Bored Dog? Toy or activity solutions?
Hendrix seems bored, he'll bark when we don't play with him and paw us every time we sit and watch TV. We give him a good 30 minute walk every day, but being a pup I think he craves more activities and fun. Can anyone suggest something that will keep him active? A coworker suggested getting another dog, but we don't think we can take care of another dog right now. Luckily, my parents and his love Hendrix like a grandson and will watch him any time, we don't think they'll do it if we had 2 dogs. Any input is greatly appreciated! |
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| How about the giant sized Choobles bone from Petsmart? Keeps Chumley active for hours per day for days on end. She loves it and after gnawing away for 30 minutes plus, she gives a long deep sigh and takes a nap. |
| Hi there!
Fergie is now 5 months, toys are great for chewing, I have a kong for her. You put treats in the openings and it takes her hours to get at them, another thing we do is get marrow bones at any large food store or butchers. I put them in the microwave for about 5-10 min, then in refig to cool them. They chew on them for hours too. THEN when they are all cleaned out I put peanut butter in the center and freeze them. I give them this if we are going out and they don't even know we are gone, I use them 3-4 times before getting new ones . New teeth coming in , it"s great! Both are not expensive. $9.00 for a kong at any pet store and here the bones are about $1.50 a pound. Since we have 3 dogs I buy pks of 3 or more. Hope this helps. Let us know if you try any of my ways. Good Luck!  |
| We picked up a mini basketball for playtime outside only.
Bogart loves it! Chases it, herds it around. His signal that he is tired of us playing with him is to run up, take the ball back to the deck. It really gives him a good exercise program, in addition to his walks. Then, we bought a Merrick smoke flavored bone that seems to be big hit for chewing. We are lucky, he loves TV- especially sports. Baseball, football, basketball and he is glued to the TV like a true sports fan. Just before halftime, he knocks out flat on the floor exhausted! |
| Do you guys have a dog park you can take him to? For us, it makes all the difference in attitude for both of our dogs. Theey expend tons of energy and are nice and relaxed at home as long as we go a few times a week. The weather had been so nice that we'd been going nearly every day and when it rained for a couple of days and we couldn't go, wow, what a difference. They picked on each other constantly since they don't like to play with each other, but like to play together with other dogs. Go figure!
In understand the toy thing though. Clyde's the same way-- he NEEDS those stuffed toys to be happy. Does Hendrix do the thing where he runs up to you with the toy and shakes the heck out of it? I know that doesn't do much for the lives of the poor stuffies that we had to retire. Once when he ran out of stuffed ones, I gave him an old stuffed llama of mine and he shook it so hard that the head flew clean off! I tried the same thing because I too was tired of buying all the "disposable" toys and he didn't care much for the new ones. He pestered Lucy mercilessly and chewed her instead. I gave up and just buy him midgrade toys that last a week or 2. I've also found that if you bombard him with tons of toys, he only chews a little on each one, making it seem as though the toy lasts longer.  |
| The Nylabones for "powerful chewers" are exceptionally hard, and keep Mulligan very happy. We have several laying around the house for him to gnaw on.
Unlike our previous dog, this guy actually is interested in toys and such, and frequently picks up the bones and chews on them, and will bring us pull toys and the such, so the Nylabones for Powerful Chewers work out very well for us. Good luck! |
| Oh, also, Clyde and Lucy are huge fans of the Dingo rawhide bones. They'll be entertained for hours-- or at least the life of the bone. Lucy's faster than Clyde. They particularly like the double meat version. |
| Wow a tone of solutions!
