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I have two small dogs (mix of chihuahua/schnauzer). We are used to long walks or an hour or two at the dog park daily. Unfortuntely, it's now winter and snowy. One dog isn't bothered by it at all and loves the snow. The other dog, who is more energetic, cannot stand it. She hates to be outside for longer than a bathroom break and whines and cries the whole time. So, for the most part, we stay indoors for the time being. Any ideas to work out some of their extra energy during this time of year? We have some space for them to run around in the house, but not as much as they're used to. Any suggestions? We have about 8 more inches of snow expected tonight and tomorrow, so it will be awhile before there is any green around here. (Also, they HATE sweaters/clothes of any kind, so bundling up doesn't work well.)
I have two small dogs (mix of chihuahua/schnauzer). We are used to long walks or an hour or two at the dog park daily. Unfortuntely, it's now winter and snowy. One dog isn't bothered by it at all and loves the snow. The other dog, who is more energetic, cannot stand it. She hates to be outside for longer than a bathroom break and whines and cries the whole time. So, for the most part, we stay indoors for the time being. Any ideas to work out some of their extra energy during this time of year? We have some space for them to run around in the house, but not as much as they're used to. Any suggestions? We have about 8 more inches of snow expected tonight and tomorrow, so it will be awhile before there is any green around here. (Also, they HATE sweaters/clothes of any kind, so bundling up doesn't work well.)
Shovel or snow blow an area for them to potty in and another larger area for them to play in. And a path to those areas.
Have you tried a dog sweater on the one that whines? It might just be the dog is sensitive to cold or doesn't keep heat in well, and doesn't like being out in the cold for that reason.
Nosework? It can be intellectually challenging to some dogs and wears them out. They tend to enjoy it quite a bit.
My Catahoula only gets ramped up, but he's a hunting breed, so he has all his instincts triggered at once. And he finds it very easy. Most dogs have to work a little harder.
You could also do some training to get them working on their core muscles with "FitPaws" equipment or facsimiles of them. My roommate has her dogs work for their dinner on the FitPaws equipment she's gotten over the years.
When we lived in WY and the beagle refused to do anything outside except potty, I used to hide/scatter her food all around the apartment.
Every meal. A handful there, some over here, some scatter around in her blankets etc. Took her a good 10mins each time and she would sleep for several hours after. We also played a LOT of fetch lol
These are all great suggestions! She's getting a little better about going out, as I have been letting her observe our other dog having fun outside more and she wants to be part of it. So, she's at least starting to explore the snow more than before. I will definitely try some of these on our particularly cold days.
These are all great suggestions! She's getting a little better about going out, as I have been letting her observe our other dog having fun outside more and she wants to be part of it. So, she's at least starting to explore the snow more than before. I will definitely try some of these on our particularly cold days.
Yea...on the days when it wasn't -9 degrees with 40mph winds I would just put on her coat and walk her.
But there no way I'd walk her in the days we wouldn't get above zero and have strong winds(which was very common in the part of WY we lived in).
The beagle had a RuffWear coat she would wear if we walked in temps below 20 degrees. More for the wind than the actual cold. She also had boats, we would get nasty ice and it cut her feet several times.
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