Indoor Activities

In an ideal world, I know that we would all walk our dogs twice a day, for 30 minutes to an hour each time. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not always ideal; in fact, it's sometimes downright inconvenient! When harsh weather hits, or circumstances make it difficult or impossible to venture outside for physical exercise, don't despair! There are activities that you can enjoy with your dog right in the comfort of your own home.

Treadmill – The treadmill is a fantastic and very convenient way for your dog to get the exercise from the all-important walk without leaving home. Although not a full-time replacement for the walk, the treadmill can be used to supplement daily exercise, or, in the case of bad weather, substitute it for a short period. Remember to take it slow and allow your dog to get accustomed to the treadmill before leaping right into a running regimen. Once your dog has the hang of it, don't be surprised if you enter the room one morning to find him sitting expectantly, waiting to be allowed to play with it! If you're having trouble adjusting your dog to a treadmill running routine, check out the helpful tips in the new Common Canine Misbehaviors DVD.

Practice Calm Submission with Basic Commands – Your dog's physical needs aren't the only aspect of him that requires fulfilling. He has psychological needs, too! One activity that doesn't demand a lot of room to move is the practice of basic training commands. Giving your dog a psychological challenge that forces him to focus and keeps his attention can be a very effective way to drain his energy and strengthen the bond that you share. Remember to keep a bag of his favorite treats on hand as a reward for calm submission… when he responds to a command with the correct behavior, that's the right time to give affection!

Toys and Games – There is a wide range of toys and games for dogs that have been carefully engineered specifically to engage and improve cognitive functions. Most of these toys involve an incentive like a treat or a provocative scent to keep the dog interested and to reward him for playing. Check with your local pet retail stores and online for the kinds of toys you can use to make keeping your dog psychologically fulfilled into a game!

Use the Stairs – A stairway is a great place to give your dog a physical challenge. You can begin by having one person at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. Each of you can call him and reward him for making the trip. Eventually, train him to go up and down the stairs to get his reward. Make sure it is clear when the activity begins and ends. You don't want your dog to associate the stairway with excitement or it can lead to accidents down the road. If you need help, contact a local professional.

Hide and Seek – You can play this with family members or treats. Ask your dog to use his nose to find the hidden items or people, and reward him. This can be a fun way to get bored kids involved. Again, be clear when the activity begins and ends. When you decide the game is over, it's over!

Doga – It may sound silly, but this combination of dog training and yoga can be a lot of fun! Yoga and other meditation exercises help you to maintain balance, so what better activity to share with our canine companions? Find out if there are clubs offering Doga in your area.

Grooming – As simple as it sounds, a bath or a brushing session is a wonderful activity for a day spent inside. Any kind of grooming, done with care and love, is a kind of affection, and sharing that affection can bring you two closer together. Be sure to satisfy exercise and discipline as much as possible beforehand, though!

Do you have other ideas? Share them in the comments below.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

Average:

Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (10 votes)

Sat, 08/07/2010 - 12:16am — trickxs

treats

when i give my dog a treat, I almost always wrap it up in, like for example, a used toilet rol. Just put the treat in and fold the two ends. My dog loves it, and she's busy for a while. Offcourse it takes less longer once they get the hang of it. Or take a plastic bottle from soda for example, rince it out and let it dry upside down, take the label off and put the treats in there. I only use this for outside cause it makes a lot of noise when she's trying to get the treats out... you'll be surprised how handy your dog will get.

Nikkie (Belgium)

Tue, 07/27/2010 - 2:59am — Nanita

Stairs

About using the stairs: I was told by a vet once that you shouldn't make pups use the stairs - is this true? When can you start with this? Warm greetings from Brussels!

Sat, 07/24/2010 - 8:41pm — across

using what you got to exercise the dogs

in my place the winters can be very cold and long. i got 3 shih tzus- we defintely don't like being out in bad weather. so sometimes to exercise them i give them a treat ball or kong toy filled with non fat dog treats to play with, sometimes we do dog training tricks in our kitchen or hallway, sometimes we use the stairs and go for a walk up and down them, sometimes we do agility training using the stairs, and some chairs to create an obstacle course. we do use the treadmill too. i try to mix their exercise up by doing different activities with them so none of us get bored.

