Winter Activity for Dogs

When the weather outside has you and your pup stuck indoors, sometimes it can be difficult to keep them satisfied. If they are used to going for long walks, running and playing in the yard, going to the park or other fun outdoor activities then being cooped up inside can be tough. Now that the weather is preventing those activities, many owners have a wound up buddy, bouncing off the walls... sometimes driving them a little nuts. Fear NOT - there is hope to tame your cabin fever fido! Since we know many of our followers, family, friends and clients are struggling with bad weather, we accumulated a list of indoor activities to help you satisfy your pup in the house.
Obedience practice, Hide & Seek, Tricks, Body Awareness, Tug / Fetch, Treadmill
OBEDIENCE: Practice a few sessions of random obedience commands with your pup around the house. During a commercial break, have them practice a few speed drills around the room:
Sit, come, down, come, place, heel, etc.
HIDE & SEEK: This is such a fun game for the dogs AND humans involved and can have many twists. Your dog can find you, another family member, a favorite toy, some of their kibble or a treat. Start with easy distances and difficulties (possibly even showing them that you are hiding something at first until they get the idea). Have them on leash so you can easily guide and control them at first. Then pick a cue like "go find it" or "where is (name of person or toy)" and help lead them back to locate it a few times before challenging them to do it on their own. When they find it, celebrate and throw them a party - prasie and pet them, give them a treat or play with the toy for a minute or two before setting it up again. Once they get the hang of it, add some difficulty by placing it in tougher locations, farther away and offering them less "help". You can add variety and impulse control to the game by also adding in obedience commands such as sit, down and place. Put your dog into a command and then go hide yourself. Then tell the other person to hide or hide the item the dog is trying to find before releasing them to "find it/them" or calling them to "come find me".
TRICKS: If your dog knows some fun tricks, have them go through and practice them all with a few short sessions throughout the day.
Bad weather is a perfect time to teach your dog NEW tricks they don't already know as well. You can mix tricks with obedience as well to have your dog do more things in a session. Check out some of the doggie trick apps available, trick training programs or even free youtube video's to get ideas on new things to try or variations of tricks your dog already knows.
BODY AWARENESS: If your dog is a bit of a clutz, this can be a fun and practical one! Pick a few simple items from around your home such as : a step stool, tool box, bucket, chair, even your stairs can work for some fun. Have your dog try to put their paws onto the objects. Use your household stairs too. Challenge them to slowly walk up the stairs one step at a time - easier said than done for many exciteable pups. Add extra difficulty by trying to get them to walk backward up one or two steps.
TUG / FETCH: Lots of energetic and playful dogs who are cooped up right now from all the bad weather would love a game of tug-o-war or short distance fetch in the house. You can add extra brain challenges and difficulty by incorporating obedience commands into your dogs games too! Play for a few minutes, then interrupt the game for a few commands (sit, down, place) and then you can release your dog to go back to playing again and repeat a few times. Adding in some command practice is great for impulse control and draining your dogs mentally too.
TREADMILL: We use the treadmill in the house a lot for some of the dogs when the weather outside is frightful, for confidence building and challenging the dogs to try a new thing.
It offers a nice way for them to get some extra exercise without taking on the unforgiving outdoors. Some dogs take easily to learning to walk on the treadmill and others take a bit more time. We find it offers not only a physical outlet for the dogs, but can also be mentally tiring as they focus on staying centered and going the right pace. If your dog knows the treadmill and can use it, give them a little workout once or twice throughout the day mixed with other activities. If your dog is not familiar or comfortable with the treadmill, introducing it can be a new challenging activity and help drain your dogs energy. A few sessions learning to maneuver the treadmill can often times be just as tiring for a novice dog as walking for ten minutes or so with a dog who knows the treadmill.
There are so many things we can do with our dogs when we all get cooped up indoors from negative temperatures, sweltering heat or storms. Take advantage of some of the activities listed here and help your dog feel tired and satisfied, while giving yourself some peace and sanity from all that extra energy!