave him alone.

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Katie
12/29/2014 08:55:45 pm

Try switching diet to either Orijen or Acana dog food! Seriously.

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sibetribe
3/5/2015 06:48:38 am

If you are feeding cheap food like beneful, purina, etc that could be causing seizures. Read the labels guys, dogs aren't supposed to be eating corn, wheat, soy, meat by-products, or artificial colors and preservatives at all, let alone every day. Propelyne glycol is in beneful and it is one molecule away from anti-freeze. If you care about your dogs you'll spend $60 a month on a bag of good quality food..

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Pat
3/31/2013 08:07:24 am

...Long lasting chew treats...trachea? My 11 mo old GSD had that one gone in 12 minutes. The bully sticks last about 45 mins depending on their length. Marrow bones are the best but I limit them to 2 per week.He doesn't care for the nyla bones at all and I hesitate to use anything dried from china which is sad because the pressed rawhide keeps his interest the longest - and yes I do remove it when it gets small. Great site - thanks for all the info

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Jodi
4/12/2013 04:15:25 am

I have a german shepherd also. A friend of mine recommended deer or elk antlers. They are a bit expensive but are all natural and last a long time. They are usually found in smaller family owned type pet stores not the big chain stores. Good luck!

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Natalie
5/19/2013 05:12:07 am

My GSD loves the elk antlers. They are one of the few things that actually lasts for any length of time. They don't splinter, so really safe. They are pricey, but my Enzo can power chew through just about anything else in no time flat. The antlers last months, so for me, a good purchase. Our Petsmart store carries them.

Marion Over
6/28/2014 06:50:30 am

The elk antlers last forever. It cost me 26.00, but it has lasted 3 months. I have a 7 month old German Sheppard who destroys everything fast and gets bored with kong toys fast.

JackieBlue
10/17/2014 12:06:22 am

My GSD Nimueh loves the sm. deer antler that a friend of ours gave her. Our friend is of course a bowhunter and he promised me another small antler again this fall! She has been chewing on this antler for about 3 months now and has the majority of it left.!

Lisa burg
3/4/2015 02:42:25 am

petsmart does carry the antlers but, yes, they are expensive. They also carry hooves which last a long time too.

Tallmom
8/9/2013 11:34:52 am

My 15 mo old is the exact same way - filled Kongs are great - for a while. The trachea, bully sticks - gone in a second. 2 weeks ago I gave him a rolled rawhide because it is his favorite - and he inhailed it. A week later and several thousands of $$'s later, he is on 2 week lock down after surgery to remove the damned thing! Can't go out and play - so I have one bored guy. But so very lucky he lived to complain about being house bound!!

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Natalie
8/9/2013 06:11:05 pm

I'm so glad that he will be okay. How very scary!! When he gets better, if you try out the elk antlers, don't buy the ones that are split. Those are for senior dogs, or ones that aren't power chewers. I bought one for my GSD, not knowing this information. Since the inside is open, he cleaned out the center in about an hour and he gnawed on it until it was fairly thin. I took it away from him. $22 gone in one sitting. I went and bought him a non-split antler the next day. He's been working on it for over 2 weeks now, with no end in sight.

Pegster
3/5/2015 12:24:45 am

It took me a while to figure this out (duh) but you can re-stuff the marrow bones! I love this because the original marrow bones tend to give my dog loose stool, so I restuff them with a peanut butter and rice mixture and freeze them. Cheap and she LOVES them! They calm her down instantly when we can't go for a run.

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Mary Ingelsby
4/12/2013 12:28:14 am

Thank you for the great ideas. Have a great weekend ;)

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Darla
12/29/2014 08:29:03 am

I agree with the deer/elk antler.. I buy them for my cross bred dogs who chew through every toy / bone i bring in the house.. including Kong.. the deer antler is pricey but lasts a month or two.. my puppies are one year old and are golden x lab x pyreneese they are the best but destroy alot of things lol

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Sarah
3/5/2015 12:43:39 am

Laser pointers keep me golden retriever busy for hours. He looks for it even after I stop shining it!

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sibetribe
3/5/2015 06:53:57 am

haha that's a good one! That should definitely be in this list!

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