Boredom Busters, Ideas to Try at Home to Keep Your Dog Entertained

Make your pooch’s day by creating a fun doggy scavenger hunt!

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We understand that it is sometimes difficult to always keep your dog entertained, especially when living in a city! With Easter just around the corner, what better way to entertain your dog than an indoor scavenger hunt? Dogs are natural scavengers, so this fun game creates a challenge and plays on their instincts, allowing them to exercise their canine hunting skills, even when cooped up indoors!

Warm up by having your dog in sit-stay, and show him/her a healthy treat – our Coconut Chia Treats are full of chia seed goodness and work perfectly. Place the treat behind a chair and say ‘Find the treat’, or something similar and let your dog search for and retrieve their treat. Repeat as many times as necessary until your pooch gets the hang of it.

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Once your dog has grasped the game, pretend to hide treats all around the room, but in fact only hide one or two. Keep it simple for the first few times. After a while you can make things more advanced by hiding the treats in empty boxes or wrapping them in a doggy blanket to mask the smell. Empty herbal tea boxes or toilet rolls work well for this. As well as providing entertainment on a rainy day, this indoor scavenger hunt allows you to practice your commands with your furry friend. Add an extra level of fun to the game by incorporating some toys! Filling one of our Mojo Flavoured Treat Balls with a tasty treat and hiding it will create even more of a challenge once your dog sniffs it out! The oblong shape of the toy creates a random and unpredictable bounce that is sure to keep your pooch entertained for hours, with the added bonus of cleaning their teeth and maintaining their dental hygiene!

Simply begin the game with your chosen command and let your dog scour the room for the prizes. Be sure to praise your happy pooch when they find them! Happy scavenging!

 

 

Peaceful Living

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It’s a nice warm, sunny, breezy Saturday in England. You’re enjoying the relaxing weekend. No stress. No worries. Not a care in the world. Your pups are around the yard playing with toys and enjoying nature. You’re planning on having company soon. They should be arriving any time now.

**A car pulls into your drive**

BARK. BARK. BARK. BARK. BARK.

‘There they go again’ you say. The dogs go hysterical. They won’t stop barking. It’s almost ear piercing. Company has arrived. So what do you do? You try telling them to be quiet. So the dogs begin barking even louder. And so the games begin. BARK. Be quiet. BARK. Be quiet. BARK. The dogs win.

Adam, our in-house animal-behaviour consultant says dogs just want something to talk about. When your dog barks and you tell them to be quiet in a raised voice, they really think you’re barking with them and so they’ll bark even louder.

Quick fixes:

  1. Simply put, don’t communicate back in a raised voice.
  2. Gently say “quiet”. He will understand that you’ve heard him, and that will stop the barking.
  3. Try to distract the dog with a favorite toy to take their attention away from the fact that someone is arriving.

What are your tips and tricks? We’d love to learn more about our furry friends. Comment below.