Wow, it seems like a perfect summer with all the sun and
warm weather we are having! I hope you
are all in a position to really enjoy it.
Remember that your fur-bucket friends may not view this warmer weather
the same way you do! Plenty of shade,
water and rest may be more to their liking.
For those of you who know my dog Winter, we are having some
luck in her recovery (she has a partially torn ACL that isn’t bad enough for
surgery – yet). We’ve begun daily swims
off the local boat ramp in the morning, with an easy .8 mile walk in the
afternoon and she seems to be making small gains in her ability to support her
weight and get through the day without limping.
All this with no Rimadyl since it caused her liver enzymes to go the
wrong way!
So between the hot weather and resting most of the day you
can imagine how pent up she is feeling, even at 11 years old this is a dog that
is used to having a non-stop day. So to
combat this we are playing lots of mental stimulation games to keep her from
getting really bored and redecorating the house with the trash! Yes, even my dog will get creatively
destructive when she gets bored, her shtick is to empty any and all trash cans
available to her and spread the contents far and wide!
So here is the rundown of mental stimulation games we play
with her to keep her occupied and happy while we are gone for the day.
1.
Find
it. Winter has been playing Find It
games all her life, so before I leave for the day I ask for a sit/stay at the
front door, I then walk into each room and scatter or place many pieces of dry
kibble in the room, some are easy and some are more difficult to find. As I walk out the door I say, ‘Find it’ and
she’s off! I have videotaped this and
found that she is often busy for up to an hour searching the house for
kibble! There are many variations to
this game, but this is the one we use. For
a full explanation on how to teach this game check this out http://properpaws.blogspot.com/2015/04/find-it.html
2.
Stuffed Marrow Bone or Kong. These are among my all time favorites. For puppies we use the stuffed Kong every
time they go into the crate for any period of time (except at night), so that
they associate the crate with good things.
For older dogs use the stuffed Kong or Marrow bone when you leave for
the day. Here are a couple of tips;
stuff the Kong or Marrow bone with wet dog food instead of peanut butter or
cream cheese, or use a mix of wet dog food, dry dog food, yogurt and a bit of
cream cheese or peanut butter to hold the stuff together and as a
flavoring. This way the dog is getting mostly
good nutrition rather than a heap of extra fat and calories. Then FREEZE IT, so it takes a long time for
the dog to get the stuff out of it.
Finally, HIDE IT so it takes time for the dog to find it first!
3.
Food dispensing toys. There are some great food dispensing toys out
on the marked, but you have to pick the right one for your dog or puppy. If it’s too easy it won’t last long, if it’s
too hard the dog will give up. You may
need to teach your dog how to use it first, which means supervising play with
the item and nudging it a little to get them going. I have several of these toys in my house and
fill them randomly, or leave 2-3 filled in different rooms before I leave. I try to sneak them into the rooms when she’s
outside so she stumbles upon them during her day. Again, fill these mostly with the dog’s
kibble plus a FEW pieces of high value treat.
4.
Early morning/Late night walks – Early morning
walks are great as the heat of the day doesn’t get in the way, alternatively
the late night walks can be fun too, just watch out for the skunks! J
5.
Swimming, sprinklers and water play of any kind
is often great fun for the dogs as well as a way to cool off.
6.
Teach a new trick each week. Pull that clicker out of the drawer and each
morning before breakfast and evening before dinner use 10-15 minutes to
stimulate your dog mentally by teaching him a new trick. For ideas on tricks to train take a look at
this video. http://vp.telvue.com/player?autostart=true&height=240&id=T00341&noplaylistskin=true&video=272869&width=320
Proper Paws News
We have some exciting old and new offerings coming up this
fall, including Adventure Classes on Monday’s and Friday’s at 9:30am, Wag it
Games on Wednesday’s at 9:30, Rally Obedience Introduction at 9:30 on
Thursday’s, and Master Puppy at 11am on Thursday’s. For those of you that have dogs with dog/dog
reactivity I am starting a new class called Growlies on Monday’s at 9:30am, we
will work in a group class setting on reducing your dog’s reactivity and
redirecting their anxiety with play!
Please feel free to log in and take a look at the class
descriptions as well as register now for your fall classes! http://www.supersaas.com/schedule/Proper_Paws_Dog_Training/Proper_Paws_Class_Signup
As always, if you have any questions please do not hesitate
to contact me. I hope to hear from you
soon!
