The Benefits of Keeping Your Dog Busy
Bored dogs get into trouble. We’re their main source of entertainment, so if we don’t give them stuff to do they’ll come up with activities of their own — and that’s often when we end up with chewed up shoes and table legs.
By playing with your dog a few times a day you can decrease the likelihood of them developing destructive habits such as excessive barking or chewing.
Give your dog a stuffed Kong or a food-dispensing puzzle toy
Stuff a Kong or a similar toy with pieces of kibble, mixed in with a tasty treat like a spoonful of peanut butter, canned pumpkin or mashed banana. Pro tip – you can freeze it to make it last longer for your pup!
Puzzle toys and food dispensing toys are great for mental stimulation (as well as dogs who gobble up their meals too fast!) Your dog needs to “solve” the puzzle, by tilting or shaking the puzzle toy to knock the kibble out before they can eat it. Some of our favorite food puzzle toys are made by Trixie or Nina Ottoson.
1 Teach Your Dog a New Trick
Does your dog know how to weave through your legs and jump through a hoop? There’s always a new trick you can teach your dog, and trust me when I say teaching your dog how to weave through your legs is a lot easier than it sounds.
To help get you started here’s a handy list of 52 tricks to teach your dog with instructions.
Does your dog already know a bunch of tricks? One of the best things about trick training is that there’s always room to improvise and make it more challenging. Once your dog knows a bunch of tricks you can step it up a notch and combine their learned behaviors into brand new tricks.
