Daily exercise is vital for keeping your dog fit and healthy throughout their lives. But when the weather outside makes it difficult to safely get outdoors, owners will need to rely on different methods to ensure their dog is getting all the physical and mental stimulation they need.
So, we’ve rounded up some fun exercises and games you can try out with your dog the next time it’s too cold to head outdoors for their daily walkies. These should help to tire your dog out and prevent them getting bored and restless. After all, a tired dog is a happy dog!
Scent Games
Sniffing is an excellent form of mental stimulation. In fact, 15 minutes of sniffing is equivalent to an hour of physical exercise.
Here’s a few scent games for you to try:
- Whilst your dog is out of the room stash some tasty treats around it and then encourage your dog to use their nose and sniff them all out
- Scatter your dog’s food or some treats on a snuffle mat or place in a snuffle ball for your dog sniff out and enjoy
- Put some treats in one of your hands and place them both behind your back. Standing in front of your dog, bring your closed fists in front of them and get them to sniff your hands to work out which one is holding the treats. If they guess right, they get rewarded with a treat!
Hide and Seek
Tell your dog to sit in a room and go hide somewhere else in the house. Call your dog to come and let them try and find you. Make it even more fun by getting family members involved too!
Training
Training is another great form of mental stimulation, and a bad weather day is the perfect opportunity to brush up on some old skills or teach your dog a new trick like play dead, shake, speak or stand on their back legs.
After a good training session, you’ll find your dog will be wanting a good long sleep so they can recharge and get ready for more fun.
Create an obstacle course
You know all those empty boxes you’ve been meaning to put in the recycling box? They’re about to come in handy!
In a room or hallway with plenty of space, use the empty boxes plus pillows, sofa cushions and chairs to create a fun obstacle course for your dog attempt.
Puzzle Games
Interactive puzzle games are another great way to engage your dog’s brain and make them work for their food. You can get games of varying degrees of difficulty online to really test out their intelligence. Just remember to supervise them whilst they’re working the puzzle out and remove it if they start to get too frustrated.
Let us know if you try any of these fun indoor activities the next time it’s too cold to head outdoors. Got any fun games and activities you like to play with your dog? Share them with the Pawfit community by DMing us on social or emailing PawfitPals@Pawfit.com
