Lazy Day Activities
With the arrival of fall, I start thinking of the cold weather that will be coming. If you're like me, the last thing I want to do is go for a walk in the cold weather. However, our dogs still need to do something even if we can't get them out of the house. I know I have been feeling guilty for not getting out with my dogs lately and it's not even cold outside! Just this week I read about some ideas from various people and heard about some from one of my favorite dog behaviorists, Ian Dunbar.
I decided to put them to the test with all three of my dogs and then share how they responded to the lazy day activities.
Activity #1:Teach a trick. If your dog is motivated by any food (including their plain kibble) like mine, then learning some new tricks might be a fun option. The dog I chose to test this on first was Jack my husky. I decided to try teaching him to stick his nose through a circle made by my fingers for the "Snoot" challenge. He became board with it in 60 seconds and walked off, refusing to come back over.
I moved on to Duncan, my Boston Terrier mix. He was quite entertained by learning the "snoot" challenge. So to change it up a bit for him, the next day I taught him to roll over as well. He picked it up quickly. Once our 10 minute trick session was over, he was ready for a nap and slept for a couple hours.
Activity #2: Exploring a new area of the yard. Ian Dunbar suggested this one in a video I recently watched. He said that simply getting out to the front porch or front yard can be a great outing for a dog, especially if they only go out there on rare occasions. So, I took Duncan out to the front yard (he was on 20 foot leash because he could fit through some low spots under the fence) and he sniffed around a bit, but then went and sat on the porch. Next I brought Jack out. He sniffed around the entire yard for 20 minutes. When I called him to go back inside, he was quite happy and tired. Next I tried with Tinker my Chihuahua. She kept trying to eat things like bugs, leaves, weeds so her time ended after only 3 minutes.
Activity #3: Chewing. When I think of giving my dogs something to chew on, I always think of it as a way to keep them out of trouble when I am busy. The day had gotten away from me and I didn't do anything with my dogs to burn off energy and they were definitely board, but it was late and I wanted to go to bed, not go outside for a play session. I got out the antlers for them. My dogs trade chew items back and forth without any issue. So, they spent 15-20 minutes chewing on antlers from medium to extra large sizes (yes, even Tinker the 9 lb. chihuahua would take the huge antlers) trading, stealing and chewing. When I was ready to go to bed, they were too.
I hope this helps give you some ideas of things you can do to easily provide some mental stimulation for your dogs when you just don't feel like doing much. Yes, our dogs do still need to get out for a round of fetch, chasing each other, go for a walk, but these suggestions can help breakup the day when you need to just take a day off.
If you have some fun "lazy day activities" you do with your dog, please share them! The cold months seem to last forever, so the more activities we have for frigid days, the less stir crazy our dogs will be.
