The team at Petsnooze believe it’s not only important to physically exercise your dog but also mentally challenge your dog to. This can prevent behavioural issues and also provides a lot of enjoyment for your friend, by reducing boredom, mischief and chewing.
Below is the first 3 ways we believe can help.
1.Food Games for Dogs
In our previous blog we mentioned we play a game with our pet called “Where it gone, where it go” which is the command we use to initial the game.
By hiding several dog treats around a single area such as the living room or the kitchen, it provides mental stimulation whilst your dog sniffs them out and receives the food reward. When all the food has been eaten it’s useful to have an end command, which can be as simple as the word “end” or “end game”.
Alternatively we also like to use a food dispensing toy such as Interactive food toy. By putting your dog’s dry food in the toy you can make them work for the reward which they absolutely love. It also keeps you dog entertained for 15 minutes, whilst you catch-up with other jobs around the house.
2.Walk and sniff
You can increase your dog’s mental stimulation when on a walk by letting them sniff new and exciting smells. We find that taking your dog on slightly longer grass means that they will find more new smells.
Eventually you may find areas which your dog absolutely loves to sniff, and you can use the command “go sniff”, to let them on an area they like. If you are not comfortable with letting your dog “off lead” we would recommend going for an extender lead to ensure you are not getting dragged around the sniffing area.
3.Puzzle Toys
So to conclude part 1, another great way of keeping your dog stimulated and entertained is using puzzles. Interactive puzzles normally with sliding hatches or push levers to release the food, helps your dog focus attention.
Letting you dog use the puzzle for 10-15 minutes every other day can make a large difference in your dog’s behaviour and happiness. Dogs enjoy using their problem solving abilities by having fun with their puzzle toy.
Puzzle toys are not all made equal so as an alternative to a slide and push based puzzle toy, you could look to use filler style toy with frozen food inside. The challenge of getting the food out can keep your dog occupied for quite some time.
How do you mentally stimulate your dog?
We would love to hear how you mentally stimulate your dog, so he/she is ready to rest on their comfortable bed. Please email us with your ideas so we can share them with the community ideas@petsnooze.co.uk, the best ideas will receive a gift voucher to spend in our store.
Thanks
The Petsnooze Team