It’s All In The Routine: Helping your dog deal with boredom is essential for a happy home life. Tweaking and changing your dog’s daily routine regularly encourages your dog to look forward to the day and exercises your dog’s mind. This encourages mental stimulation and stops boredom.
Exercise
For active dogs exercise is a must! Without exercise your active dog becomes bored, leading to destructive behaviours. Long walks, or a few shorter walks and runs (2- 3 times a day) will tire your pup/dog and help them to relax more during downtime at home. Ideally your dog would be able to explore off-lead however long leads or extendable dog leads are also great ways to allow your dog some freedom whilst still remaining in control.
Mental Stimulation
Some dogs need more. So extra mental stimulation is key! Socialising your puppy or dog by introducing them to new people, environments and other dogs benefits them hugely. Your puppy or dog will become less scared of the world around them by simply socialising through Doggy Daycare, a walk in the park, or weekly playdates with other doggy friends.
In store we often get asked “How do I help my dog to feel safe and secure whilst I’m out?” “How can I stop my dog chewing the furniture, whilst I am at work or out?” “Can I stop my dog barking whilst I am out?”
We have a range of interactive, intelligence and enrichment toys that can help keep your dog stimulated.
Strategy games are a must to banish the boredom. You can train your dog to find their treats, and they can be used whilst your dog is alone, for hours of tail wagging fun!
Kong toys to fill with Kong Pastes and Treats are simple and effective boredom busters. The Kong Goodie Bone and Kong Classics and Extreme are our best sellers.
A simple trick that we do whilst we are out is to hide their toys. This works our dog’s minds, preventing boredom whilst they go find them.
Ideally you should change up their toys often to ensure your dog is mentally stimulated. So do rotate your dog’s toy collection regularly.
Finally…
In the past most dogs were bred to complete tasks alongside humans. For example tasks like search and rescue, herding livestock, hunting and guarding a home were, and still are the norm for some breeds of dogs. Presently, most breeds are our companions who sit comfortably in front of the fire or on our laps.
However their instinct to work hasn’t disappeared, hence why they can become bored and suffer from negative behavioural problems. It is down to us owners to provide enriching activities and toys to prevent behavioural problems.
Here are a few more superb toys and chews to enrich your puppy and dog’s life!
