The whole family has now spent much of their last 5 weeks indoors and we probably don’t have to remind you that the limited amount of time outside can be a bit of a challenge. So, if you are feeling a bit restless your dog is likely to be feeling a bit restless too! If you fancy a bit of fun for both you and your pooch, and some good ways to kill time why not try out the suggestions below, this week and beyond?!
Can your dog catch the carrot like this retriever?
In our moments of ‘scrolling’ we came across this fantastic and simple game, “Carrot Challenge”. All you need is a relatively big cardboard box (there’s likely to be a few lying around from your daily Amazon delivery) a pair of sturdy scissors and a couple of carrots.
We had one of our own YuMOVE dogs try this out! See the step by step setup below, which was a super quick process and the outcome for the cocker, Albie.
Setting up is seriously easy
- Find a relatively large cardboard box, ensuring that one side is flat and still fully intact. The sides need to be relatively large and are sturdy, to give you a good amount of space to create the holes for the carrots.
- With your scissors punch several lines of holes equidistance apart across the whole side of the box, being careful not to jab yourself, your dog and anyone else in the DIY process. You could even be more precise and measure out the location of the holes across the box with a pencil, ruler/tape measure.
- You will have to then slightly enlarge the holes, which can be done by using the pair of scissors or simply by pushing a carrot through each one with a small amount of force.
- Make sure your carrot can easily fit in each of the holes created
- Let the games begin! “What’s up dog?!”
Other DIY games
Making use of old dog balls
If you have any balls that slightly worse for wear you can easily repurpose these into a bit of light, and maybe even slightly challenging, entertainment. You will again need your sturdy, trusted scissors and treats.
All you need to is cut a relatively large “slice” into the ball and fill generously with your dog’s favourite healthy treats. The lure of treats will get them going after the ball. Please do make sure that the ball remains large enough so that your dog cannot swallow it.
Hide & treat, not hide and seek
One which is a play on the classic and yep you’ve guessed it, you will need to be hiding treats around the house for your pooch. Hide some kibble in your dog’s favourite toys and place them in tricky places to find, to keep your dog busy, sniffing out the tasty treats. Try not to make the treat hiding spots too difficult through – who wants to still be stepping on toys, kibble or treats months down the line? This can be great exercise too!
A treat in bottle
For this you need your sturdy scissors, treats/kibble and a plastic bottle.
- Get a normal sized 500ml plastic bottle and remove the label.
- Unscrew the bottle cap but keep hold of it as you will need to pop this back on later
- Pinch a section of the bottle and cut several holes across it. Make sure they aren’t too large as the treats will then escape too easily
- You can vary the number of holes you put in the bottle, depending on how easy or difficult you want to make it for you pooch.
- Start and let you pooch play away.
For more detail, and photos of the step by step check this link
Maybe one day your dog could do this……
If you don’t do DIY
There’s a huge selection of dog puzzles out there to keep your dog entertained for hours, and who can forget the trusted Kong? You can make it bit more a challenge by first stuffing the kong and then freezing it. Here is a good breakdown of 9 puzzles you can buy if DIY is not your thing!
We aware our suggestions all require a sturdy pair of scissors so we apologies in advance if these leave you in a need of new pair, but we hope your dog gets a huge amount of fun from the above! Please do share how you get on, if your try any of the suggestions above on our Facebook and Instagram.