Is ever bad to give your dog too many rawhide bones? Hendrix loves them, but I'd hate to cause stomach problems. The dog park idea is great, I just found one in the area, wish I would have found it in the summer. By the time I get off of work, get him and go to the park it's sunset and the place is closed. Maybe a couple walk arounds at Petsmart will do the trick in the winter, he loves that place! We have had Hendrix play around with Zeus a big Mastiff across the street and he loves that. It completly exhaustes him. But we can't depend on that every day. I think I'll have to use his kong more. Like any dog, he only likes playing with it if there's kong peanut butter inside, so maybe i'll have to do that more. Thanks for the butcher bone idea, that sounds right up his alley. The poor dog, all of my solutions for him involve food. I'm lucky he's not a big eater. I wish Hendrix liked fetching, we throw the ball and he just looks at us like, "why did you throw that all the way over there?" Maybe we should reward him more when he brings it back so he catches on. |
I know what you are going through!! Max gets bored too!! Every morning I take him on an hour long stroll through a wooded park near our house, he really loves it, but he still will have his moments after we are home. He loves chewing on the compressed rawhide bones and so far has not had any problems. I have been trying to get him to play fetch the ball in the backyard and sometimes he'll do that a few times, but then he'll get sidetracked with a tree or shrub, he'd rather be landscaping (i.e. chewing branches off my shrubs and trees)  good luck finding exciting things to do!! let me know if anything really gets Hendrix excited. |
| Bailey loves tennis balls. He'll run after them , but won't bring them back. And now he can fit two in his mouth at a time. So we need three to play - once he has two, I throw the third and he drops one to take off after it. He's a very complicated dog
Can't leave them in the house though because he chews right through them. He loves his kongs, his Dingo bones, Booda bimple bones. He likes his stuffed toys too, sometimes I have to just sew them back together. I also have this thing called an IQube which is a box that holds a bunch of squeaky balls. He's much faster at it now that he's older but getting all the balls out of the box is at least 15 minutes worth of fun. |
| I found this "thing" at Petsmart called a Groovy Stick. It says it is an activity toy, not intended for chewing. It is about 6" long with grooves in it and you can put kibble in the grooves. According to the directions, it it used for hide and seek or fetch. I found it on clearance and haven't used it yet as Sam still loves the toys she has (ok, sometimes I can think ahead of schedule...I do have an almost 9 year boy!!!).
She loves soft frisbees and tennis balls, definately a fetcher! I did get an I-cube, but the smaller version, she just runs around with the cube part. |
| Izzie isn't too interested in chasing tennis balls either, but she loves her soccer ball. We only play with it outside and it really tires her out. She even knows where it is in the garage and will sit in front of it until we play. When we are playing she kicks it around a bit herself...her favorite when she needs a break is to sit on it.
I don't know what we would do without the soccer ball. It really helps drain her last bits of energy. Amanda |
| PetSmart should have HOLEY TREAT BALLS...either in round or football shaped. I have two of them, and the dogs love it...you can stuff them with hotdogs, hard biscuts, chunks of whatever...big enough they can't fall through too easy. The dogs see it, smell it, and have to figure how to get it out.
Remy also loves raw bones, big marrow ones, and that keeps her satisfied but I don't like the mess on the hair after. Or Bully sticks are another favorite treat...(Bulls Penis)... We also use the Kong. And another way to tire them out is increase your walks, if he's old enough, 30 min may be fine for a quick trip, but I'd aim for closer to an hour per night. Off leash parks are great they expend alot more energy running off leash, and stay tired longer. Perhaps try a doggy daycare 1-2 days a week, where he gets to play with other dogs. Work through obedience lessons, make him think about things, equally tiring when they have to do a series of commands for 20 min or so. Do you have a close friend that has a dog Hendrix size...can you have puppy playdates on your days off, where you have her dog for a couple hours and vice versa. Provided the other dog likes Hendrix of course. |
| Thanks Daisie for the tips. We do have play dates about 3 times a week. I think I'm going to step up his walking routine, we aim for an hour a day, but usually fall short. I'm thinking of getting one of those harnasses that attach to a bike, so when you ride it the dog runs. We're looking into that now.
I will definitly step up his obedience and trick training. Good idea! |
| the toys with the treats inside are very good just make sure the toy is big enough so he doesnt swallow it . |
| Jill wrote Quote: Oh, also, Clyde and Lucy are huge fans of the Dingo rawhide bones. They'll be entertained for hours-- or at least the life of the bone. Lucy's faster than Clyde. They particularly like the double meat version
Apparently there is no dominance problem between the two. With Maggie and Barney, the only way they can each enjoy bones, rawhide or marrow, is in separate rooms. Maggie will simply walk over and take whatever Barney has and add it to her collection. Funny thing: by coincidence when my son and daughter in law moved in with me several years ago with their two dogs (Rufus a pointer, and Maggie also an OES) I gave each of them and my Collie a marrow bone. Maggie walked over to Laddie, growled at him, he got up and she took his bone, when did the same thing to Rufus. Then she proceeded to lay on their two bones and work on her own. I think its a female thing. |
| Lol. Lucy can't leave the bone if she wants to keep it. Clyde will take it just to taunt her-- even if they both have their own. He'll munch his for awhile but can't seem to let Lucy alone to enjoy hers. She usually ends up giving hers to him and taking his. She knows it's easier to relent! |
| Didn't notice how old your dog is, but when I had a litter of pups I never seemed to have enough toys to toss out in the yard for them to play with. They hard the hard balls, tennis balls, and on and on..........
