Chewing and Boredom, Games for Your Dog

Chewing is a normal stage of puppy behaviour, don't get a puppy if losing your best shoes and the legs off your furniture is going to bother you. Their teeth and gums hurt and they also like to experiment with new things. A baby has a dummy or a teething ring, what does your dog have?

If you have a young dog who is in the chewing phase (and remember for some breeds that is a long time) don't leave it in a cage with nothing to do. A sterile environment will drive your puppy mad and it could hurt itself chewing the cage. If you use a cage it is a good idea to always reward the dog for going in with a chew. Cages can be a very good way of containing a puppy. Although rare, there are cases of puppies being killed through chewing hazardous cleaning chemicals or electric cables. Safety is paramount.

There is no point in having dozens of toys out all over the house and expecting your dog to chew them when you leave. If those toys are accessible all the time then they are not very interesting when you are out. That is the moment the dog will go and find all the different things to chew up. It is better to have several toys out and every few days swap them for some other ones and keep doing that. Leave a chew or bone or a filled Kong. You can use an activity ball or other type and fill it with treats. A few small cubes of cheese make that more rewarding for the dog too. It can't work out why occasionally a lovely piece of cheese comes out.

If you use a specific treat, toy or bone to amuse your dog when left, always remove it when you return. Your dog will soon realise these special things only exist when you are out. With limited access, they tend to appreciate the toy or food more.

One of my favourite tricks is to give the dog a chew or bone in a taped up cardboard box. The dog will love chewing up the box to get at the treat and the whole thing is much more rewarding than just a chew.

Make sure your dog is occupied and preferably tired when you leave. Older dogs can chew out of boredom. A walk before you go to work or even a good play in the garden can tire them out. Some dogs like having a radio or tv left on or an old shirt of yours with your smell.

Clever and working breeds like to learn things. They need more mental exercise than physical. You can teach most dogs some simple but fun games.

Dogs can learn the names of several toys, some are better at this than others. Take a toy, let's say a rope and throw it, saying "fetch rope". Do this plenty of times. Then pick up another type of toy, let's say a ball and have one in each hand. Then letting the dog see both, throw the rope and use the command "fetch rope". At some point throw the ball instead and say nothing. If the dog gets it, just ignore it, throw the rope and command again. Then start throwing both toys and make a point of helping him or her to pick the rope. Once this is reliable, you can start again using a different toy from scratch. Dogs love working out which is the right toy and it is more stimulating than just fetching the nearest toy. In advance you can hide the one you intend to ask for to make it more challenging.

Lots of dogs are good at scenting out things. You can use this normal behaviour to make life more interesting by hiding chews and treats around the house. Under cushions or rugs or even spread a newspaper all over the floor, overlapping the pages a little. Hide a treat underneath and watch your dog trash the paper to get it and have great fun.

Another version of this is to get several plastic plant pots. Just take one to start with and let your dog see you put a treat underneath. Encourage the dog to turn over the pot to get the treat. Some dogs pick this up immediately, some use brute force and push the pot all over before realising they have to flip it. Once the dog gets the idea, introduce more pots and let the dog work out which one actually has the food. If the dog gets too good, buy heavier pots! You can also extend this for the dogs that need more work. Place the pots in different places around the garden rather than all together on the patio. Initially walk round with the dog, pointing at the pots as you find them. If you have done the original game properly the dog will realise that the pot means check for a treat. Eventually you should be able to send the dog off round the garden to find the pots and work out where the treat is. Always pick the pot up and put them away afterwards. The dog will lose interest if it keeps finding empty pots when you are not playing.

You can play a sort of fetch the human game too. This is also very useful if you are incredibly lazy! Get your partner to stand just outside the room and tell the dog, "go find X". The idea is that "X" will call the dog and praise it. You could teach the dog to bark or touch the person with a paw. Once the dog gets the idea, get the person to hide in a slightly more difficult place and not call the dog and so on. Only when the dog is reliably searching for the person can you swap people and names. The dog will enjoy scenting around and listening for clues.

I am sure that if you use your imagination you can think of lots of variations on this. Exercise, entertainment and attention make a happy dog.