Creative Time Consumers

[HersheysMom]

Just wanted to get a general idea of what everyone does to keep their dog from being bored. What are the more creative or extreme ideas people do for their dogs to stuff that's very simple but keeps a puppy occupied.

For example:
I like to walk Hershey all over our yard, we have a good size front yard and a dead end street so we walk up and down sometimes. I have to keep up very early for my job and he wakes up from my alarm most days so at 230, I take him outside and then he gets hyper on me, making it difficult to finish getting ready. To avoid having to put him back in the kennel and risk him waking up my husband (he cries louder when he knows for sure I'm around), I give him some treats, like some hot dog weanies that are way over cooked and rubbery or carrots and peanut butter (yuck! but he loves it!)

My pup's 9wks and has a very, very short attention span! His personality is starting to show more and more! He's great!

What do you guys do with your puppies?


And completely off subject, but this isn't addressed in FAQ, but why does my banner show up as a link!??!

[Kymcole25]

We use kongs for all of our dogs. But for puppies we get the Kongs made expecially for them. We normally fill them with treats, or kibble and a little peanut butter, sometimes yougert and then put them in the freezer for a little while. It keeps them busy for hours!

[Kade]

Ice cubes are a good time-waster for Winston. Another thing I've done in the past (not so much since it's so hot here now) is set up two pens together to make one long pen, and toss toys for him to go after. If I feel like watching TV or something, I'll just sit on the sofa, wait til he tires of one toy and comes over to look at me for the next toy, and toss another.

[KingdomOfFireflies]

A friend of mine who has two cockers uses a red laser light-pen and shines it all around the house/yard. She says her dogs really get exhausted chasing after the light; a cheap and easy way to give your dogs excersize! If I do recall correctly, they sell them at Petco

[Kymcole25]

Originally Posted by KingdomOfFireflies

A friend of mine who has two cockers uses a red laser light-pen and shines it all around the house/yard. She says her dogs really get exhausted chasing after the light; a cheap and easy way to give your dogs excersize! If I do recall correctly, they sell them at Petco

My cousin got his from CVS, for like $5.00!

[mulroony]

I have done the laser pen thing to and it is fun. If you have some older masking tape that does not stick well, what I do is put a small piece on Shelby's tail/back. Each piece keeps her busy for at least 10 minutes, but I have to watch and make sure she does not eat it. Normally she just gets it off, and it end up getting stuck to her foot creating more laughs.

Lots of walk and fetch and other play, but on of the more unique things I do.

[HersheysMom]

I heard yo uhave be careful with laser pens. I was watching the training show, sort of like reality tv, this mexican man in california who "reforms" dogs and parents, and there was one where the family used the laser pen so much on the dog, to play with him, it literally made the dog go nuts. He would walk around in circles everywhere he went, was paranoid all the time, would shake when being held...may be THE ONE extreme case but that was enough for me!

[chazzysmybaby]

I take my puppy to my neighbor's yard whenever her 1 1/2 year old cocker spaniel, Charles is there. They play together really well and it's great exercise, keeping them busy for a few hours at a time! My dog gets tired of his kong after about 10 minutes of playing with it. He seems to go find new toys every 20 minutes or something.

[HersheysMom]

Twenty minutes is all I want with my dog! Time to sweep without him attacking the broom, time to mop without him trying to lick it up, I can get the dishes out of the dishwasher without him jumping on top of the cover; I have to be creative to put his mind on something or I'm busier telling him NO and finding a toy than getting my housechores done!

I've heard that wrapping up washrags in a ball then freezing them are good, even not frozen is good too, I just wonder if anyone has done that and if so, what do you use to tie up those washrags? I would use a hairtye but I'm nervous he'll chew it off and eat it!

[Kade]

Once it's frozen, you can take the tie off and the rag will retain its shape (just get it wet before you freeze it). (Winston attacks the broom, too -- hates it!)

A new favorite of Winston's is empty plastic bottles. He can't get enough. You do have to watch carefully and remove them when the edges get too sharp, though. (And it's super loud -- not good when there's a sleeping husband nearby.)

And last night we bought him a Puppy Kong, with the treats in the ends -- that's good for at least ten minutes.

[chazzysmybaby]

Right now, Chazzy's favorite are cardboard and this little forum teddy bear. No matter how much he chews, he JUST can't get it to become a mess!

[okpik]

Originally Posted by Kade

Once it's frozen, you can take the tie off and the rag will retain its shape (just get it wet before you freeze it). (Winston attacks the broom, too -- hates it!)

A new favorite of Winston's is empty plastic bottles. He can't get enough. You do have to watch carefully and remove them when the edges get too sharp, though. (And it's super loud -- not good when there's a sleeping husband nearby.)

And last night we bought him a Puppy Kong, with the treats in the ends -- that's good for at least ten minutes.

My pups like the plastic bottles too.
So much so that I started finding my recycle bin empty and stuff all over the back yard. Had to build a cover for it to limit them to one at a time.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

The current favorite here is a few old bowling balls and bowling pins. My bullies just love rolling and throwing them around. lol

[mulroony]

My dogs LOVE to tear apart card board boxes. An empty beer case will keep them entertained for like half an hour, but it keeps me bent over cleaning up all the scraps. Oh well a lot easier to clean up then tug ropes, and a lot cheaper

[KingdomOfFireflies]

Oh lord my puppy loves those plastic bottles! Hahaha
She also enjoys frozen carrots --- though they leave a huge mess of orange scraps on the carpet