Keep Your Dog Busy And Active, Keep your dog busy

Dogpawfile.com

Dogs are very intelligent animals and they thrive in environments where they have a lot to do. Dogs in the city are often forced to spend long periods of idle time. "In ancient times," the dogs lived on the property of the country and spent their days exploring the grounds pilfering compost, trotting after the tractor, rounding up the cattle, playing with children, and take a nap in the shade of an oak tree. The average urban dog experiences a very different reality: after 7-8 hours of sleep, they get a short morning walk around the block to remove, followed by a healthy breakfast served in a bowl. The dog then lies dormant while the owner prepares for his / her day, take a long nap on the bed until the dog walker arrives in mid-day for a 30-minute walk on a leash in the park, followed by a nap in the afternoon until the owner comes home. The lucky dog will spend another 30 minutes walk with the owner of the neighborhood, maybe share a quick game of fetch in the hallway, dinner and a cuddle on the couch watching TV with the owner before bed.

Keep your dog busy

Dogs couch potatoes will love this sedentary lifestyle, but most dogs, if given the choice, I want to be active! In fact, some dogs can not hack the cushy life at all and instead city, drive their owners crazy, running around the house, pulling the pillows and dig up the flowers. Why do dogs have so much energy?

Most dog breeds were developed to perform specific tasks for people, such as guarding, herding or hunting; work that requires physical stamina and mental focus. When we choose to open our home to a dog, it becomes our responsibility to meet the behavioral needs of this dog by providing appropriate outlets for his physical and mental energy.

"No Pain, No Gain"

A tired dog is usually a good dog! Dogs need exercise. The average dog has at least two outlets per day. If left to their own devices, dogs tend to be more active morning and evening, choosing to sleep at noon. Off-leash exercise is best, provided the dog is trained not to run away or to obtain other forms of unrest. Be off leash allows the dog to monitor its own performance - it can work when he wants to rest and when it is needed. This is especially important for puppies because their growth plates have not yet closed and too much exercise can lead to orthopedic problems that afflict the dog the rest of his life.

The widest exercise should be the morning after a good night's sleep. If you wait until the night you forced the dog to stay sedentary all night and all day, which is asking a lot. This is especially true if you plan to leave the dog alone all day. A medium-sized dog, a terrier to a retriever, expected to be out for 45-60 minutes in the morning and at least 30-45 minutes in the evening.

The intense aerobic exercise is best for dogs healthy, physically sound. If your dog is a couch potato, check with your veterinarian before starting any exercise program with your dog. Off leash to run and play with other dogs, your dog's physical exertion and social contact with others of its species. If you plan to frequent city dog runs, your dog must have impeccable manners with other dogs and with people. Adult dogs are not always as enclosure near a dog race and are more likely to behave aggressively, especially if there are young unruly dogs present.

Even dogs with orthopedic need exercise managed to keep the muscles strong so they can support weak bones and joints. Swimming is a great exercise for any dog​​, but is especially beneficial for unhealthy dogs, such as those with hip dysplasia.

Owners with high energy dogs can enjoy their dogs, including in their own exercise programs, like running, rollerblading or biking. Sustained run like this is a wonderful way to spend excess energy and keep a dog in shape, but just like people, it is crucial to establish your dog's stamina for distance . Make sure you give your dog the opportunity to urinate and defecate before you go, especially if you have over the lead. Keep in mind that dogs do not cool as effectively as people - they pant rather than sweat. If you need your dog run to keep with you, make sure it has many opportunities to dive into the water. This allows rapid cooling.

Every morning, my dogs run while I ride my bike. I ride a bike path along a river for every few minutes, the dogs take a quick dip. When it is hot, they even dunk his head underwater! As long as they can keep it moist, my dogs are able to run for several miles, even in summer heat waves.

Training a dog to run beside you while you skate or bike can be a bit challenging, especially if your dog likes to hunt rabbits or squirrels. Your dog should be taught that it is unacceptable to hunt animals during exercise with you. Some dogs can learn this only on a regular collar, while others need to wear a training collar such as a choke collar or pinch, to ensure the safety of everyone. There are attachments for bicycles parts to prevent the dog from hitting the bike. A strong feature lets called Springer, is attached to the bike frame and the dog is connected to the bar. These are available in some pet stores and websites pet supplies.

For reluctant to exercise themselves own, fetch games are great, but take care if your dog likes to catch the air to go after a Frisbee or a ball. They often land difficult and if this happens enough, it can cause long term damage to bones and joints. Another option is the doggie treadmill. For a few thousand dollars, you can have the latest exercise equipment to dog! From what I've heard, if properly trained, dogs like to run on treadmills. I also heard owners train their dogs to run on their own treadmills designed for humans. Often, these treadmills have been gathering dust in the basement for years.

"Will Work for Food"

They say that if people do not use their brain cells begin to deteriorate. I have no reason to assume that all dogs are different. Dogs love to solve problems, especially those involving food.

Food toys are a great way to enrich the world with your dog. All animals love to spend time and effort getting food. In fact, it has been shown that, if given the choice between free food and food that requires work, such as research or manipulation of objects, animals prefer to work for their food. For example, squirrels prefer to give peanuts in the shell than those already peeled. So instead of giving your dog food in a bowl, free, give it a puzzle to solve. Give the dog his dinner in a Kong, a ship Goodies, or a Buster Cube (see below for detailed instructions). Hide small containers of food around the house and release to go find them. Take his food bowl and mix the dry food in the yard so he must sniff the grass to find the pieces of kibble.

Training is a great way to stimulate the brain of a dog. In general dogs love to learn and even old dogs can learn new tricks. Ways you can practice basic obedience, learning parlor tricks, or set up some obstacles in your yard so your dog can show his agility. Short sessions of 5-10 minutes once or twice a day is best. Keep it light and fun for the dog (and you!) Using food, games, and lots of praise and enthusiasm.

If you want a more formal stimulation, try agility or flyball training. The sport of agility is to teach the dog to jump, climb, and weave through obstacles. Most dogs like to use their body and they like to "play" with their owners, so agility is especially popular among dogs. A well trained dog agility responds to various commands, including turning right, left, go forward, turning back, sit, down and stay. Flyball is a relay race between teams of dogs - one at a time, dogs of a team will race on a set of small jumps in a special box that, when triggered by the dog, releases a ball tennis gear. The dog catches the ball and goes back on the jumps to the owner. The first team with four dogs across the finish line, each with a ball, wins! Flyball is a very noisy activity because most dogs tend to encourage their teammates on frantic barking. Serious flyball competitors are quite loud as well and tend to resemble hockey moms or dads football!

In addition to obedience, agility and flyball, there are endless activities for owners and their dogs, such as monitoring, search and rescue, pet therapy, clicker training, freestyle, and so on.

How to stuff food toys

The Kong: Mix dog kibble with a few treats and something sticky, like Cheese Whiz, peanut butter or canned dog food. Fill the Kong completely with this mixture and place in the freezer. Frozen is more difficult for the dog to get out and it's less messy for your floors. Some dogs lick the Kong until it is empty; Other dogs will learn to throw around so that bits of food fall. The average dog takes about 20-30 minutes to empty a Kong. The Kong can be cleaned in the dishwasher (no detergent is needed).

The ship Goodie: Use any wet treat things in shapes with cookie Goodie ship. There are different sizes and shapes of the ship. Goodie vessels can be cleaned in the dishwasher (no detergent). Dogs seem to prefer the ball average ship, perhaps because the toy is in the mouth so that the dog can use a lot of force to crush and get food.