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What do you all do to exercise your dogs when they can't go outside?
Spring is an especially disgustingly wet and muddy time here, but I have a full grown and puppy collie that I like to have good run and play time every single day.
We usually take them to the park to play frisbee and play with other dogs...or, on really busy days, we can let them out into our large backyard to run and chase each other.
Both of these are out the window when there's a 3 day thunderstorm...our house is definitely big enough for them to stretch out and run, but this is not behavior I want to encourage indoors.
The adult collie (7 years) is happy to laze around all day, but the 5 month old puppy really has a lot of energy to work off, and obedience training isn't enough to wear her out. We've tried having her run up and down the stairs (and at the same time learning 'upstairs' and 'downstairs'), but I fear that's not the best for her joints.
So what other ideas do y'all have for exercising in bad weather? I was thinking of taking them jogging in the rain, but besides the mess their paws would make, I don't want to slip and fall and hurt myself!
My dogs aren't as big as yours, but are high energy. We have a long hallway and 30 minutes of fetch, with racquet balls, gives them an outlet. We also play hide and seek, while at the same time, practicing the sit/stay command. I put them in a hard sit/stay in the living room and then go hide somewhere in the back rooms. I whistle and they come searching. They never tire of this game.
We don't have too many rainy days here in the southwest desert - the heat keeps us inside with the A/C. From April/May to Oct. or so, by 9 am it's too hot for strenuous exercise outdoors. We can't head back outside until the sun starts going down.
We already bought an elliptical machine, so a treadmill just for the dogs is out. Lol. I had thought about that, though.
ZSP, I like the hide-and-seek idea! My older dog already loves that game (though she starts to get a little anxious if she can't find me after a while), but I'm not sure the puppy would have the attention span for it. I will try it tomorrow!
Fetch is always great for my older dog, too (she is a frisbee catching freak at the park), but again, the puppy just starts wandering off after a while. Those puppies, I tell you...
Try some mental exercise, instead. While it doesn't replace physical exercise, it can actually account for a portion of it.
Teach a new trick. My latest is "dance" - I say the command and hold my hands in the air the way that you would if you were controlling a marionette. If she figures out that she has to stand on her hind legs, she gets a treat.
Play games like "Search": Hide a treat under one of 3 cups and say "search." She will probably have already started looking for the source of the good smell, and when she tips over the right cup she is automatically rewarded. (Instead of treats, you can also spray a small toy with a vanilla scent) Say "good girl (or boy)" when they find it.
Buy a toy that dispenses treats - where they have to figure out that they have to push it around with their nose in order to get the treats to fall out. I just use regular dog food pellets.
We already bought an elliptical machine, so a treadmill just for the dogs is out. Lol. I had thought about that, though.
ZSP, I like the hide-and-seek idea! My older dog already loves that game (though she starts to get a little anxious if she can't find me after a while), but I'm not sure the puppy would have the attention span for it. I will try it tomorrow!
Fetch is always great for my older dog, too (she is a frisbee catching freak at the park), but again, the puppy just starts wandering off after a while. Those puppies, I tell you...
Anyway, I'm worn out.
I hear you - my Frenchie boy is a puppy (5 months) and keeps me very busy. He is constantly pushing toys at me wanting to play. My Boston girls are three and almost five (years) and know how to "chill." Even they get annoyed with the puppy pestering them all the time. They get on my bed and kick the doggie steps over so he can't get up there with them. LOL
I love the toy that dispenses treats as the dogs manipulate them. Unfortunately, that game lasts about 3 minutes, as both dogs have figured out the Kong, the squeeze ball dispenser, and the hidey-bone thing. I even tried keeping the treats stuffed up there with peanut butter or honey, but that only makes it last about another 2 minutes.
I may just have to let 'em run laps around the living room and dining room. Puppy does figure 8s around the pool table and dining table.
A friend of mine used to play soccer with her young Lab in the basement in bad weather. It was a big basement.
When my original two puppies were little, they exercised all the time when not sleeping- they'd chase each other around the living room, play tug of war, etc.
Now I have seniors, and most of them need less. (See under: Senior Dog escape artist!)
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