Mental Stimulation
A dog needs physical and mental exercise
You know physical exercise is vital for your dog’s welfare, but mental stimulation is just as important. Here’s a secret: you will never tire your high-energy dog out on your own. He will always be able to outpace you. But mental exercise will wear your dog out just as much as physical exercise, and is usually easier for you to implement. (Remember taking final exams in high school? After hours of testing, you probably wanted to go home and take a nap even though physically you were just sitting at a desk all day. Same principle) Here are some ideas for enriching your dog’s life and giving him some mental stimulation.
Walks:
If you have a high-energy dog, I’m sure you already take him on walks. Possibly several times a day! When you take him on these walks though, what are you focused on? Are you focused on speed, distance, and trying to wear your dog out? Or are you focused on what your dog wants to do? Stopping to smell the roses is actually very important and rewarding for you dog (and letting him stop and smell the roses is easier for you than jogging!)
Instead of running with your dog on a track or putting him on a treadmill, try taking him for a walk somewhere interesting with lots of things to smell. Exploring the neighborhood or the local park will be more enriching for your dog than running through it. Here’s a tip: if your dog drags you on walks, get a harness that clips in the front so that he can’t pull. Then walk slowly and make him do the same. Frenzied, fast-paced walks are more likely to rile him up further than wear him out.
Training:
Training your dog can be very challenging for him. It takes a lot of willpower to sit when he wants to chase after that cat. Of course you have to build up to this or you’ll be setting your dog up to fail. But if you’re stuck in the house, now’s the perfect time to train! It doesn’t have to be hard or arduous – you can always teach your dog fun tricks that serve no purpose whatsoever. The very act of training will tire your dog out as he figures out what you’re asking him to do. Pick up a positive reinforcement trick book and have fun!
Food toys:
This is my favorite because you can let your imagine go wild. There are many food puzzle toys you can buy for your dog, but it’s just as easy to make your own or give it your own creative twist. Hollow rubber toys called Kongs are really popular and they’ll keep your dog busy for a while, but it’s the toys that make your dog think that will really wear him out.
For example, my boys love their Kongs. Jaxon sticks his tongue as far down into it as it’ll go and tries to scoop the treats out, while Briar jumps up on the bed with his Kong, drops it on the floor, and eats the treats that bounce out. But they already know how to get the food; this isn’t hard for them. So I took their Kong, fed a string through it, and hung it from their kennel as a Kong piñata of sorts. That got them thinking. Briar kept trying to put his face in the Kong, but it kept swinging away. Jaxon batted the Kong with his paws to get it to swing until he finally (accidently, I think) broke the string. The Kong fell, the treats came out, and they ate them. Success!
Get Creative!
A muffin pan makes for a great makeshift puzzle toy. Put kibble or treats in the muffin holes and put balls on top. The dog has to pick up or move the balls in order to get his food. I put treats in a dog bowl, put the other dog bowl on top, and let them figure it out. You can take a plastic grape or berry container with the holes in it, fill it with kibble and attach it to a string, and make your dog chase it like a cat toy. Kibble falls out, your dog has a great time and gets exercise, win-win.
Snuffle mats are good because they stimulate natural foraging behavior for your dog. A snuffle mat is a mat with pockets and folds that you can hide kibble in. Or you can throw your dog’s kibble out in the yard and make him hunt for his breakfast. I threw my dogs’ breakfast in their play pen with all their toys and let them sniff and dig their breakfast out.
You can take an old magazine, hide pieces of kibble between the pages, and give them the whole thing. Jax likes to root through the pages, sniffing the kibble out, while Briar takes a less subtle approach and simply shreds the magazine. You can also take a folded blanket or towel and hide kibble in the folds. Briar loves to dig and tunnel, so this was his favorite!
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