I'm struggling to get enough exercise and energy draining into my 5 month puppy during the really cold days (-20c type weather). We play tug, search games, his training, use enrichment and some indoor running games so far, but it doesn't seem to tucker him out. Any other game suggestions?
Do you do puzzle toys or lick mats? Those keep my fosters entertained FOREVER. Especially lick mats or stuff like Kongs.
Editing, posted too soon. Mental stimulation is HUGE and in my opinion even more valuable than physical exercise. Anytime you can get them thinking they’ll tire pretty quickly, in my experience.
Seconding puzzle toys! Mental stimulation has been so good for my puppy because sometimes other play makes her overstimulated
Any puzzle toy recommendations?
I have like 5 outward hound puzzles for my puppy and she loves them! I’ll use them for meal times a few times a week. It’s honestly impressive watching her figure it out beyond just throwing it around til the treats fly out 😂
I have this one which I really like because it has 3 different difficulty levels to choose from https://www.petsmart.com/dog/toys/interactive-toys/nina-ottosson-outward-hound-puppy-hide-n-slide-interactive-treat-puzzle-dog-toy-69836.html
Yeah I have all of those and I freeze them, still doesn't seem to help
My dog gets really tuckered out when I take her on errands with me. If you’re in the US, Lowe’s or Home Depot allow dogs. We went through a car wash, got coffee and they gave her treats, etc.
What about potty? I’m just constantly terrified that she may pee or poo in public. I can only take her to pet stores since they generally allow accidents.
Bring poop bags, wet wipes and sanitizer.
But yes it's best to have your puppy potty trained before going into stores.
My puppy is pretty much potty trained and I kinda know her poop schedule. I make sure she pees before we go into the store. I have a larger puppy (not sure breed but I think she’s going to get around 60 lbs) so she can hold it for about 4 hours.
Sit in a hallway with your back against 1 wall and your feet up on the other. Throw a treat to the side your dog isn't and have them jump over your legs to get the treat. Rinse and repeat. My dog can do this for hour about 15 minutes before she is to tired to continue. She is 2yrs old
An hour and 15 minutes? That's a lot!
Yeah thats a typo. Was meant to say "for around 15 minutes". Not sure what happened there.
I was just coming to suggest this! we did this with our old girl on days it was just too bitter cold to be outside. She was a big dog and still had a lot of energy. When she started to tire I would scatter more (dog kibble) for her to search out and lower my legs basically to the floor before she needed to hop back over. Kept her entertained and she loved spending the time “playing” with me.
This is a good one! I'll try it!
I would not recommend this for puppy joints tbh especially not an hours worth you are going to inflict joint damage
you could have them crawl under your legs instead
Instead of jumping you could have him step over your seperated legs. On the same line of thought....indoor agility course. Use a chair to have him go under and/or around or a table....as he gets comfortable you could "enclose" it with a blanket. Or you could buy cones to go around. Have stable boxes leading to the couch so he doesn't have to jump. Grab a broom, mop, anything with handles and have him step over them. Have a box/mat be the "stay" area. Buy/make a wobble board to work on balance and learning where the feet are.
Puzzle toys. We give our puppy a long eel toy where you can hide the treats in, then I tie it closed with a rope. The puppy has to work at getting the rope undone and get the treats. Or a king with a treat wedged in so the puppy has to crunch it loose.
Mental stimulation in a winding down activity helps the transition to sleeping/resting.
Any links to this eel?
I don’t know about the eel, but look for “snuffle toys”. We got a snake or a worm from a local store, I don’t really know what it is but it’s great 😂
We have a snail one! Type in snuffle toys and they should come up 😊
I'd love a link as well!
Also following for the magic eel LOL
I just found a cute roll up “newspaper” version of this by the brand KONG. But if you don’t want to buy something, I’ve seen towels be rolled and tied in shapes with treats inside that can give similar stimulation :)
probably the Nocciola Ribbon Eel Snuffle?
My puppy has this and she loves it!
Eel Toy
By itself, it's too easy for my puppy. But if you roll it up tight and tie it off with some ropes, its a lot of fun.
You can wind it around a frozen carrot and tie that off too, that's my puppy's fave way.
My pup’s favourite is “row the dog”. I have a long, braided fabric tug toy that I encourage her to take horizontally. Then, I push her away and pull her in over and over again until my arms wanna fall off lol. Intersperse some traditional tug play (whipping and pulling around, that kind of thing), and following with training until I see her attention waver. Then she goes outside for a pee and will pass out once she’s back in the crate.
