With COVID-19 quarantines now in full swing in many places, a lot of us are looking or ways to fill our time when we aren’t working or trying to keep our businesses afloat.
One of the best ways of spending any extra spare time you may have is undoubtedly in the pursuit of keeping your four-legged friend happy and entertained because you know he’ll be getting bored and restless with the situation too. With that in mind, here are a few fun things to do with your dog.
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Play hide and find the treat
It’s amazing how much fun you can have hiding tasty treats around your home and then letting your dog go search for them. They’ll have even more fun following the scent trail and seeing what you’ve hidden for them, and more importantly, they’ll be using both their body and mind, which will help to keep them fit and healthy. It’s also a great way to tire them out when they maybe can’t get outside quite so often.
Play hide and seek
If you want to get even more involved in the game, instead of hiding tasty treats, you can actually play the traditional version of hide and seek too. You may have to persevere until they get the idea, but it is possible to teach your dog to either hide so you can find them or come and find you or a family member who is hiding, and it’s so much fun.
Tug of war
Tug of war might be more fun when you play it out in the open, but it’s a game that you can still enjoy indoors and if you have a Labrador Retriever dog breed, they particularly love this one. If you play it right and take ti seriously, you could even get a good arm workout from pulling a strong rope with your dog!
Play the cup game
If your dog is motivated by treats, and which dog isn’t, you can have a lot of fun by playing three cups upside down on the ground. Hide a tasty tidbit underneath one of the cups and then rearrange them on the floor. Your dog’s task will be to sniff out the treat and choose the right cup. His reward? Getting to eat whatever’s in there of course!
Stuff a Kong
Stuffing a Kong dog toy with peanut butter or spray cheese, ort whatever most appeals to your dog, is a great way to keep him busy because you know he’ll have to work for that tasty treat! It’ll also be a lot of fun for you because you get to watch him pawing at that thing, chewing away, trying to crack the secret, and it’ll be so entertaining. You might want to have your phone at the ready so you can film the whole darn show!
Play fetch
Playing fetch is an activity strictly for the dog park, right? Not necessarily. If you happen to have a lightweight ball lying around and even a little space to move around in, you can have a lot of fun throwing the ball to your dog and having him bring it back to you.
Learn doggy dancing
If being cooped up is getting your down and causing you to be less fit than you would like, why not learn how to dance…with your dog. Yes, doggy dancing is a very real and serious thing — there are even competitions for it — and what could be cuter than learning the routine to Greased Lighting or recreating THAT scene from Dirty Dancing with your doggy? Nothing — that’s what!
Which hand?
This is basically the cup game, but instead of cups, you hide the tasty morsel in one of your hands and have your dog take a guess. It’ll fill a few minutes.
Puzzle toys
Jigsaws and crossword puzzles are a fantastic way for humans to kill an hour or two, but why shouldn’t your furry friend get in on the action? You might be surprised to find that there are lots of neat puzzle toys for dogs — most of which involve treats in one form or another— which will test their intellect to the max. You’ll finally get to see just how intelligent your pup really is!
Train a puppy Picasso
Okay, so you’re probably only going to want to do this in the garden, but if you aren’t worried about getting messy and your dog doesn’t mind taking a bath, what could be more fun than laying out a sheet of paper, letting your dog get his paws into some paint, and seeing what masterpieces he comes up with. I mean, you can actually sell that stuff. It’s so much fun.
Groom your dog
Coronavirus cuts aren’t just for humans, so when you’re done shaving your head or trimming your bangs, why not see how well you fare at grooming your dog too? I mean it can’t be any worse than your cut, right? Anyway, dogs aren’t particularly known for their vanity, so it’ll be fine!
Teach your dog to do chores
Now that you’re playing all of these games with your poet pooch, your home is going to look really messy, right? Not necessarily — not if you teach your dog how to clear away all of his own toys anyway. You can fo that? Yep, and it’s something that every dog owner should try. Yes, it may take a little time and some persistent instruction from you, but it’ll be worth it when you have a tidier home and a neat way of keeping your dog busy. Oh, and it doesn’t just have to be his toys either – you can teach him to bring you the morning paper, put your socks in the washer… or anything really. Just make sure he’s well rewarded for his efforts!
TL;DR
Spending time with your dog is bever time wasted and if you incorporate a few of these activities into the mix, it’s sure to be a whole lot of fun for you too.
