Let’s talk about crazy dogs, shall we?
You guys know me, so you know I say “crazy” with tremendous love in my heart.
I’m talking about dogs like Cooper: high-energy dogs, smart dogs, creative dogs who come up with their owns methods of entertainment when they’re under-exercised or under-stimulated…
Cooper runs. A lot. He does slow neighborhood wogs (walk + jog) with me, and he does long marathon-training runs with John. Yet… he wallops the cats, skitters around the furniture, barks his face off out the window, goes bonkers with his toys, and so on IF we skip a day.
And, honestly, sometimes we have to skip a day because, well, life.
Keeping a high-energy dog busy can be a real challenge, and it becomes even more difficult in cold, rainy, or snowy days when you just can’t get outside. With that season around the corner (OK, actually, it should be here… it’s December… why is it 60? #thanksclimatechange), I’ve revisited some past posts about indoor activities and thought it was time for a refresh.
When the weather doesn’t cooperate with outdoor fun, here are five DIY enrichment ideas you and your dog can do… indoors… to help keep that energy at bay!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This site uses affiliate links, which means I may make a tiny commission on products purchased through links clicked and at no extra cost to you. This helps keep us running, so thanks for your support in this way!
Muffin tin game
Fill the slots of a muffin tin with treats or your dog’s kibble. Place a tennis ball on top of the treats in each slot. Hint: Some active pups quickly learn to tip over the whole tray. If that happens–and you don’t want to clean up the mess each time–try the next game instead.
Paper towel tube puzzle
Stuff a treat in an empty paper towel tube. Crimp down the ends to trap the treat. Let your dog tear, shred, and pounce on the tube to get the treat. Hint: This one is great for cats, too.
Will work for food
Change the way you feed your dog breakfast. Engage his mind first thing in the morning! Rather than plunk it down in a bowl, make him work. If you have time, offer him one bite at a time in exchange for behaviors like sit or high five. If you don’t have time, divide the food among five or six bowls, and hide them around the house before you leave for work in the morning.
Nose work
Dogs love to use their noses. Hide treats around the house, first in obvious places, then with increasing difficulty. Make mealtime a job by combining it with nose work; hide your dog’s dinner around the house, and let him hunt his meal (kind of like above but without the caches in bowls… spread the pieces wayyyyy further). Or, use a snuffle mat like the Wooly pictured above!
Obedience rally
Get your dog thinking by running obedience cues around the house. Have him wait in one room, then call him from another. Practice sits and downs on the bed or work on long stays with distractions. Reward along the way! For dogs who need to blow off extra steam, run the drills up and down the stairs. One family member sits at the top and calls your pup. Ask for a basic cue, like sit, then another family member at the bottom calls and asks for another cue. The physical activity of running stairs, combined with the mental activity of obedience tires out even the rowdiest hound.
Remember, if you’re new at these types of games, your dog will need a little guidance and support at first. Help your pup as needed, and give lots of praise (and treats!) to encourage his efforts.
I had this awesome idea for tonight while Violet gets her bath–we’re going to combine two for an epic wear-out session: While I’m bathing her upstairs and John’s cooking dinner downstairs, we’re going to feed him his dinner by having him do obedience rally back and forth between us in exchange for bits of kibble. My guess? He’ll be asleep before Violet tonight!
If you have a high-energy dog, how do you wear him out? What tips and tricks can you share? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!
When I had my last cattle dog mix and it was summer in Arizona – I had to find a way to entertain her and help her burn off some energy otherwise my personal effects were at risk (this is a dog who at one point chewed away the bottom siding of my house outside, dug through not one but TWO mattress to the SPRINGS, chewed through drywall in the house, painstakingly pulled what was a tiny bit of feather comforter nearby INTO her crate and proceeded to destroy it). I considered the alternatives to not keeping her entertained worth playing wall ball in the house with her. I would get 2 or 3 racquetballs, clear off the wall of the living room, moved the coffee table and any other furniture that might be in the way, and would chuck the ball at the wall and she would catch it. She wasn’t great at bringing it back unless I already had another ball ready to go (hence the 2 or 3 balls – the 3rd ball was in case one ball went wild and was temporarily out of range). It was loud – but she loved it and so did I. My other dog, a more mellow dog, was annoyed by our playing in the house and if the ball happened to land near him, he would calmly reach over, put it in his mouth and chomp down as hard as he could to burst it (also a good reason for ball #3) and then it fall and look at us with victory in his eyes. I used to buy racquetballs 2 cans at a time so I always had back ups.
