[chipinmom]

Bentley is on limited exercise right now. He has an Upper Respiratory Infection and coughs/hacks/chokes anytime he gets too excited or too hyper. Needless to say, he is used to two 1.5 mile walks per day AND usually 1-2 hours at the dog park in the afternoons. Not to mention all the backyard time and play time he wants. All of that has been cut down to just quick potty walks and limited backyard time until he gets better.

I need some suggestions on how to keep him busy WITHOUT being too active or going anywhere (he is still contagious to other dogs). I can tell he is bored out of his mind and I feel so bad for him. He's definitely a dog that needs daily exercise so I'm hoping he gets better soon. But in the meantime, we need to do something.

We've been doing some training, but with the limited activity, there's not many "calm" things to learn.

Did I mention that is he driving me absolutely bonkers with his squeak toys? He will bring them to me and then just sit there and SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK to try to get me to throw it and play with him! :frusty:

 

[Spirit_of_Cotons]

Can you buy one of those toys that you can put treats in? That way he's sort of playing while trying to get the treats; it works on some dogs. I saw one game on a tv show that you put a treat underneath a cup and the dog has to find it (don't show your dog where you're putting the treat). Of course this game gets pretty boring within three minutes.

Those are the only things I can think of; I hope it helped somewhat. I hope your little guy gets better.

 

[Loki Love]

Work on some basic commands, teach new ones - mental stimulation can be just as tiring as physical exercise. I also play 'Go Find It' with Loki - take a treat and 'hide it' where he can see you doing it at first, using the command, and then gradually work up to a different room, etc. Loki LOVES that game

Good luck!

 

[Hallie]

KONG! :rockon:

 

[chipinmom]

The treat/food ball is a good suggestion, thanks

As for the basic commands.. as I said above, there's only so much training you can do that doesn't really involve "activity". He knows all his basic commands already (very well I might add). He's never very interested in re-learning something he already knows. He gets bored of it quickly.

He does love the go find it game though. I forgot about that one, so thanks

KONG! :rockon:

Oh how I wish! lol
He's never been very interested in Kongs (no matter what goodies I fill them with lol). He loses interest quickly.

 

[Loki Love]

What about teaching some tricks then (sorry, missed the part about commands). Roll over, playing dead, etc. You could get more creative - turning on/off lights, treats on the nose and waiting, etc. I'd hit up youtube and search for some tricks?

 

[hanksimon]

Sit, Down, Stay, Stand, Crawl, Back up, Turn Left, Turn Right, Shake Left, Shake Right, Nudge Object (with nose), Touch object with paw, Wag tail, sneeze, shake body .... All of these behaviors with hand signal, all of these reading off flash cards, treibball with small balls, Look at an object, fetch a specific object, locate a specific smell (vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, held in right hand, held in left hand)....

 

[Vicky88]

Oh how I wish! lol
He's never been very interested in Kongs (no matter what goodies I fill them with lol). He loses interest quickly.[/QUOTE]

Glad Holly is not the only one then, i brought her a kong and she never really liked it, i hope he feels better soon though, and is up and about and off playing again very soon.

 

[Tofu_pup]

Go through the Kikopup videos on Youtube and pick one. I know she has videos that involve very little activity.

Heck, use this as an opportunity to work on sit/down stay. Start working on going out of sight, longer duration, greater distraction, etc.

 

[chipinmom]

Thanks everyone. He's having fun learning some new tricks today.

 

[Rescued]

Get him to start learning chained commands with no hand signal- ie going from a sit to a heel position standing to a down, ect ect. When our dog was in training to be a service dog this was definitely one of the more mentally challenging things for him because they eventually learn to do it with no hand signal and just a verbal command.