January 21st, 2011
By Eric Letendre
Here I am sitting in my house watching the snow falling at a very rapid rate.
I really don’t a mind some snow but this year we are getting nailed here in Western MA. The big problem is that after the last snow storm, it rained which put a thin sheet of ice over all the snow making it next to impossible to walk in.
Yesterday I was going to go for a walk with my pup but by the time I made it to the backyard I felt like I had run a marathon.
This can be a tough time of the year to exercise your dog.
As I was sitting here watching more snow dump on us, I decided to make a list of all the ways to exercise your dog inside and I am going to share it with you.
Dogs need physical AND mental exercise. I’ve included both in my list. Here you go:
Search and Rescue - Especially good if you have kids.
Tell your kids that you going to play a game with your dog. They have to go and hide somewhere in the house.
They have to be very quiet and let them know that their dog is going to rescue them. Hold your dog as they go hide.
Once they are hiding tell your dog “Find them” and let him go.
Your kids will love playing this game. Make sure you tell the kids to make a big deal when the dog finds them.
Find it - A variation of the above but done with toys.
Stuff a kong toy with some of your dog’s favorite treats right in front of her. Tell her to stay and go hide the toy. Once it is hidden release your dog from the stay command and tell her, “Find it.” As your dog gets good at this make it more and more difficult to find the toy.
Tug o war - One of my favorite games. Can be played in a very small area and really gives your dog a good work out.
Retrieve up stairs - This was a favorite for my Belgian Malinois, Suede. I would stand at the top of the stairs and drop a ball down them. He would run down, retrieve the ball and haul back up the stairs.
Ten minutes of this can wear out any dog.
Tricks - What better way to give your dog some mental stimulation than tricks. Teach your dog to roll over, sit pretty, shake and play dead. These are easy tricks to teach and it will tire your dog out.
Obedience - Another great way to mentally stimulate your dog when he is bored. Work on sit, down and stay. Start working on the time your dog does a stay and distractions.
Work on nagging behavior problems - What better time to finally put an end to those behavior problems you’ve been putting up with. Now is the time to teach your dog to stop barking on command. End begging at the table. Teach your dog to never steal anything off the table ever again.
Turn a snow day into a productive day with your dog and if you need help ending those pesky behavior problems check out the Good K9 Manners Course.
Good K9 Manners Course has videos showing you step by step how to stop annoying behavior problems. Use this course to change your dog’s behavior and for a short time I’ll even offer it at a special discount price.
Use this code to get the special price: 10-OFFK9MANNERS
All the best,
Eric
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training techniques that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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