Tue, 03/02/2010 - 7:34pm — cjunger

Treadmills

I am looking into getting a treadmill for my year-old labrador retriever as two hour-long walks a day don't seem to be giving him the exercise he needs. Is a manual treadmill ok for dogs?

Mon, 07/05/2010 - 9:16am — panosk

have a lot of boxes of things

have a lot of boxes of things I have gotten mailed over the years.
I put a treat in one, tape it close and let the dog tear it apart to get to the treat.

Panos D
online casino blackjack

Tue, 03/23/2010 - 6:32am — jcanning

treadmills

Manual treadmills are great for dogs. I had wanted to get one for the longest time and a month ago finally got one for my APBT. He loves his manual treadmill and I often find him sitting by the room that it is in, waiting for me to let him on it. I got mine from www.grandcarpetmill.com and am extremely happy with it.

Sun, 04/25/2010 - 11:23am — mslatina95

treadmills

I did not think about getting a treadmill for my dogs until I started watching the show. My beagles love it and my puppy boxer is getting the hang of it. Is a great way for them to exercise. I have an electronic one and I set it up for them and off they go. It has been the greatest investment ever. I got mine from www.craigslist.com I guess my only problem is that I dont know how long I should have each dog on it and at what speed. Right now I am donig 5-10 minutes at 2.5 to 3 miles per hour. I want my beagles to loose about 10 lbs each. After they were spayed they gain weight.
Marilyn

Mon, 03/01/2010 - 10:06am — magdalenasins

Treadmills

I never would have thought of this until I started watching your show! We just bought one for our doberman Ruby and she's a little confused but is eager to please and we are taking it slowly but so far so good! We still go for an hour walk every day but the treadmill is a wonderful way to get her morning energy out after her bathroom outing and allows me to have some morning relaxation, coffee, email reading, etc. It's been snowing like crazy here in upstate NY so it's a wonderful tool to keep her exercised and working!

Thank you as always for your brilliant insight!

Sun, 01/31/2010 - 12:59pm — ron3wtglobal@gm...

Great ideas but I have found hide & seek with a 70 pound Boxer is not the best idea I tried. We try to work the stairs several times a day but I have not been able to help SARGE understand about not going outside when it is really cold. When Sarge wants to go out we go outside no matter what the temp. He first whines and when that does not work he grabs my hand, arm or clothing and you can be sure we are going outside. Toys work great, especially squeeky little ones that he runs around the house with in his mouth. Try and take that away and keep a finger.

Thanks for your continued advice.

Tue, 01/26/2010 - 7:32pm — mtalent

Indoor game "Get it!"

During the winter months I play "Get it!" I put their ball on something high and they have to figure out a way to get it. Sometimes they jump and get it or use whatever around by climbing to obtain the object. I just find whatever I can find like a table, chair, dresser, etc. and put the ball on it and let them figure out how to get the ball. Tires them out cause they have to think and gives them something to do. : )

Mon, 01/25/2010 - 11:09pm — ldkarge@yahoo.com

Claiming your space

I have watched the Dog Whisperer since adopting my dog Lucky from an animal shelter in Voorhees, NJ about 2 years ago. I was concerned that I had not trained a dog in over 12 years and had no clue where to start when a friend suggested that I watch your show. (GOOD FRIEND!) I like what Cesar always says about claiming your space. Lucky knows that he needs to sit, AND REMAIN SITTING even after I open a door, and that he is not allowed to pass through until I release him. I have taken that concept one step further with the stairs. He knows that he is not allowed to follow me UP or DOWN the stairs until I have cleared the top or bottom and release him to follow. I find that I sometimes have a balance problem with my age (I am 59 today!) and I would be horrified if I lost my balance, fell and injured him, which is why I trained him to wait until I have cleared the stairs before he is allowed to follow. I use as little speech as possible in controlling him. I have a positive sound for anything like "OK, release or come" and a negative sound for "No, wait or stay". Thank you Cesar for all of your insights!!

