Indoor boredom-busters for dogs?

[intheflow]

It's waaaaay too cold for the dogs to go out longer than necessary to do their necessary business. But my dogs are used to running for about an hour a day and Honey, the young'un, is especially buggy indoors. She's chasing the cats and tipping the trash - which she usually stays away from (or only engages in half-heartedly) when she gets out running.

Anyone have any indoor games to recommend for doggies? I have two games that I play with them, but both are short and involve food and others would be appreciated by both me and the dogs.

The first one I call "Hansel and Gretel." I put the dogs in the bedroom and sprinkle kibble throughout the house. Then I let them out and they search through the house for their "bread crumbs."

The second game is to put their cup-o-kibble for dinner in cardboard boxes (a box for each of them), and then fill the boxes with crumpled up newspaper. The dogs have to find their food through the paper. They love this game, and it's pretty hysterical seeing them with their heads buried in paper pushing boxes around the kitchen.

I used to play "Where's the squeaky toy?" with Bear, my older dog, when he was an only child, but that doesn't seem to be an option with the two of them because a) Bear knows the game and finds the squeaky before Honey, and b) Honey can't catch on to the point of the game because Bear always beats her to the punch.

So... what do you do with your dog(s) when it's too cold or rainy or snowy to go out?

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. My son's dog uses shoes. Preferably expensive work boots.

Although new leather jackets or carpet will do in a pinch.

[intheflow]

6. We just got her to stop eating those.

No backsliding allowed now!

[Voice for Peace]

2. I have cats, but know to beware of bored dogs, as they start overthinking everything.

[intheflow]

4. Heh, heh.

I just saw this up on my facebook feed this morning!

[Voice for Peace]

7. if you have stairs at home, I recommend getting the dogs to run up and down as many times as possibl

e.

[intheflow]

8. Single level, 820 square feet.

There are a lot of advantages to tiny house living, but actively entertaining bored doggies ain't one of them!

[Voice for Peace]

9. how about.. assuming they are agile.. play up and down on the chair game

up, down up down up down up down

[intheflow]

10. They do that on the couch all day already!

[TorchTheWitch]

11. since you don't have an indoor staircase

I'd find a relatively steep hill nearby or flight of steps and run them up and down outside despite the weather. If they're exercising hard they won't be bothered by the cold for a few minutes, and a steep hill or staircase run pretty much poops them out after only a few minutes as long as you keep them going.

What size dogs are these? If they're fairly small you can just play fetch with them and keep them running up and down a hallway or the longest stretch of the biggest room. You could probably even do that with a larger sized dog as long as you get a good rhythm going and can keep them continually running. Takes a lot longer to poop them out without an uphill grade though.

Other than that, if you have some extra money you might want to look into buying a good used treadmill for them to use. Man, it's a shame you don't live near me. The fitness center next door is always throwing out perfectly usable equipment and replacing them with new stuff instead of just fixing something minor like a tear in the seat of a stationary bike or little things like that. Every couple of months or so some good piece of equipment gets pitched next to one of their trash dumpsters out back to be thrown away. Just recently they threw away a nice sofa they must have had in a lounge area but before anyone could snag it it got rained and snowed on. A month or two before that they threw away a perfectly good rowing machine that one of my neighbor's snagged and has it in his basement to use. He's still beside himself with glee for that great find, and all it needed was a couple of squirts of oil here and there. Several of the neighbors are waiting for the next stair stepper to get pitched out... there's going to be a mad race to see who nabs that one. LOL!

[intheflow]

12. We live in a tiny town on the plains.

Our city hall doesn't even have a staircase, it's only slightly larger than our house. Our streets are all flat, flat, flat. And we definitely don't have room for a treadmill. Even one that folded for storage. The running up and the hallway would be viable if our hallway was carpeted, but as it is, the linoleum is too slippery and could cause some serious wipeouts. The dogs are large: 55 and 70, respectively.

[Scuba]

3. Your games are both good ones, occupying their minds while letting them burn energy ...

... especially the 'Hansel and Gretel" game. Exercising their minds is as important as exercising their bodies, so fetching or carrying an old sock around, the "sit, lay, roll-over" or similar mind-challenging games, and such, are great for dogs.

You might also consider toys that hold a kibble inside that is hard to get out.

[intheflow]

5. I'm trying to avoid going out on my one day off this week

to buy some puzzle toys, like you suggest. I found some websites that suggest making your own from plastic bottles, but Honey has been known to ingest plastic bits from toys and I don't want her learning that plastic bottles are good toys. The only toys she gets now are cotton plush toys, which she mouths but doesn't eat, not even to get the squeaker out. My other dog won't touch plastic and rubber toys, so I can't even give him a Kong with treats. They also get a lot of bones, but even bones become boring on these long, cold, indoor days.

[hobbit709]

13. Marcy doesn't seem to be bothered by wet and cold.

She'll go outside in the cold rain and play in the yard until she decides to warm up. That can be up to an hour. Since there's a doggie door, she can come and go anytime she wants.

[intheflow]

15. We also have a dog door,

which is great for them most days. But you have to realize, this is an extreme cold event. It's not like a rainy day. It's -5 at my house right now. There is no going out unless absolutely necessary. The dogs are peeing in record times!

[wildeyed]

14. Have you tried clicker training?

I do that with my young Border Collie when he is getting antsy. Even if he is getting enough (ok, never enough according to him) physical exercise, he still need the mental challenge. He knows a bunch of cute tricks in addition to the regular sit/down/stay. Her is a list of ideas.

http://www.doggiebuddy.com/topics/Trainingtopics/traintopic3.html

[intheflow]

16. I tried clicker training with my older dog when he was an only pup.

He showed promise but I could never get the hang of when to click. My clicker hand coordination was always either too fast or too slow. It just ended up confusing us both.

[japple]

17. My 13 yr. terrier mix likes the laser. I didn't even think she might be interested

until she saw the cats going after the red dot. When I moved it around her feet, she got really excited and started going after it.

[intheflow]

18. That's a good idea.

I think we have one of those lying around. I should dig it up and give it a try. Thanks!

[orleans]

19. well, when i had dogs one of the things we could do was cuddle on bad days

doing tricks
throwing toys
sometimes i'd run thru the living room and get chased
sometimes i'd laugh hysterically as they ripped back and forth around the living room just to wear off some excess energy

i'd tell the dogs stories, sometimes using their toys as props and characters. sometimes they thought i was crazy, sometimes they appeared to enjoy the stories. or at least the way i told them.

my last little furkid loved to eat snow. maybe bring a snowball or two in the house and see what they think?