How are you doing? Are you staying well and safe (and sane) at home?
We’re sticking with our one day at a time mentality around here, but now that we’re a few weeks in, I feel like we need to create some kind of routine or structure to our days. A big piece of that needs to include the animals because they’ve been a bit overlooked as we adjusted to this new normal, and they’re also a smidge out of sorts with how different their lives suddenly became. Are your pets feeling like that, too?
If you’re looking for ideas to keep your dog busy during social distancing, I’ve got you covered!
I started to dig through my archives to pull up ideas on boredom busters for Coop. Below are several posts that will give you dozens of projects and ideas. One note: Most were written for surviving Indiana winters indoors, but almost all of the activities can be moved outside if you have a safe area to play with your pup. Just remember that if it’s a training exercise, outside is way more distracting than inside, so you might need to work a little harder.
But, hey. We’ve got the time…
5 Ways to Keep Your Dog Busy on a Rainy Day
I wrote this one for high-energy dogs like Cooper. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time in the (normal, typical, pre-quarantine) day to tire him out. Implement one or all of these to get a tired pup!
10 Ways to Tire Out Your Dog Indoors
This is my most-trafficked blog post almost every month. And it’s from 2010! We’re always looking for ways to entertain our dogs, I suppose. This will get you started! And when you check all those off the list…
10 (More) Ways to Tire Out Your Dog Indoors
One game on this list is “find it.” We play this several times a week. Recently, Violet’s gotten in on it, and I need to post it to Instagram Stories because it’s hilarious. She hides the toy, tells Coop to find it, then she runs over to where she hid it and yells, “It’s over here Cooper!! Here it is!!”
5 Ways to Exercise Your Dog Indoors
One of the tips in this post feels like a cheat–take a drive–but is so important right now. A spin around town with the windows down can do a world of good for you and your dog.
Teach Your Dog to Come When Called
A solid recall is, I believe, the most important cue for a dog to know. Hands down. If your dog’s recall isn’t solid right now, no worries. We have time to work on it! There are tons of ideas, tips, troubleshooting, and game ideas in this post. If you work on nothing else during this time, work on recall.
Bonus for the cats: Train Your Cat to Walk on Leash
The weather is getting nicer around here, and as soon as it starts to warm up, Newt itches to get outside. It’s time to break out their harnesses and leashes. If you’re interested in taking your cat outside safely, this is the post for you. (Also, I highly recommend you check out Chirpy Cats for the most EPIC backyard cat runs and catios. These are on my dream “someday” list for a backyard reno.)
Just keep playing! Ultimately, we have no idea how long we’re really going to be socially isolated. The most important thing is to find ways to bring joy to the situation, and play does it. If you don’t want to work through any training exercises or you don’t want to DIY or purchase some puzzles, then focus on fun. Grab a ball and play fetch. Go for a long walk. Play tug. Anything that keeps you and your pup happy and entertained.
I hope this helps, and in the meantime, stay well, friends.
There’s a Facebook group called Canine Enrichment – set up by the author of the book of same/similar title – that has a lot of good ideas for keeping our dogs happy. Check it out.
Great information, just keeping a routine really helps to keep the sanity in our home for humans and our four legged children.
Thanks for all the tips you have provided! They’re truly helpful especially during this time of social distancing. 🙂
Sniffing. Such an underrated activity for a dog. When they sniff, it relaxes them. And when they have sniffed for ages, they are tired – it’s really tiring for them getting so much information through their noses and interpreting it.
So my top tip is treasure hunts. High up on any canine enrichment list, around the back yard if it’s dry, in a snuffle mat if it’s wet and you need to be indoors, but outside is my preference. Throw a couple of good handfuls of treats around the yard – very small treats lol. If you have walls which have vines or something crawling up them, they can be a great hiding place for some treats too. I use a simple cue – go find it – and much fun is had. Half an hour later, dog is exhausted and just wants to nap. Perfect 🙂
Thank you for your post! This helps so much with introducing my bulldog into the toddlers in our family!