How long she’s out for is a dice roll, but it buys me a little bit of peace at least.
I have a similar toy so I'll try that!
Anything involving scent would be the equivalent of mental work for us. Introduce him to nosework, or hide some treats in a room for him to find. Be creative. One version my dog likes is when he has to sit and stay so he can watch me, and then I pretend to hide 4-5 treats at different locations, but I only leave a treat in one of those spots. Have a treat between your fingers when you pretend, so it leaves a little trick scent. That way he has to differentiate the actual treat from the traces of scents of the treat from the spots you only pretended.
Good idea on the trick scent! I've been trying the scent work so this might help increase the challenge.
The trick scent version is on one of the cards in this deck of enrichment games. I recommend the deck! I used some of the cards to make an activity advent calendar for my dog this year. It’s nice to get some input and not have to invent something new often, or actively remember a bunch of good enrichment games when one is needed.
They also have a flyball inspired game to do at home that I would recommend if you get the deck when your puppy is a little older. My dog loved it and got tired from just a little session of play. Best to avoid the jumping at your pup’s age though.
Oh wow this is amazing! Thanks so much for sharing, this is exactly what I need to help change up the variety.
Same 5 month old husky.. once he figures out a game he doesn’t want to play it again. (Exception tug-war and fetch) so i have to come up with games
Games i have played so far 1) put treats in Amazon delivery boxes and cross close them to take the treat out - (outdated - he now jumps on to the box to crush it)
2) snuffle mats - outdate - learnt to flip them over to get all treats at once
3) hide treats in the room - still works
4) hide his chew toy where he can see it but can get it without bit struggle - still works
5) throw treats into corners fast - he picks one, another one is already on the ground in opposite direction so he has to run keep track - still works
6) treats in tissue roll folded the ends - outdated - eats the tissue roll
7) puzzle games - have two highly rated ones - outdated - figured the puzzle so its breeze to get all treats now
8) treats rolled in towel - still works
Need to find more to keep him busy 😜 Saving this post to try few 🐶
A classic and effective indoor game is the two toy fetch. Get two identical soft toys. Show him one, toss it a short distance, and let him run to get it. As he's bringing it back, show him the second identical toy. Most puppies will drop the first to go for the second, creating a continuous, energy burning loop withuot you having to move much. You can also try hiding small portions of his kibble in a towel, rolling it up loosely, and letting him figure out how to unroll it to find the food.
I do two toys too. It works for me with two different toys (both plush toys) but sometimes it doesn't work if she's too into one toy vs the other on that specific day lol
Perfect for getting our pre crate tine energy before leaving for a few hours. Our 5mo old only lasts 3-5mins before needing a break
Introduce them to scent work. Puppies can do it. It exhausts them mentally. I do it 3 times a day for 5 - 10 minutes and it’s amazing. Lots of resources out there but I took a class.
Also “rally” training is useful every day skills and a great alternative to more physical training like agility if you don’t have space.
But also basic agility training like getting them up on platforms. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Could be an overturned platter or a cardboard box. Lots of physical work with added mental focus of concentrating on the task.
If your puppy is still young enough or motivated enough, you can use kibble as your training treat and it stays within their food allowance for the day. Or freeze dried single ingredient stuff like beef liver are super low calorie, so those are good for me and my pup.
Thanks for the idea on "rally" training!
Have you heard of Vito's game? It burns mental and physical energy. Right now I have the cone about ten feet away from me with a broom raised a few inches to make her step over. Susan Garrett has a great video on YouTube about it.
Sniff work. Get them finding treats under identical cups or in identical boxes. Hide food around the corner. Hide yourself behind a shower curtain or a door—this works best if you’re silent and someone else says “go find ___”! If they find food with no problem you can get birch scent kits on Amazon or similar to improve their skills. It’s super interesting and mentally stimulating for puppies to use their nose and work on seeking. Just a few rounds of that could do wonders!
Are you doing forced naps? What’s your schedule?
Forced naps is something I'm working on, he doesn't get very restful sleep during the day so I'm hoping tiring him out with help support that as well.
So I’m currently training a 3 month old puppy and just realized they are supposed to sleep for 18-20 hours a day!!
Like you, I also thought they need to be tired out with running around, etc but apparently when they seem the most hyper is when they just need to go to sleep!
Basically when they start getting in psycho puppy mode and mouthing everything or pacing and unable to settle, it means they need a nap.
