Spring has brought us some beautiful sunny days that allow us to take our four-legged friend to the park more often and to be able to take long rides.
But what to do if it rains?
How to entertain our puppy at home or indoors?
As we know, all dogs (both small and large) need to let off steam and go outside, but if due to bad weather we can’t take them outside, we need to find a way to entertain them even in a closed environment such as home.
But first of all, why play with our furry friend?
Play is a very important activity to do with the dog, because it strengthens the bond with the owner and above all helps the animal to vent the accumulated energies, thus avoiding or alleviating certain ailments such as anxiety and stress .
Much of a dog’s mental and emotional well-being is linked to the amount of activity it performs: every dog needs to continually “do” and be busy.
Playing games that stimulate the dog’s intelligence and intrigue him is very important, especially to prevent him from getting bored when it is not possible to go outside.
Here are some games you can play at home with our furry friend:
1.Hiding : Ask a family member to hold the dog while you go looking for a hiding place, then when you are ready, tell the person to leave the dog. When he no longer sees you, he will immediately come looking for you! To make the game more fun, try to get the dog’s attention without being too obvious, it will start looking for you all over the place! Or, if you have space, throw him a ball or a game and go hide, he will immediately start looking for you to continue playing!
2. Treasure hunt: a very simple game! Hide a snack that he knows well while the dog is away, then let him go and show him where to look by ordering him “search!”. They may take a while to find the prize, but they’ll understand the game in no time!
3. The three glasses: this game with glasses will help the dog a lot to develop his senses and keep him busy mentally as well. To play you need 3 glasses (which are not transparent) to be turned upside down on the floor and under one of these put a treat that the dog will have to look for. But first show him where the tidbit is, then mix the glasses and wait for the dog to point to the right glass. If the dog guesses correctly, he will receive the snitch inside the glass as a reward!
These are some of the games you can play together with your dog when the weather does not allow to go outside: even in bad weather it is possible to have fun, the important thing is to be together!
