Winter and colder weather keeps many pet parents and their dogs inside. It is challenging to find activities to keep them active and stimulated physically and mentally. Boredom in dogs can lead to unwanted behaviors.  If a dog does not have enough to do they often find destructive ways to keep busy and fight boredom.

Playing food games that combine their natural scavenger and finding food instincts will help prevent doggy boredom. One note of caution – a hungry dog may become frustrated and possibly aggressive if they have to work too hard for their food. Give them a “work-free” meal about 30 minutes before playing food games.

Games like this improve your dog’s ability scenting ability plus their logic skills. The shared experience offers special bonding and togetherness opportunities to praise and encourage your pet.

Let the games begin… have fun with your dog this winter!

 

The MUFFIN TIN GAME is a very popular food game for dogs.  For this game you need a twelve-muffin cup tin and six tennis balls.

Start out with a few treats in the muffin cups so your dog gets used to eating treats from the muffin tin.  Next place treats in all the cups but cover a few with the tennis balls.  Eventually you can hide treats under six of the cups.  The two-part challenge is figuring out that treats are in all the cups and how to get the treats in the cups by nosing out the tennis ball. A variation of this game suggests using twelve tennis balls and covering all the muffin cups.