So angry at my dog. Advice? - Page 3

[number572]

A fun game of "catch the snack" entertains my dog (mental stimulation) as well as "find it" - just for some fun ideas that even your kids could do with Fergie.

Find It - have the dog sit in one spot, then let it sniff a certain toy, ball, etc. Then have the dog stay while you go hide the item in another room (start with easy to find spots so the dog has fun & doesn't get frustrated and give up on the game). Go back to the dog & say "find it!" At first its good to accompany the dog on her mission and repeat "find it!!" a few times and help her to find it if she needs help. My other dog could play this for hours, a lab).

Catch The Snack - My other dog would catch anything if was edible (or even inedible! lol, labradors...) so we played with veggies alot - the dog I have now would just let the snacks bounce right off of his nose then look at me like "wth, lady?!" until we tried using popcorn. He caught popcorn on the first try! I guess b'c its so lightweight that he can focus on it & then catch it - so you may need to try a few treats to see what works. I ask him to "sit" & show him the popcorn, then toss one piece to him. If he catches it I say "good!" etc. If he doesn't catch it, he doesn't get to eat it but I pick it up & he gets to try to catch it again.

Anyway, just two fun games that, as we played them today, I thought of your dilemma and thought your kids (or you) & Fergie may enjoy.

[number572]

And another one that he just loves is the peanut butter bone... some friends had gotten him this bone that originally was filled with something like a meaty filler - it was from an all natural pet shoppe and was some sort of meaty smelling stuff. Barf for me but the dogs loved it... something bacon-y... but the label said no colors, preservatives, all organic meats, not sure what was in them but they dug them for hours!

Anyway... since the original filler is long gone, I now take a spoon of natural peanut butter (careful if you use peanut butter not to use the types with sugars or salt added b'c dogs can get diahrhea (sp? sorry not about to google that word this early in the a.m.) or puke from it, not fun!) and "fill" the bone again, stuffing it down into the bone as far as possible. It take my pup hours to lick it all out & he adores his peanut butter bone time. Its so great too when I know I have an important client call or an in-house meeting, I know he'll be entertained for hours. Its not a daily thing but its very useful when you know you need them to chill for a few hours.

[GearGirl]

I have three kids and two dogs, and one in particular would escape whenever, the puppy seems to want to have me in his site, so not as much of a worry. I don't know if this can help you, but I would work on the kids as well. First the side door to the yard is ALWAYS open when we are home, and the yard is 100% fenced in with a new fence. The front door was replaced by us to be one of those dutch doors where the bottom stays closed and the top can be open. This seriously helps because my older ds, the one that would leave any and all doors open, is too lazy and crazy to even open it, so he basically flings himself over it to get outside. The back door stays closed, but I've fenced in the small back yard 100% as well, so if it is left open, the dogs can't get out. It was kind of a chore to add the new fencing, but it is also really relaxing to have no worries except I guess the front door, but mostly the kids don't use that.

As far as exercise, I don't even count the yard. It does nothing for my younger dog, he needs at least a mile walk plus playing in the morning, a shorter walk mid day, and another mile plus playing in the evening. This is the minimum for him.