In case you are wondering – the ball never knocked anything over or caused any holes in the wall – so other than being a bit obnoxious – I highly recommend it. Sometimes I would mix it up a little by chucking the ball down the hall so she had to run a little further to retrieve it. I miss her. I had almost 14 great years with her. Blueberry is so calm in comparison, so my days of wall ball in the house are over for now…
WALL BALL!!! I love it!! I wrote about our version, Stair Ball, in a past post, but I think I’m going to pick up some racquetballs when I’m out doing some Christmas shopping and give this a whirl!! Thank you for sharing your genius indoor enrichment game!
With Ducky in the house, hubby and I get tuckered out before Ducky even takes a 2-minute break! But I push on anyway. Back in ’96 we turned our carport into a combo laundry room/office so it’s great for playing with Ducky’s Kong Bounzer. I stand at one end and toss the toy toward the other end. Ducky “fetches” it, brings it back to me, and I toss it again. We also do obedience work down there. And when I have work to do on the computer, we practice her “place” longevity. Shadow is happy to lay down on the kitchen floor and try to catch the tennis balls that I toss to her while sitting in my chair at my desk. (It’s only 3 steps from the kitchen to the carport room.)
I can’t give Ducky kibble because she inhales it and then “tosses” it 10 minutes later. I have to watch her closely sometimes even with her treats and canned food. o:)
Good job, Shadow!!! Cooper’s return rate is less than stellar so tennis ball chase from my desk hasn’t ever quite worked out… You’ve given us something to aspire to! 🙂
We have two dogs, so at breakfast and dinner we do this routine with one dog, while the other practices waiting calmly in his /her crate. Then we swap. We do about five minutes of training/games/PT exercises, then the “active” dog waits on a mat while we sprinkle kibbles throughout the whole house. For Mr. Countersurfer Obi, all the kibbles are on the floor (under beds, behind doors, in closets, etc), or (weather permitting) scattered widely across our back lawn. For non-counter-surfer Habi, kibbles may be up on a bed, balanced on dresser drawer pulls, under the cushions on a chair – it’s hard to stump her. I videoed her recently; at her advanced age (more-or-less 13) it took her almost seven minutes to find a cup-worth of kibbles. Obi’s faster indoors; the lawn game takes a lot more effort as I fling the kibbles far and wide. But the best is that they have to think hard as they’re searching, so they fall into a nice post-prandial stupor (think after Thanksgiving turkey somnolence).
Wall-ball sounds like a blast! And stair-ball would be great if we had stairs! Our dogs love the muffin tin game, but it takes them about 20 seconds to finish it. We’ll have to try the paper tube game. Thanks for the great ideas! And I hope Cooper loved his rally-up-and-down-the-stairs tonight!
That is AMAZING, Chris! What a fantastic routine that I’m sure keeps them happy and enriched. You’ve give me some ideas that I can’t wait to implement with Coop! Thank you so, so much for sharing your routine!
Perfect timing! We’re expecting several days of rain and while we take Honey off the boat at least 2x a day, it is always helpful to have some fun things to do on the boat. We do most of these but never an obedience rally. Quarters are tight but it sounds like something fun to try.
I bet you could come up with some super creative ways to rally in tight quarters!!
great tips these are super activities
Indoors it’s finding hidden treats, using toys stuffed with treats, obedience training, and maybe best of all: nail clipping!
Outdoors, the thing that drains her of the most energy is scent tracking. Very effective.
I love these ideas! I have six weeks of required training abut an hour and twenty minutes each way from my home. Although I have a dog walker that comes to take my four four-legged kids out three times a day, I can’t help but feel bad that I have to leave them for 12 hours a day five days a week. My husband has a job that takes him out of the country for up to 4-5 days at a time. I can’t wait to try some of these ideas to give my babies something to do while I’m gone.