Hundreds and thousands of people are stuck at home right now, it’s a scary time. But your dogs don’t know what’s going on. They’re sitting there looking at you like “hey play with me!”. You might be wondering, how do I keep my dog entertained in quarantine? Well, lucky for you we’ve put together a few things you can do at home with FIDO to keep them in good mental and physical shape!
Practicing Commands
Chances are you probably taught your dog quite a few commands when they were a puppy. So, how often do you practice all those commands? I remember my dog Bono used to do every trick he new when the treats would come out, probably in an effort to speed up the process. Believe it or not spending 30 minutes or so going through your dogs repertoire of tricks helps to wear them out mentally. It’s been said to be equal to physical exercise of the same amount of time.
Nose Games
If your dogs love treats this might work well for you. By hiding treats or some of their favorite foods around the house you can then encourage them to use their nose to find the scent. Dogs have a super keen sense of smell so you might be surprised how easy this is for them. Alternatively you can play that good ole ‘pick a hand’ game so they can guess which hand contains the treat.
Dog Yoga
Right now a lot of people are broadcasting free live classes online and this includes us. We are offering a FREE dog yoga class each week on our Facebook. These classes are created specifically to build strength and balance for dogs of all ages. If you don’t have a dog, don’t worry, you can give it a whirl with your cat. No promises they’ll cooperate, but you never know.
Puzzle Games
Puzzle toys have become very popular in the last few years. They come in all shapes, sizes and difficulty levels. The idea is that you put treats or kibble inside and your pup has to solve some sort of puzzle to get the treats out. This could be just rotating a ball a certain way until it falls out or moving pieces around until the line up. You can buy these games online for relatively cheap and have them shipped to your door.
Walks
While during this crises we want to make sure outside time is minimal it doesn’t mean you can’t go out at all. As long as you live in an area where you can walk outside with seeing other people it’s great to get out and get some fresh air and sunshine. Just make
sure you socially distance at all costs! If you can’t or don’t want to venture out for a walk you could also play fetch with your dogs outside in the back yard. This way they’re still getting some sunshine but there’s no possibility of running into others.
So now that you have a few tips you should have the answer to your burning question: “how do I keep my dog entertained during quarantine?” Listen, if all else fails you can’t go wrong with a nap. There’s always tomorrow, right?
