I really like active breeds of dogs, the sporting, herding type breeds, but if you choose an active breed you need to know they can get into trouble if they aren’t kept busy or have a job to do. Where I live the days are starting to get shorter & if you work full-time & get home & need to make dinner, help kids with homework, cleanup up around the house etc… it is dark before you know it. My dog Echo is very reactive so walking him at night would be a nightmare. I need to be able to clearly see what is around us or even what is a couple blocks away as we may need to exit quickly to avoid confrontation with a human or a strange dog. So I started thinking if I’m having these issues maybe other dog owners are also. Echo isn’t my first reactive/fearful dog, I fostered a number of them & I had one before I had my current two dogs. I thought this would make a good series, so others would have some ideas of things they can do with their dogs as the days get shorter or the weather isn’t nice. I don’t like going out in the rain & neither do either of my dogs.
I think a lot of people think that dogs have to have physical exercise to help them use up energy, but this is not true. Mental exercise can really help a dog calm down. If I recall correctly 30 minutes of mental exercise is equal to about 2 hours of physical exercise. So doing thinking activities with your dog can be fun & help them to settle down after & sleep well. It also helps keep them sharp, just like it does for humans.
Please also know that no dog is too old to learn new things. Some don’t learn as quickly as others, I have two perfect examples of that. Hunter isn’t that bright where Echo is very smart. My last dog was 3 when I adopted her & she didn’t know much of anything & she finished top in both obedience 101 & 102. She did well in all the other classes we took, I’ll share more in future posts.
Learning new things also builds confidence & most often it helps a dog to listen better & in turn behave better. I saw this with Sydney & have seen it with Echo. Confidence helps with fears & that helps them not to be as reactive if fear is the reason they react.
This week I wanted to start with something simple, a snuffle mat. This is a mat that you hide small tidbits of treats or kibble in & let the dog use their brain, nose & eyes to smell & find the little bits of food.
My dogs are great buddies & don’t fight over food, so I can let them both search together, but please don’t do with 2 or more dogs if there is any chance of a fight breaking out.
A silicone lick mat you can put foods into (pumpkin, or canned dog food) is another alternative if your dog would chew up a cloth snuffle mat. I don’t allow my dogs to have it unless I am present or it might get chewed up or carried away by one of them.
Licking & smelling are very soothing for dogs & these both help them to emotionally relax. If your dog is stressed maybe when grand-kids are over or someone they like isn’t home & they can’t settle down, both these things can help them relax & self soothe.
I hope you found this helpful & you will come back & read the rest of the ideas in this upcoming series I will be writing. I’m not sure how many posts it will be, but I have quite a few ideas & I will try & explain how to teach those that require some training. I used these things to help many of the foster dogs I have had in the past as many I fostered were fearful. My heart was to help the dogs who were scared, it was a passion of mine, & I’m not bragging but I was often quite successful & they went on to be adopted & continued to do well.
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