What kind of dog do you have?
Forced naps aren’t necessarily about restful sleep, they’re about giving the dog a break. I truly think working on a more strict schedule will help- your puppy is only 5 months and puppies need the structure. They should be sleeping a lot still at that age. It will also help the puppy learn to sit and be content and bored, which will be immeasurably helpful in the long run!
Yes was gonna chime in about this too! I love all these game ideas AND setting boundaries for rest can be incredibly helpful long term. In addition to crate training & forced “down time” you may also want to look into tethering your dog while you’re nearby or doing something else. this will help them learn to settle. I do enforce rest and “do nothing” training with my high arousal adult dog, she gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation but also has designated quiet time and sometimes I put her on leash inside and just ask her to lay down while I do other stuff. My other adult dog can self regulate this but not every dog does this well.
Bully sticks stop my 1 year old from biting and chewing nearly everything constantly. Using run/fetch with two toys is a good way to tire him out, as he won’t ordinarily drop the first toy when he returns unless he wants the second one!
Get a flirt pole! 5-10 mins of chasing a flirt pole can tire them out more than half an hour of walking. Also, check he’s getting enough sleep, sometimes if they’re not then they become more hyper.
During these really cold days, we play a hybrid game of “fetch” and “hide and seek” down our stairs. Essentially, we throw a chew then hide somewhere in the house. The stairs really tires him out, plus the hide and seek is mentally stimulating.
Personally do NOT recommend stairs for playing.
My stairs are carpeted and safe
Generally not advised for joint health.
Good idea! I haven't been leveraging the stairs enough!
Kibble meals are thrown one kibble at a time - dog needs to run and hunt to find it.
Chase the drone, my dog is six and this is still his favorite game. He plays with my husband every day after work. He no longer likes the dog park, I think the other dogs play too rough. The drone is the best exercise he gets.
Drone in the house?
I gave mine a ball to play with that works
I survived twin black labs with ball pit baby pool. Hid all sorts of things in there!
My mom’s 8MO maltipoo LOVES her puzzles. I got this one for her as an early Christmas present and she loves it AND crashes almost immediately afterwards.
Settle or tether training is a good one, not a game per se but its very useful to get them to realize sometimes we do nothing ! They dont have to always be busy and need to learn to relax.
Take a bath towel, lay it out . Put a few small treats in a row, fold the towel over the treats, repeat until the towel is one long roll. Tie It in a knot. Put the towel on the floor. It is now toco time. In the beginning I would just fold the towel in different directions ( so it looked like a square). Made it easy. Once he got the hang of it, then I tie it in a knot was born. He loves taco time .
Whatever you do don’t get a fabric snuffle mat. $300 lesson-learned on my end at the emergency vet. My lil baby ate half of it when he was exactly 5 months old.
Try wrapping some treats in a towel, with a knot in between. Load the knot with a lot of treats, and the ends with a few, so it's a gradual increase. Once the puppy figures out how to untie the knot, static using the same towel knot, but this time, wet the towel, fill treats, knot and freeze it. Amazing puzzle solving. Take it slow, step by step, starting with simple folds on the towel. Both, my now adult cocker spaniel, and 3 month old labrador love this, and is perfect if the puppy is teething. Good luck 👍
I do a game called "scampi!" I'll run from a room on one end of the apartment, to the other side. If my pup can beat me to the other side, she gets a tiny treat (she almost always wins). Then, I'll cower in a corner and let her try and keep me there.
She's also fond of toys, so I'll wiggle them around and let her pounce on them/go full WWE on them.
Also, as mentioned by others, puzzle toys are great for mental stimulation and rewarding. I also usually put something really tasty in them, if I need to keep her distracted while I eat a meal.
This may be unconventional but my puppy has to stay busy. I use a laser pointer and run it up and down the hallway as a game of chase. It takes 15-30 minutes but she’s worn out by the end of it
It appears you may have recommended a laser pointer. While they might seem innocent, laser pointers can lead to an increase in obsessive behaviors. Check out these resources here for more information on why laser pointers are not recommended for dogs.
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My puppy is tbh quite calm and really good at settling for a puppy so this might not be useful, but one thing that is almost guaranteed to tire him out is going on a walk to his favorite sniffing/digging spot and letting him do it for as long as he wants. Our record time was over one hour lmao
That's a good idea but probably not great to do in -20c weather with my small dog, even if he's all bundled up.
Ohhhh no lmao, that's true, sorry, I missed how low the weather is for you