Welcome back to Talking Tails!
How are all of you doing with our “new normal,” created by Covid-19? Although I love having my humans at home more, I do miss getting out of the house with them. I know that a lot of you also need your own space and like your normal out-of-house activities. Without these regular activities, we can get bored and that never is good for anyone!
To help us get through these unusual times, I am offering some tips on how to keep physically and mentally engaged. The mental stimulation is just as important as physical activity since engaging our minds can also make us physically tired.
Physical activities may be more difficult for those of us living in a smaller apartment or home, but I have some great ideas to share! Tug of war not only helps us to bond with our human, but to physically address our need to “grab and shake!” Playing fetch is great fun. My cousin loves to play with a small ball, but I find it just as much fun to play with my favorite toy. I even enjoy a good round of “chase the bubbles.” It may sound silly, but don’t judge until you try it! Mom has a bubble supply since she uses
them when photographing children. For some of my more agile friends, a doggie obstacle course is super amazing! It does not have to be fancy – jump over piles of towels or books, weave through a set of toys, crawl through opened boxes, or navigate a path of furniture. The obstacle course can be as simple or complex as appropriate to meet your needs.
Mental stimulation is challenging for us, keeps us from getting bored, and is physically tiring. When our humans work all day at a mentally tasking job, they come home tired…works the same for us. The shell or cup game requires your human putting a treat under one of three cups, shuffling the cups, and then you try to select the right cup. My buddies with an acute sense of smell, rock at this game! Figuring out how to remove treats from a Kong, or other forms of dog puzzles, relieves boredom and helps you to
problem solve.
The old standby is taking a walk. I used to take a walk on occasion, but I am now a two-walk a day kinda
guy! We do walk responsibly, with my humans practicing social distancing of at least six feet from other
humans who have their dogs out for physical activity.
Talk to you soon!
Joey
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