I am wrapping up this series with some interactive dog items. These toys move on their own or after a dog touches them. These are fun for dogs to interactive with by chasing, paw kicking, herding, fetching or just having fun touching with paws or nose. There are a variety of interactive toys for dogs, I will touch on a few here, but if you do a little research & I think you will be surprised at all the options out there. There are some that light up, bounce high, wiggle or make sounds.
Not all dogs like the same type, so keep your receipt, if your dog shows no interest after a few attempts then you can return it from where you bought it or sell it online. Don’t get discouraged if the first one is of no interest, as I stated there are a variety of them out there.
I had a stuffed one years ago that had a recording device in it & I recorded my voice so when my dog moved it a certain way it had a message for him. It was made of cloth so couldn’t have it around my current dog Echo because he would try & de-stuff it.
I have a toy that has a ball within a ball & for dogs who love balls it was fun to see them try & remove the smaller ball, it can’t be done, but 2 tried.
The above ball moves around & watching it can occupy a variety of dogs & keep their mind busy watching even if they are not directly interacting. Some of these toys require that they are touched after a certain time or they go dormitory till touched again.
My current dogs are not big ball dogs, my previous dogs Sam & Sydney both were very ball driven & felt every ball they saw was theirs. It made for a few fun times when they tried to steal balls from kids playing soccer or basketball. Thank goodness the kids were great sports about it & they never damaged a ball.
Finding a fun interactive or activation toy can be fun for hours for a dog. It can help them to self occupy & allow you to sit & relax. I always recommend you monitor your dog when they have any new toys or one that could be chewed & pieces ingested.
I hope this series has given you some ideas for your smart & or active dog. There are a lot of fun things to help keep your dogs mind busy. A busy mind can really help wear out an active dog. People think physical exercise is always needed to use up energy, it is great, but not the only thing, mental exercise can actually be more effective in helping a dog to use up energy then being able to relax & nap.
If you enjoyed this series & it gave you an idea or two, please take a few minutes & help me to get the word out about my blog. You can help by visiting my site often (check out my 162 other posts), sharing the link a the bottom of page with friends & family who have pets. Subscribe to my blog (you will just get a weekly notification when I post). Comment on something you liked or learned. My goal is to share my 20+ years fostering pets & a lifetime of living with pets with other pet lovers & helping more pets to Thrive & not just Survive. If you have a question or an idea for a post, feel free to email me at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com Thank you, Debbie
