When I originally began writing this blog we were in the grips of a deep freeze, but you wouldn’t know it now with the mild temperatures we’ve been experiencing lately. Where has winter gone?
Even though the weather is mild and borderline spring-like at times, this blog post is meant to help combat boredom with some safe indoor activities you can do when the cold air does finally return. We are in February after all!
When winter comes around, we all tend to hibernate. Some dogs don’t get the memo and extremely cold conditions can put their health at risk if you’re out in the cold for too long for our shorter, single coated friends.
Here are some tips to help keep your dog’s minds and bodies happy during winter’s cold snaps.
Foraging
Foraging for dogs is a natural part of their behaviour and what makes them great hunters and scavengers. Even when it’s cold and snowy we can provide opportunities to exercise this part of their brain indoors.
We can accomplish this in a variety of ways in the home by providing puzzle toys, treat dispensing toys and simply hiding bits of food around the house.
Trick Training
Trick training is an excellent way to stimulate your dog’s problem-solving abilities and further your bond with them. It’s a great outlet and stress free as you both work on conquering your next trick together. Some easy tricks to get you started can be leg weave (going through each leg as you take a step forward), going under your legs, spin/twirl, walking out to a target, using voice buttons to request treats or playtime, bow, crawl, fetch and sit pretty to give you some ideas.
Scent Games and Nose Work
Scent work is another excellent exercise. Olfaction (smelling) comes naturally to dogs. They’re amazing sniffers and a large part of their brain is devoted to processing those smells. Scent work is beneficial as it can help mitigate behavioural issues, build confidence, and creates excitement and joy for learning. Some scents to get you started are pine, anise and peppermint. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy has a great online introduction course to help get you started https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/13342.
Body Conditioning and Awareness
Just as we humans work out to stay in tip top shape, dogs can and should too, especially our athletic dogs who participate in sports. Body Conditioning helps to improve muscle mass and strength, coordination and balance.
It helps to reduce injury during play and other physical activities. Conditioning can include hydrotherapy, swimming, stretching and massage. Stretching and teaching body awareness is a great place to get started at home. With a treat in hand you can start by luring your dog into various positions like a bow or crawl. Remember to only do things your dog is mentally and physically capable of doing. You can also guide them over small jumps and onto low platforms and ask them to hold that position. You can add in other challenges like stability platforms to work on core muscles. I find body conditioning and body awareness especially helpful for our aging dogs who may lose their footing walking over uneven surfaces. I’ve included a video of Amelia and I working on some equipment, you can view it here https://youtu.be/s6iWAVbclzQ.
Safe Indoor Physical Activities
If your dog is treadmill trained and has a “keep going” and “stop” signal, a treadmill can be a safe option to help when you’re not able to get outside. Note this is not a replacement for regular walks where they get plenty of opportunities to explore and interact with nature.
Smaller dogs can benefit from playing with a flirt pole or playing fetch in a hallway. Make sure to lay something down with traction on slippery floors before playing indoors so your dog doesn’t slip and fall.
Another idea I’ve seen is using the stairs that have platforms mid-way to play fetch with treats. Toss some treats up the steps and the dog must climb up the stairs to get the treats, toss them down the stairs and your dog has to go down to get them. Once again to be on the safe side and reduce injury, the stairs should have something with traction to allow your dog to go up and down freely without the risk of slipping and falling.
Hopefully these tips give you some ideas on how you and your dog can beat the winter blues. Stay warm out there!
