As more and more people are working from home, the problem of how to keep your dog entertained arises. Dogs are obviously super happy to have their humans at home and expect a certain level of interaction.
But that can be difficult to do when you’ve got loads of work to do. So, how do you keep your dog happy and mentally stimulated while you tackle that digital mountain of spreadsheets?
Here are some great tips to help you when working from home with pets.
How to Keep Your Dog Entertained with Toys
There are a lot of ways to entertain your dog with toys that are either solo or for both of you.
Solo toys are generally something your dog can chew on to keep themselves entertained. Since chewing is an activity that reduces stress and makes dogs feel calmer, the right chew toy will keep your dog entertained for hours.
Toys for active dogs, like treat dispensers and flirt poles, are particularly effective if your dog has loads of energy.
Kong toys, made of hard rubber with a central cavity can be filled with treats like peanut butter, which most dogs go nuts for. You can also make your own chew toys out of old jeans or plastic bottles.
Puzzles & Playthings
Dog puzzle toys are another great way to keep your dog focussed on a task, stimulating them mentally and rewarding them with treats when they discover the secret treat.
You can also try scatter feeding and using snuffle mats to let your dog work their nose and find little prizes on their own. This is a very rewarding activity since it taps into one of the most basic instincts your dog has and repays them for it.
Early Exercise
The biggest challenge when working from home with dogs is working out what to do with all the energy your dog has.
A good way to combat this is to take your dog out for a morning walk. It will help your dog expend some energy and make them less likely to be restless throughout the day.
It will also help you to shake off the morning haze!
Take a Break
As effective as toys can be to keep your dog occupied, they want one thing more than anything else; your attention.
Taking regular breaks has been shown to be beneficial to both your mental state and your productivity at work.
So why not use some of those short breaks to give your dog some attention? Play some tug o’ war, hide and seek, or scent games.
One example is starting by placing some food or a treat in front of your dog and telling them to find it. Gradually increase the distance until you can hide treats in more challenging places and celebrate with your dog when they find them.
There are a lot of training games you can play too that only take a few minutes and can help to train behaviors like loose leash walking and recall.
Happy Dogs, Happy Homes
It can be difficult to figure out how to keep your dog entertained at first, but you’ll get to know what they like and what they don’t.
Whether you use toys or try to incorporate more interaction with them into your day, your dog will appreciate the stimulation, and you’ll be able to get some work done.
If you found this article helpful, check our other content on pets and working from home.