Lockdown boredom cure for your furry friends

As South Africans entered the fifth week of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, many still found themselves scrambling for ways to entertain themselves and their furry companions which, like their owners, were adjusting to their new normal.

This has meant not going for their regular walks in the park, or even going for a jog around the neighbourhood.

According to pet speciality retailer, Canine & Co, the lockdown could be stressful for pets too, but that did not mean you should despair as there are many activities you could use to stimulate your dog and ease its discomfort caused by the disrupted routine. The retailer, together with Werner Roos, a dog behaviourist and trainer, have put down a few creative ideas to kick-start some indoor fun.

• Scatter-feeding – This is a super-easy way to keep your furry family busy for a longer period. Dogs naturally love to hunt, so making them earn their treats and food by looking for them shouldn’t be seen as punishment. Just make sure you don’t play this game with a ravenous dog. Also known as ‘nose work’, this game is a quick way to get them moving and exercised, and ready for bedtime. Use part of their normal daily food portion so that you don’t overfeed them, but still ensure that their daily nutritional requirements are met. Start the game off by dropping some of the food or snacks while they are watching you, and then work at spreading it over a larger area. The game can also be made trickier by making them ‘sit or stay’ while you scatter the food, and then letting them know when they are allowed to start looking for the food.

• Nose work/ Nose games – This game can be quite fun once your dogs have learnt and understood the command to ‘find the treats’. You can even keep them in another room while you hide the treats so that you make the scavenger hunt more exciting. To make this game extra rewarding, make sure you use some delicious and high-reward treats. Start off by having your dogs watch as you place the treats around the room, and then tell them to find the treats once you’re ready to go.

• Interactive dog toys – Given lockdown and the unavailability of toys, why not try making your own treat dispenser? Relieve your pets’ boredom and yours through interactive play. Simply place some dry dog food or treats into an empty two-litre cold drink bottle and let your dogs roll the bottle around to make the treats fall out. Make sure you supervise your pets when they play with any type of toy, to ensure safety. Post lockdown, you could look at purchasing your own treat dispenser.

• Frozen treats – Fill up an ice tray with some delicious meaty broth and freeze it for your furry companions. They will appreciate it, especially on a warm day, whilst playing in the garden. If you don’t have meaty broth, you can also look at freezing some of your dog’s dry food in plain water in an ice tray.

• Basic obedience training – This is an activity you can practise with your dogs every day! The basic commands to start with are ‘sit’, ‘lie down’, ‘shake’, ‘stay’, and ‘come here’. We all love a well-mannered pooch (and so do our visitors!), but training your dogs to obey a new command is a great challenge for them, and also provides a good workout for their brains! Remember not to spend a lengthy period of time doing this, but rather five minutes at a time.

“We hope these training tips will motivate you to get over any lockdown slump you and your pets are going through. While lockdown has been extended, we hope you make the most of it by implementing a few, if not all of these handy tips,” Werner said.