Indoor games

[avlsarah]

What are some of your furry friends' favorite rainy day, indoor games or activities? Any favorite toys that keep them on their toes and help use up energy on days when you can't play outside?

My little one gets bored pretty quickly, and some of his favorite activities (like chase the cat) aren't always acceptable. A good walk or romp in the dog park helps to use up the energy but, unfortunately, we can't always get outside. Then the energy builds up and Max turns into Destructo-dog. At times when he's gotten particularly wound up, he's had to go into solitary confinement / the sensory deprivation chamber (aka the play pen) which usually calms him down, but it really isn't a good solution to the problem as the energy doesn't get expended.

[bradl]

Our guys seem to love the "taking it apart" toys: hide-a-bird, hide-a-squirrel, Intelli-Cube, some ball that's velcroed together with segments like an orange. Any puzzle toy is good - you'd be surprised how much mental work tires them out. Which leads to...

Obedience training. Learning tricks. Expending mental energy is very effective at wearing them out.

If you happen to have a "ball dog" you can exercise that obsession until they drop from exhaustion. More likely YOU will drop from exhaustion.

[kintra]

Totally agree with everything Brad mentioned.

In addition, my Cairn loves to play fetch on the stairs. We have a door at the top of the stairs that I close, then I stand at the bottom with two toys and throw one up to the top of the stairs (about 11 or 12 steps). Zach then has to run up the stairs, get the toy, and bring it back down to me. I take it from him, make him do some sort of command (typically sit or down) then throw the other toy and we just keep repeating the process. He refuses to play fetch on any flat surface though.

[beccadiane374]

I live in Missouri & it has been rainy since Tuesday & rain is predicted at least until next Wednesday!!!!! I think Tanner & I shall go insane!!

I purchased a puzzle toy that is a stuffed "orbit", I believe it's called. Anyhow, it came with 4 cloth balls w/squeakers inside, and although he's not really interested in the puzzle part of the toy, he LOVES the balls that came with it. He chases them & tries to get more than one in his mouth at a time, which he can't do. The problem is when he gets them under the couch or some other piece of furniture & then he goes crazy trying to get to them. He loves to play fetch, too (no stairs, unfortunately). But his favorite is for me to just chase him around the house. I don't do this often, b/c well...I prefer not to run in my house, but to prevent the stir crazy, destroy everything he can get his paws/teeth on episodes, I will engage him in this game during this long rainy spell. It pretty much involves him running full speed in circles around the house & me chasing him. Sadly, I wear out much sooner than he does!! We also do a little bit of extra work/practice on his tricks & behavioral commands. I've found that if I make him work on his sit and/or down & STAY, that the "staying" seems to take a lot of concentration & focus on his part.

Since it appears that we may be cooped up inside for awhile though, I, too, would appreciate any further ideas/suggestions.

[kevlor7]

Hey Becky, where are you in Missouri? That's where Lucy and I live.

[beccadiane374]

Lorri~We're in the St. Louis area. How about you?

[kevlor7]

We are in Springfield MO.........about 3 hours away from you. Dang! Wish you were closer, we could have a play date. It's still nice to know that you're relatively close............you never know when we may be in that area.

[wellygoggles]

An empty 1 litre plastic milk container plus wooden floors kept Fergus interested for ages when he was smaller cos he couldn't get his mouth around it so would push it all over the room with his nose!

[Nikki]

i put the dogs on the treadmill when they have too much energy

I have this huge plastic cup that I usually put coins in scotty likes to push it around with nose...its like hours in entertainment

we also pass alot!!

[rtherapy60]

Well, I think those of us in Missouri should start building an Ark as a project. I think it could float in our back yard today for sure.

[beccadiane374]

"We are in Springfield MO.........about 3 hours away from you. Dang! Wish you were closer, we could have a play date. It's still nice to know that you're relatively close............you never know when we may be in that area. "

(unsure how to quote )

That's too bad...Tanner's never met a cairn...he'd probably greatly enjoy it! Maybe someday......

"Well, I think those of us in Missouri should start building an Ark as a project. I think it could float in our back yard today for sure."

I'm with you there...although in our area, we HAPPILY had a rain-free Saturday. Of course, it started again on Sunday.

[bradl]

(unsure how to quote )

Oddly enough: Forum Support -> How to quote

[beccadiane374]

Oddly enough: Forum Support -> How to quote

I think I've got it, maybe...I tried it a couple times, but was apparently hitting the "quote" key for the post above the one I was trying to quote. Thanks.

[Jetti]

Hi there,

I am feeling very stupid but would like to know what a puzzle for dogs is. Like Brad mentioned; things they

can take apart. Where can you buy them?? Have tried to find something on the Internet but really, I don

[bradl]

SitStay has a whole department for puzzle toys: Category - Puzzlers

Amazon.com carries a lot of toys, also.

[cairnsby3]

Becky,

Not a rainey day activity, but you should check out the activities at Purina Farms put on by the Missouri Earthdogs (just google that). They have fun days, and all kinds of terrier activities. Sometimes there are other Cairns there too. YOu and Tanner would have a blast. I live in Springfield, IL and I come down to some of their events, I also come down to several agility trials, those are mostly at the National Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis.

[debo716]

SitStay has a whole department for puzzle toys: Category - Puzzlers

Amazon.com carries a lot of toys, also.

We have the Hide-A-Squirrel from that website and Wallace loves it! He likes to toss the squirrels around once he gets them out. Wallace also likes cardboard boxes of any size and shape.

[eastofeden]

The Leo & Mike toys from K-9 Genius are also very good....(I admit to feeding meals occasionally in these toys...it slows down my fast eater and it sure is fun to watch them work them) to keep them occupied. What is nice is you can modify the configuration of these toys to increase the difficulty. I just got the Mike toy...so have been using a Leo and Mike combo of late.

I think I have seen them mentioned here before....here is the company website:

http://www.caninegenius.com/

[beccadiane374]

Becky,

Not a rainey day activity, but you should check out the activities at Purina Farms put on by the Missouri Earthdogs (just google that). They have fun days, and all kinds of terrier activities. Sometimes there are other Cairns there too. YOu and Tanner would have a blast.

Ahh...thank you so much!!! I would never have thought of that!!! I will definitely have to look into it! (Tanner thanks you, too! )

[Jetti]

Thank you Brad for the SitStay address - unfortunately the shipping costs are prohibitive

[avlsarah]

We learned a fun training game at class this weekend. We call it come and get it, to practice "come"!

You call your pup over to you and put down a treat when they come, then run somewhere else and give the command. Each time they come they get a treat, but not until they come! It's really great for practicing because you can keep them pretty entertained (at least for a few minutes) so they get lots of repetition on the command.

We tried playing in the hallway, running from one end to the next, and Maxwell figured it out pretty quick and would beat me back to the other end. Then I'd trick him and stay put and ask him to come back, or leave a few more treats so I have time to get to the other end before him. I also tried it all over the house running to different places.