Saturday, April 5, 2014

E is for Exercise and Enrichment

Appropriate Exercise and Enrichment increases your dogs ability to focus. And who doesn't want a dog that can focus on what you are asking?!? :)

Exercise Wanted

Lack of appropriate outlets for energy makes it much harder for your dog to practice the behaviors you are training. So first, if your dog has been a couch potato, make sure to check with your veterinarian before you start an exercise program with your dog. The average dog will benefit from a minimum of two outings per day, usually an hour on one outing and a half hour on another. If you have an enclosed area (like a fenced-in yard) off-leash exercise is best as it allows your dog to monitor his own exercise (you of course should be out there enticing him into playing!), and scheduling play dates with friends' dogs can be a great way for your to dog to burn off energy. You can also take your dogs out jogging, roller blading, or bike riding if those are things that you enjoy. Just remember to start out with short distances and build up your dog's stamina for distance just like you would your own.

If you don't want to put the mileage on the pavement, don't forget about playing fetch and tug-o-war. Those are great activities for your dog to expend more energy than you :). And for those dogs that have orthopedic problems, swimming is always a great choice. Vito heartily supports swimming! There are also athletic dog sports that you can participate in - agility, flyball, disc competition, and more!

Vito and I participating in some fun agility.

Choosy Mothers Choose Enrichment

Dogs love to solve problems and they love to use their nose - enrichment food toys combine both these skills :). All animals enjoy spending time and effort in obtaining food, it fulfills their natural seeking instinct. So rather than give your dog its food in a bowl, give them a puzzle to solve instead. Offer your dog their dinner in a Kong, Buster Cube, or other food puzzle. Hide small containers of food around the house and teach your dog to go find them. Or better yet, take their bowl of food and toss it (the food) into the backyard so they have scavenge to find it. Sounds evil doesn't it? :)

A few of the food puzzles we have for our dogs.


You can check out two enrichment toy reviews I've posted:
Tug-a-Jug
Treatstik



What are your favorite activities to exercise your dog? Do you use food puzzles for enrichment? if so, which ones are your dog's favorite? We are always looking to add to our collection :).





14 comments:

  1. What I love more than anything is taking our dogs to a new place so I hope to do that this weekend. I love watching them explore.

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    1. new environments can be very stimulating :)

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  2. We occasionally do stuffed Kongs. I am all about enrichment for my dogs, even if it just a simple hike to see and smell something new.

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    1. We do a lot of Kongs here! They are a staple in the rotation :)

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  3. No dogs any more, I miss them. Nowadays I exercise by bowling twice a week. Visiting from A to Z.

    JO ON FOOD, MY TRAVELS AND A SCENT OF CHOCOLATE

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    1. Bowling is fun! We don't get to do it very often though :(

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  4. Hubby and I enjoy walking around old cemeteries, and we enjoy taking the dogs with us. Our foster dog has been going through heart worm treatment, but we've just been given the go-ahead to start taking him out for shirt outings to start building his stamina back up. I'm really looking forward to it. We're all happier when we get out and walk around.

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    1. Dogs are great motivators for us to exercise too aren't they? :) Heartworm treatment is no fun, hope he feels better soon!

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  5. Frisbee has always been a favorite in our house! New follower here. I'm stopping by from the "A to Z" challenge, and I look forward to visiting again.

    Sylvia
    http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for stopping!! We love a good game of frisbee but my dogs are still working on their catching skills :).

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  6. I've never heard of the food puzzle things before! Certainly interesting.

    I have a four month old puppy and we love to go walking with him - we lost our older dog at the beginning of the year, so we are learning how to bring a dog up from scratch again. It is great fun and we are all learning and enjoying. The house is empty without a dog in it. :)

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    1. Food puzzles are great to keep your dogs from getting bored while you are busy or away from the house :). They are a life saver here with new fosters. Puppies are so much fun - but so much work! :)

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  7. My two girls, Labradoodle and Golden Doodle, love the Kongs. Heidi will persist for ages to get the last tiny bit out of the thing whereas Trudy will give up easily and bring hers to me me, expecting that Mummy will help her.

    Tug of war and fetch are also favourite games. They will happily play tug of war together if we don't want to play with them.

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    1. Isn't it so funny how different dogs interact with the same things? Certainly shows their personality! We love tug-of-war at our house, it's one of the dog's favorites.

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