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What are we to do with our wild puppies and dogs with all of their energy and exercise needs and they're stuck in the house? Make our house and yard a private dog park!
During this time that the country has seen an increase in isolation and staying indoors, our pups have been affected too! Fewer walks, dog park play, doggie day camps, friends and their dogs over for dinners, traveling, hiking, and everyday outdoor activities.
Sometimes, we humans aren't feeling up to it, or some pups are not old enough yet to be outdoors being exposed to the potentially dangerous pathogens out in the community. Some humans are stuck at home working while our dogs beg us to play all day.
We want to set up easy games that not only keep our pups moving around but also use their brains and practice easy behavior skills that will help throughout their whole lives.
How much exercise do puppies and dogs need? That depends. Some breeds or personalities might require less, while some may have more energy or get bored more easily. The general rule is to make sure we offer 10 minutes of exercise, per month of age, capped at 1 hour per day for most dogs. You can do this once per day or split it into 2-3 sessions per day.
Low Impact Exercise: We want to keep it low impact for pups under 12 months old since their delicate joints are not very stable and they can easily injure themselves. Low impact means not jumping up or down too high, running too fast for too long, or doing strenuous activities like long, uphill, or rocky hiking trails. Once they're about 10 months old, we can slowly begin to introduce more difficult exercises. Go at their pace and avoid sudden spikes in activity.
HOME EXERCISE ACTIVITIES
Agility- we want this to be gentle but fun and challenging. This keeps their mind and body moving and is also adorable and super fun for everyone!
Swimming- a baby pool is fun even if there's not much water in it, this also helps to introduce them to water in a positive, fun way. If you have a regular pool, get a life vest that fits and start slow. Encourage them to get in on their own, be calm and encouraging, treats help! We want to limit swimming to about 15 minutes twice a day for the first 6 months simply because it is actually a lot of exercise at once! Also, the running and jumping and climbing out can be tough on their joints so try to be easy with that.
Balance- Have pups walk slowly across some small pillows in a row on the floor, using a treat or piece of dog food to lure them along. Add more pillows, bigger pillows and try a bit faster as they get better at this to keep it challenging.
Chair bridges- have pups walk under chairs or sticks laying across chairs, depending upon their size.
Small jumps- have our pup jump over a stick, not too high and not too fast so they don't get injured!
Sensory exploration- Give them a variety of shapes, textures, sounds, and types of toys. Tug toys, balls, squeaker toys, rope toys. Keep their mind busy. Hide them around the house for even more fun!
Escape the blanket- have our pups try to "escape" from under a sheet, make sure we go slow and calm at first as this can be scary at first.
Sniffing fun- Hide pieces of dog food in easy-to-find places around the room, so they have to sniff to find every piece of their meal. Say "find it" to make it a fun game! Then, try asking them to find other items like their toys, treats, chew sticks, or even random items once they can be trusted not to swallow or chew them.
Fetch- teach our pups to pick up "take it", go get it "fetch" and give it to us "drop it". Some dogs need some encouragement to take items at first so make it easy and fun, as well as positive. Try a variety of items until we find one our pup wants to grab and go get.
Name Game- Take turns calling your pups name and tossing them a treat as soon as they look at you, add distance, and then make it more challenging by playing hide and seek as they get more confident. Eventually, you can even say "Good come!" to start learning that cue once they're good at it.
Food toss- We can sit on one corner of the room or house and toss their dog food kibble one at a time across the house. Have them come grab one from you and then toss another and so on. Easy exercise during meal time!
Baby slide- If you have a toddler slide, great! if not, you might be able to improvise. The idea is to get our pups to trust us to walk up and down the slide, and use treats!
Puppy push-ups- Teach them to sit, and practice 20 times successfully. Teach the down cue, practice 20 times successfully. now combine them. Ask for a sit, then down then sit. Give a treat. Then ask for a down, sit, down, give a treat. Repeat 6 times then take a break for a few hours. We don't want to overdo this one.
Spin- Teach your pup to follow your food lure in your hand in a circle. First left then right. Once they are doing well, try to do it faster or switch up the directions a few times.
Food puzzles- these are mostly for brain exercise which is equally important so it's very helpful to help keep our pups calm when they're worked up or we're busy tending to other things. Get an exercise pen and have it set up in your house somewhere like a living room, dining room, kitchen, or other area. 3-5 times a day, offer a food puzzle. They don't need to be filled to the max. Some are intended only for dry food, and some can have wet or both. You'll want to freeze the wet ones so they last a bit longer, but you don't have to. And again, don't think you have to completely fill them up like the Kong, just enough to smear on the inside helps too.
Cavaletti poles- lay a few sticks or brooms across the floor evenly spaced apart and ask your pup to follow your treat lure hand while they navigate walking across them. This makes them have to be mindful of their steps and use their puppy brain.
Cone weaving- use any items that can stand up and ask your pup to follow you or your treat lure hand to weave around items like cones. Make it easy at first, then make the turns tighter or a longer course.
Practice walking inside- We want them to be used to the leash, collar, and harness when it IS finally time to go outdoors so start now. Put the leash on/off randomly throughout the day. make sure you supervise when it's on so they don't get stuck or knock things over or get injured. Loose leash manners can be taught at any age and can definitely be practiced indoors. Have some treats ready and put your dog's leash and harness on. Take a few steps and encourage your pup to walk with you, give a treat. Repeat this a few times a day. Once they're comfortable with this process now we will begin to ask them not to pull. When they pull, you simply stop and wait a few seconds, if they give slack in the leash say "yes" and offer a treat. Then, the walk can continue. Repeat for a few minutes a few times a day.
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