A Happy, Well-Balanced Dog: Part II

Mental stimulation is extremely important, and often overlooked.  We are intelligent beings, and dogs are as well- believe it or not.  They think, and when there is a lack of mental stimulation they become bored.  Boredom in dogs is trouble.  When they’re bored they will find ways to entertain themselves….and we tend to not be in favor of their creative endeavors.  (Think holes chewed in drywall, expensive shoes becoming expensive chew toys, digging to china etc.)  It is important to feed the need for mental stimulation with more constructive outlets.

  

Providing interactive toys is one of the easiest ways to provide these constructive outlets.  Interactive toys are not bones… they’re not squeaky toys or stuffed animals.  They’re puzzles.  Fido thinks to himself:  “How do I get that food out of there????”

Sassy the Pomeranian playing with an interactive toy-( StarMark Day-Glo Everlasting Fun Ball, Medium, Green)- satisfying her need for mental stimulation

 

Mental stimulation is super important when teaching a dog to love their crate and when they’re being left alone to avoid anxiety. Think about 2 people being left alone in 2 identical closets for 4 hours.  Person #1 is given a computer that is hooked up to the internet.  Person #2 is left with a teddy bear.  Unless person #2 is entertained extremely easily (and already a little whack-a-doo), person #1 will receive much more stimulation and will be able to tolerate the 4 hour closet time day after day with much more ease.   

Above: The "Bob-a-lot" (perfect for feeding time)

My favorite interactive toys are included under “Trainer’s Pick” on the upper right hand side of the page.  Instead of feeding your dog out of a bowl, get them an interactive toy and feed them out of that when possible. Instead of 2 minutes (with some 20 seconds) and it’s gone, they will spend 20 minutes to an hour getting all of their food out.  Not only are they getting mental stimulation the whole time, but they’re getting physical exercise and satisfying their natural hunt drive.  

Young puppies are always on the go- you always have to keep an eye on them- and trust me, sometimes it's nice to be able to plop down a toy that holds their attention while you sit back and enjoy the cuteness.  Much more “stimulating” than a metal bowl…although, my dog Bucky LOVES to play with those too….

A Happy, Well-Balanced Dog: Part I

There are three things, other than medical care, that a dog requires to live a happy and well-balanced life.  I want to start by talking about physical stimulation. (Don't get too excited there fellas!)

Physical stimulation means getting out there and being more active so we're healthier and not so "blah" feeling. Exercise can make you feel a lot better than when you go without it, and not to mention all of the health benefits.  (Perhaps I should practice what I preach...)

For dogs, a back yard doesn't count.  When a dog is in a back yard and it is their only means of physical exercise, it is pretty much the equivalent of us going to the gym... getting on the elliptical for 30 seconds and then getting off of it....proceeding to get back on for one minute, to just get off again.  Granted this IS something- however when it is the only means of physical exercise, after a while it will do little to nothing for you.

Now, on the flip side of this... let’s say we have a very enthusiastic pup- with a high drive and what seems to be an endless supply of energy: A “hyperactive” dog as some might say.  Their owner realizes this and takes the dog running with them a LOT.  At first it seemed to really curb that enthusiasm, but now... it hardly fazes them.  They need to run further, faster, and more often to even get close to the effect that running once had on the dog.  Now what we have is an athlete of a dog- a conditioned, toned running machine....with a hyperactive mind.  What gives?!

Physical stimulation is just one piece of the puzzle... a good amount of exercise is still needed, but without the rest of the pieces we still have an unbalanced dog.  Just think about what they recommend for humans—at least 30 minutes of exercise/activity is often all that is required to be beneficial.  Take your dog on regular walks.  Play fetch with your dog.  Just take the time to give them a daily outlet for pent up energy.  We don’t need to run marathons to see the benefits of physical exercise,  and most of our dogs are not training to be canine athletes.

Indy playing fetch in the Snow

Next piece of the puzzle:  Mental Stimulation- stay tuned!

Introduction

Indy and Titan

I’m a dog person…. Heck- I’m a dog trainer, a professional one at that. Dogs are my meal ticket, my fascination, my life.

 I do have a cat, but I wouldn’t consider myself a cat person. Even my cat, Titan- who I raised from a kitten, acts more like a dog than he does a cat. (Nature vs. Nurture?)

My personality in no way resembles that of a cat. I’m way too easily entertained. I’m nowhere near as tidy as a cat, and I’m definitely not as graceful.

I feel like cats plan…. Like they plot and map out their approach to a situation. Planning gives me anxiety. Dogs however? They often get themselves way in over their head. They often become blinded by their enthusiasm. When the moment arrives where they realize perhaps they’re not in the best position, they react. They learn from trial and error just like we do, yet if dogs were writers I do not believe their work would be overly intellectual or philosophical.

But cats? Just look at them…. They always appear to be in deep thought. Their movement is smooth and fluid- deliberate. Their balance is innate, and they can pretty much see in the dark for Christ’s sake.

This is an introduction for my blog.  Based on my thought process above, I have no idea why I think I can write. I’m living in the moment- much like a dog does...I’m just living and loving a life gone to the dogs.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

We take your privacy seriously. This policy describes what personal information we collect and how we use it. (This privacy policy is applicable to websites falling under the primary holder, Living and Loving a Life Gone to The Dogs, http://life2dogs.blogspot.com/)

Routine Information Collection

All web servers track basic information about their visitors. This information includes, but is not limited to, IP addresses, browser details, timestamps and referring pages. None of this information can personally identify specific visitors to this site. The information is tracked for routine administration and maintenance purposes, and lets me know what pages and information are useful and helpful to visitors.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Where necessary, this site uses cookies to store information about a visitor's preferences and history in order to better serve the visitor and/or present the visitor with customized content.

Advertising partners and other third parties may also use cookies, scripts and/or web beacons to track visitors to our site in order to display advertisements and other useful information. Such tracking is done directly by the third parties through their own servers and is subject to their own privacy policies.

Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
Amazon



Controlling Your Privacy

Note that you can change your browser settings to disable cookies if you have privacy concerns. Disabling cookies for all sites is not recommended as it may interfere with your use of some sites. The best option is to disable or enable cookies on a per-site basis. Consult your browser documentation for instructions on how to block cookies and other tracking mechanisms.

Special Note About Google Advertising

Any advertisements served by Google, Inc., and affiliated companies may be controlled using cookies. These cookies allow Google to display ads based on your visits to this site and other sites that use Google advertising services. Learn how to opt out of Google's cookie usage. As mentioned above, any tracking done by Google through cookies and other mechanisms is subject to Google's own privacy policies.

About Google advertising: What is the DoubleClick DART cookie? The DoubleClick DART cookie is used by Google in the ads served on publisher websites displaying AdSense for content ads. When users visit an AdSense publisher’s website and either view or click on an ad, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser. The data gathered from these cookies will be used to help AdSense publishers better serve and manage the ads on their site(s) and across the web. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

Contact Information

Concerns or questions about this privacy policy can be directed to life2dogs@gmail.com for further clarification.Privacy Policy for http://life2dogs.blogspot.com/