One day I was throwing an empty gallon milk jug away.  I cleaned it out, dried it off, took the cap off so no one would swallow it and tossed it in the middle of the yard. They absolutely loved it!!! They'd sling it up in the air, throw it and then they'd all chase after it. One would grab it by the handle and take off running and the other 8 would chase after it. I let them keep it until it looked too chewed up, then tossed it in the trash. My adult dogs even played with them, but they chewed them up alot faster. So I started seeking toys in the same place dogs LOVE to go, in the trash can!
When I had pups my backyard looked like a mini dumpyard. Had several milk jugs, hard plastic containers, etc....... When I was with them I'd let them play with paper towel holders until they started getting wet, then off to something new. You'd be surprised what you'll find in your trash, that when cleaned up your dog will love playing with. Best of all, its free. When its destroyed, replace it with another. Recycled trash. |
The Gooch is like that too! Then we got Murphy to help....it's awesome! 
I know you didn't want to hear that!  |
| Activities like agility, flyball etc are great for both owner and dog, exercise, fun, training.... keeping a dog's mind as well as body occupied generally makes for a happier, healthier, well behaved dog.
This winter I'm going to try to train my 2 oes to pull a sled. Just for fun I've begun by training them to walk in tandem, and I think they'll do great at it, and it will be lots of fun for us.
I haven't had as much time for my dogs with going back to work, kids back to school, and the addition of Abby and now her puppies, so to keep my oes happier I've been playing a game with them every day when I get home. I get about ten toys that they pretty much know by name now and hide them all over the kitchen. Each toy has a treat on it...lol.... they find it and bring it to me and get another treat if they bring the right one that I've asked for by name. Dancer is very good at knowing the toys by name, but Sky seems better at sniffing them out. LOL |
ButtersStotch wrote: In understand the toy thing though. Clyde's the same way-- he NEEDS those stuffed toys to be happy. Does Hendrix do the thing where he runs up to you with the toy and shakes the heck out of it? Yes mine love their stuffed toys they do the same as Clyde. We have some toys that talk or make noises when they are pressed. we have great fun doing a sit wait while i hide the toy, then press it and tell them to go and find. - burns off lots of energy. (best played in the garden) could demolish the house with all that oes excitement. We also have soft balls for indoor play when it is raining that they love to catch in their mouth when we throw it. I have a book on "games with your dogs" I'll look it out and give you some more ideas. Chris Frodo and Smeagol |
| Wow! Theres a book with dog games in it! Thanks for all your help! It's going to be too cold to do a lot of outdoor games, so I'll have to get him prepared for inside fun. |
Quote: This winter I'm going to try to train my 2 oes to pull a sled.
Awwwww Stacey! That just brought back childhood memories for me! My very first sheepie, Raggs used to do that! My dad got a beautiful leather harness for him and trained him to pull the neighborhood kids on a sled, he LOVED it! When Dad would pull out the harness, Raggy would practically try to jump in it! Needless to say we used to have a line up of kids, waiting for their turn! That has got me thinking! OHOH!
The boys walk together very well! Maybe I should try that this winter! I'm just not sure I want ALL the kids over all the time! Does anyone know of a harness? Maybe I need to call Dad! I cannot imagine that he threw out Raggy's harness...now that would be cool! |
| hi
The book is called Fun and Games with your dog writen by Gerd Ludwig published by Barrons. just a couple of games for inside;- 1 Box game: While your pet is watching, place a treat or a toy into one of two small boxes that differ in size, structure, or color. Then move the boxes around and direct the dog to search for the object. At first, leave the boxes open or loosely covered; later, for dexterity training, use boxes that the dog has to open. 2 Barrier: In this game a ball is rolled through the gap under a wide board ( or a stretched out blanket) The dog cannot follow it directly, but has to go around the obstacle . Happy playing
Will post more games later. |
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