Things to do when you can't go for Walkies

You look at the clock then back at your dog. Their tag wagging in joy…. walkies time. You throw on a warm coat and get the leader from the hall way, only to realise its raining, heavily.

It’s all happened to us on some occasion, you know they need their walk but you know your pooch would rather have no treats for a week before going out in that rain! So what do you do? Well, next time is prepared with PetnPony’s: 5 things to do on a Rainy Day!

 No. 1: Sniff Games

1) Set up a bunch of upside-down cups next to each other and, without your dog seeing you hide it, place a small treat under one of the cups.

2) Next, encourage your dog to smell the cups and as he pauses at the one with the prize, lift up the box and congratulate him on his discovery. Let him eat the treat he found.

3) Soon, your dog will realise what's expected during this game and be excited to sniff out the prize.

BONUS: When your dog gets good at this game, add more boxes and more treats and see if he can find them all!

BUY NOW: Some Good treats?

No. 2: Stair Chase

1) Stand by your dog at the bottom of the stairs with favourite toy in hand.

2) Make sure your dog stays seated as you build tension and when you think you're dog is excited enough then...

3) Throw it! Yell "GO!" and watch your dog pound up the stairs to retrieve his favourite toy - make sure you encourage a slow return so their joints don't get damaged!

BONUS: Train them to walk slowly by having a small stash of treats to reward them for slowing down!

No. 3: Free Shaping

1) Place a box in the middle of the floor and sit back down inconspicuously with clicker in hand, reward any interaction with the box with the clicker starting with even a look towards the box.

2) Begin to be more specific with rewards, don't reward every look, this encourages your dog to discover more about the box and try new things which you can also then reward them for.

3) The end goal is to see how far your dog's own intuition can take them and see how clever they really are!

BONUS: Wait a week or so and place the same box down again see how you dog reacts, does he not remember it? does he do the last thing he did before? make notes and observe his behaviour!

No. 4: Teaching Toy Names

1) Teaching a dog the names of his toys can be a fun way to interact with them. First, only grab about two or three toys and line them up.

2) Point to a toy and say it's name (e.g Mr.Bunny) and reward you dog if they pick it up. Play with that toy for a little bit then place it back in the line up.

3) Repeat with all toys, if at any point you say a toys name and he goes to a different toy just say "no" and don't reward him if he comes to you with it.

4) When your dog has got the hang of it with pointing, stop pointing and just say the names and see if your dog can do it!

BONUS: Add more toys and even try name variations! (e.g Mr. Bunny, Bunny, Mr. Bun-Bun) and see if he still recognises the toy you want him to get.

BUY NOW: Want some cute toys for your dogs?

No. 5: KongBall

1) If you have a Kong ball fill it with your dogs favourite food and play football in your living room!

2) Kick the ball and let your dog chase after it if any food falls out let him gobble that up before running after the ball again

3) Once the food has run out, continue to play football! If your dog is no longer interested then refer to 1-4 😂

BONUS: Fill the ball with big and small treats, the big treats stop the small treats coming out as often and when your dog is tired of KongBall then they can just eat the yummy treats inside.

Enjoy this Article?

Check out our others at https://petnpony.co.uk/blogs/

Want to buy Pet supplies?

Checkout our store at https://petnpony.co.uk/