With two pet parents, two pups, and one kitty, we have a pretty full house, and there is hardly ever a dull moment. But for those of you who need a little inspiration on how to keep your pup active and in tip top shape, we present to you . . . Five ways to relieve dog boredom!
1. Change Up Your Walking Routine
Walking is the best. We often walk Dog Beach, the lake and dog-friendly parks, but sometimes we change it up (like today, when Lala insisted that we walk downtown) and do a nontraditional walk. New smells, new views and new sights keep everyone happy! Test out a new walking spot today!
2. Make Some Frozen Treats For Your Dog
Though it isn't here yet, summer is coming! But we don't have to wait until summer to make yummy frozen dog treats. This week we got a few cute molds from amazon and made ridiculously easy frozen pup treats: Half a banana and half a cup of peanut butter, mashed, mixed and placed in the mold. Freeze for an hour or two, and enjoy!
3. Alternate Toys to Keep Your Pup More Interested
We actually learned this from a puppy training book. The idea is to change up the toy box from time to time. If your pups are lucky enough to have as many toys as Lala and Harrison (they have oodles upon oodles of toys up in here) then this will be super easy. But even if your pups only have four or five toys, you can work this one in. Just alternate toys: take a few away from the toy box for a month or two, then *bam!* Just when they thought their favorite chew toy was gone, it's back and ready for more play!
4. Make Your Own Agility Course
When we fist got Lala, Mom put together a few stools we had inside the house along with a broom and mop stick and created the funniest looking agility course ever. It was definitely homemade (stools with broom sticks for jumps) but it worked! Now we have a real agility course that we use in the backyard: a tunnel, a weaving course, and a jump. If you build it, fun will come!
5. Teach Your Pup a New Trick
Lala and Harrison both know "come," "sit," "stay," and "fetch" (okay, well . . . Harrison is still learning "fetch," but Lala has it down). Still, though, we were inspired by Stella and Christina from @hunger4words and their word buttons, so Lala is currently working on pushing a button to let us know when she wants to play "ball" or if she needs to go for a "potty." But these aren't the only tricks you can teach your pup - there are literally thousands of fun tricks. We recommend reading 101 Dog Tricks by Kyra and Chalcy. It's never too late to teach your pup a new trick!