Chewing
and Boredom, Games for your Dog
Chewing is a normal stage of puppy behaviour,
don’t get a puppy if losing your best shoes and the
legs off your furniture is going to bother you. Their teeth
and gums hurt and they also like to experiment with new things.
A baby has a dummy or a teething ring, what does your dog
have?
If you have a young dog who is in the chewing
phase (and remember for some breeds that is a long time) don’t
leave it in a cage with nothing to do. A sterile environment
will drive your puppy mad and it could hurt itself chewing
the cage. If you use a cage it is a good idea to always reward
the dog for going in with a chew. Cages can be a very good
way of containing a puppy. Although rare, there are cases
of puppies being killed through chewing hazardous cleaning
chemicals or electric cables. Safety is paramount.
There is no point in having dozens of toys
out all over the house and expecting your dog to chew them
when you leave. If those toys are accessible all the time
then they are not very interesting when you are out. That
is the moment the dog will go and find all the different things
to chew up. It is better to have several toys out and every
few days swap them for some other ones and keep doing that.
Leave a chew or bone or a filled Kong. You can use an activity
ball or other type and fill it with treats.
If you use a specific treat, toy or bone to
amuse your dog when left, always remove it when you return.
Your dog will soon realise these special things only exist
when you are out. With limited access, they tend to appreciate
the toy or food more.
One of my favourite tricks is to give the
dog a chew or bone in a taped up cardboard box. The dog will
love chewing up the box to get at the treat and the whole
thing is much more rewarding than just a chew.
Make sure your dog is occupied and preferably
tired when you leave. Older dogs can chew out of boredom.
A walk before you go to work or even a good play in the garden
can tire them out. Some dogs like having a radio or tv left
on or an old shirt of yours with your smell.
Clever and working breeds like to learn things.
They need more mental exercise than physical. You can teach
most dogs some simple but fun games.
Dogs can learn the names of several toys,
some are better at this than others. Take a toy, let’s
say a rope and throw it, saying “fetch rope”.
Do this plenty of times. Then pick up another type of toy,
let’s say a ball and have one in each hand. Then letting
the dog see both, throw the rope and use the command “fetch
rope”. At some point throw the ball instead and say
nothing. If the dog gets it, just ignore it, throw the rope
and command again. Then start throwing both toys and make
a point of helping him or her to pick the rope. Once this
is reliable, you can start again using a different toy from
scratch. Dogs love working out which is the right toy and
it is more stimulating than just fetching the nearest toy.
In advance you can hide the one you intend to ask for to make
it more challenging.
Lots of dogs are good at scenting out things.
You can use this normal behaviour to make life more interesting
by hiding chews and treats around the house. Under cushions
or rugs or even spread a newspaper all over the floor, overlapping
the pages a little. Hide a treat underneath and watch your
dog trash the paper to get it and have great fun.
Another version of this is to get several
plastic plant pots. Just take one to start with and let your
dog see you put a treat underneath. Encourage the dog to turn
over the pot to get the treat. Some dogs pick this up immediately,
some use brute force and push the pot all over before realising
they have to flip it. Once the dog gets the idea, introduce
more pots and let the dog work out which one actually has
the food. If the dog gets too good, buy heavier pots! You
can also extend this for the dogs that need more work. Place
the pots in different places around the garden rather than
all together on the patio. Initially walk round with the dog,
pointing at the pots as you find them. If you have done the
original game properly the dog will realise that the pot means
check for a treat. Eventually you should be able to send the
dog off round the garden to find the pots and work out where
the treat is. Always pick the pot up and put them away afterwards.
The dog will lose interest if it keeps finding empty pots
when you are not playing.
You can play a sort of fetch the human game too. This is also
very useful if you are incredibly lazy! Get your partner to
stand just outside the room and tell the dog, “go find
X”. The idea is that “X” will call the dog
and praise it. You could teach the dog to bark or touch the
person with a paw. Once the dog gets the idea, get the person
to hide in a slightly more difficult place and not call the
dog and so on. Only when the dog is reliably searching for
the person can you swap people and names. The dog will enjoy
scenting around and listening for clues.
I am sure that if you use your imagination
you can think of lots of variations on this. Exercise, entertainment
and attention make a happy dog.
Debbie Connolly
Debbie can be contacted on www.safepets.co.uk
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