Pet’s Nook: Playing it Safe

P lay ing it Safe BY INDIRA CEVILLE BO R G E L LA

We know how annoying it is when you have to cancel the hike with your pup you’ve been looking forward to for days; or call off beach day with your dog. Annoying rain or Severe Heat! But who says you can’t have fun indoors with your dog? Don’t worry, we got you covered on that front. Read on for some cool ideas.

Exercises to physically and mentally stimulate your dog at home INTERACTIVE FEEDING

Why feed in a bowl when you can make a game out of food? If your dog is food motivated and playful, all you need is willingness to put that to good use!

Put your dog’s kibbles in the muffin tray mixed with some treats. Keep a few balls over each cup to hide the food and let your dog figure out the rest.

Take a large towel and scatter some kibbles and treats over it. Roll it and let your dog go crazy finding food in it.

If you have some space, just scatter your dog’s dry food all over the floor and throw some toys in it. Ask your dog to “find it.” As your dog gets better at the game, you can also make this game challenging by hiding food under the furniture and in different rooms

AT-HOME AGILITY

If you have a high energy dog, agility is one of the best ways to add some structure and cardio to your dog’s exercise routine. Guess what, you can even do it at home.

Arrange a few chairs in a straight line and use treats to train your dog to weave through it.

Depending on your dog’s size and agility level, place a long mop on two buckets or any two same sized objects to make it into a DIY hurdle.

Hoola Hoop is one of the best ways to instantly tire your dog out. A few minutes of jumping through hoops is sufficient to get rid of that burst of energy.

Arrange everyday items like a few toys, chairs, stools, utensils, clothes etc to make a DIY obstacle course at home. To make it more fun, tie a rope between 2 chairs to get your dog jump over it.

THE CLASSICS- TRICK TRAINING

Dog tricks not only help provide with excellent physical and mental workout, but also improve the human-canine bond, enhances your dog’s cognitive skills and tremendously improves their responsiveness to your cues.

Some dogs can play this game all day. Add variations to this game by teaching your dog to fetch other items like water bottle, keys, etc.

To avoid hyperactivity while playing this game, make sure your dog knows how to drop it, leave it, wait and take it.

OUTDOOR EXERCISES ON A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY

On the days you do get to engage in excursions, give your dog’s daily exercise routine a refreshing change of pace through following activities • Beach day or a dip in the lake • Sniffari (where your dog just gets to follow a scent and you follow him) ‘• Find it’ in the grass (scatter some treats in the grass and ask him to ‘find it’) • Flirt pole in the backyard (You know the cat toy that has a long stick with a string and toy attached to it. Flirt pole is the dog version of that toy)

On days when the weather isn’t the best, try some of these activities. Let me know if works for you! Until next issue, stay safe!

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