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 8:27pm — c_shadowolf

toys and games

I agree! The treat toys have been very helpful with my rotund Boston Terrier, in bad weather especially. She will knock them around and chew on them for hours even after she gets the goodie out. I recommend the football type and since she is small mouthed and the cheaper dog biscuits at Wal-Mart only come in medium size they don't fit in the slots, so I break them up. She burns way more calories chasing it around then are in the treat. I also play toddler games modified for a dog with her. Like "Gotcha!" game. Its Hide and Seek meets Tag/Chase. Instead of staying still waiting to be found you sneak around and try to tag "IT".
The goal is to tag the looker without getting tagged first. You say "Gotcha!" when you tag the pet or child. Then they run and you chase and when you catch them it is tickle time for kids and vigorous stroking and/or scratch-a-thon time for dogs, etc. So, think Toddler when thinking up games for a dog. They all "get" them, though for smarter dogs you may have to modify them like you would for a pre-schooler or such. My Queenie is only able to grasp the concept of the most basic game. She is a rescue and was severely abused. I think she may have suffered some brain damage or it is just from a lack of interaction and being left cooped up in a small room all her life before she came to me. She did not know how to play. She got aggressive and defensive every time I tried to start a game at first.
She now happily plays and plays and it is the highlight of her day.

Thanks CEASAR, Rebecca Lindsey

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 9:32am — Regine

Indoor fun

Here's another idea: a bit like hide and seek

I have a lot of boxes of things I have gotten mailed over the years.
I put a treat in one, tape it close and let the dog tear it apart to get to the treat.
Some dogs are so good at it that I put several boxes into each other to make it more difficult. Others need simpler versions.

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 7:50am — Leosmom

Indoor Activities

With Standard Poodles you need to be smart in offering them challenges so to keep my best buddy tuned in and challenged I place objects around the house. Poles (mops) at floor level, books, anything that will be easily jumped over... then we go through the "course" and at each one I would say "UP!" to get him to jump over it...when he responds, he gets a hearty "good boy!" and on to the next "jump." We start to raise the bar if he completes all jumps enthusiastically. Once the floor level is done I will put out tuna cans, then soup cans, etc. to hold up the obstacles and so on. We can get up to good heights in no time but eventually he will jump over anything I say "UP!" to. Lots of fun and exercise for the two of us...HUGE BONDING FUN TOO!

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 7:14am — Carleys-Mom

Indoor exercise

I throw a tennis ball against the wall and have my dog retrieve it. She gets to run and jump. This game is best suited for playing in the garage or basement. Twenty minutes of this tires out most dogs.

If you don't have a hula-hoop, a handle from a broomstick or mop can double-duty as a jump!

My dog is 15 1/2 years old and I still try to include some kind of physical and mental exercise everyday.

Sun, 01/24/2010 - 5:48am — HarrisCarol

Indoor exercise

We live in Canada and winters are long and sometimes treacherous...between ice and salt and frigid temps, neither the dog nor I want to be out too long on some days. I take him to a "doggie day camp" a couple times a week at a local pet store where he can romp with friends - under supervision - in a large space. They have rest times as well in their "rooms" and snack Kongs. He loves the socialization time with 4-legged friends. At home, we play and practice training when it's too awful to be out for long. Fortunately, the "inside" days aren't too numerous as we both prefer the outdoor time, even in our climate!

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 10:10am — dottiellie

Indoor Activities

If you want to progress form "hunt the doggie choc" try this one.

Send dog out of room and make it wait outside. This in itself is a good command to learn. My girls remove themselves to hallway if I point and say "Go!".

Take two upturned cups or similar containers which dog can't see through and hide doggie treat under one of them. Invite dog in to see if he/she can choose right cup. I started off by pointing to the right one if dog needed help, now dog responds to my looking at whichever cup to choose.

I read about a research study costing thousands of pounds which was set up to find out whether dogs could take cues from eye movement in owners face. It concluded that they could and that they were, therefore, more intelligent/attuned to owners than had previously been thought!!!!

DUUUUURRR - We could have told them that and saved them the money!

Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:57am — asianzheng

Indoor Fun

My husband and I play "basement tennis" with our yorky/pom mix Chewbacca. The game is played in our large unfinished basement, we use regular tennis rackets and a large Nerf ball. Chewie gets lots of running and jumping trying to catch the ball and we human get plenty of laughs.