Excersise Your Dog Inside with these Bad Weather Boredom Busters
As much as we would love for the weather to be perfect all of the time, mother nature seems to think otherwise. In the Summer its too warm, in the Winter its too cold and typical of the UK it almost always seems to be raining!!!
It's very important for your dogs well-being to regularly exercise and sometimes that means exercising indoors! At a glance there isn't a fat lot of physical exercise that can be done inside the average house, but we have come up with a few ways to make exercise in your house easy for your four legged friend. 10-15 minutes of mental stimulation, an activity where your pooch has to concentrate and really think about the game infront of them is about as exhausting as half an hour of walking or playing.
So if the weather isn't cooperating, try this mental and physical exercise tips!
1) Brain Games and Dog Puzzles
Did you know there are tons of games and puzzles designed for dogs? Simple treat dispensing toys that require interaction from your pooch to problem solving games to encourage your dog to think about how they can retrieve the delicious treats hidden. A simple DIY treat game for your dog can be made from a muffin tray and several tennis balls, place treats in the bottom of the tray and place tennis balls ontop to hide the treats. Your pup will be able to smell the treats and will have to figure out how to retrieve them.
2) Tug of war
A simple tug toy and a game of tug of war will not take up a lot of room, but it will use a lot of your pups energy!
3) Trick Training
Teaching your dogs the basics of obedience skills such as sit, down and come make the most of your time inside with your dog and teach them some more advanced skills such as stay and speak. Once you have these mastered step it up and try tricks such as paw and roll over, this will strengthen your bond with your dog and you will have some great fun showing off what you've taught. Not to forget your dog will LOVE being rewarded for learning their new behaviours.
4) Laser Pointer
You can buy laser pointers for a couple of pounds from your local pet shop, shine it back and forth around your living room and watch as your dog chases the laser around. Be careful to avoid shining the laser directly in a dogs eyes, as this can cause damage.
