Bored dogs

[CityGirlintheCountry]

It is hot here. Really, really hot. The heat index was 119 yesterday. Evening at dusk it is still in the 90s. The dogs have absolutely no desire to do anything outside. I can barely convince them to go out to potty. I understand. I don't particularly want to go outside either.

The problem is that the dogs are bored. There is only so much sleeping you can do. A bone only lasts so long. Playing ball in the house is hard on the house (and the cats). I am running out of ideas to keep them entertained. Both are boxer mixes and weigh about 60 pounds each.

Any thoughts on what to do with them?

 

[teach1rusl]

I hear ya! Our heat wave finally broke yesterday evening after storms passed through

You should have see my dogs going wild - my dane reminded me of the Tazmanian Devil from Bugs Bunny. He was tearing through the yard, jumping, spinning... They were SO happy. I'm lucky that one is (for the most part) a couch potato and the other is older, so they did okay with their confinement. I still took them out (when it was blazing hot) and would spray them with hoses (kind of like kids playing in sprinklers, right?), but it never lasted more than 10 minutes and we were back inside. Tug ropes?? Or work on teaching them some new command/trick - mental exercise can ease things a bit. Any light at the end of the tunnel (weather break-wise) for you guys predicted soon???

 

[jenni22776rn]

I can relate..I have 3 labs and one that is only 1 year old. it has been so hot that they have been inside all day. For my younger lab Brody, we bought one of those Kong toys that you can put treats in..we change the treats with peanut butter..that seems to last the longest with his attention span and they make some treats that you can out in it. It is hard and they do get bored..we just try to give them as many toys to play with as possible..good luck and try to stay cool!

 

[Godsgrl]

Almost empty jars of peanut butter are really fun toys for dogs. I did this recently when combining jars, and it kept the dogs entertained for quite a while. Here is a link to a variety of homemade dog toys to keep them busy. I hope it helps.

http://blogs.dogster.com/dog-training/suggestions-for-home-made-dog-toys/2011/01/

 

[HEChicken]

I like those Kong-type toys where you can hide a treat in it and it (hopefully) takes them awhile to work out how to get it out. What I have found too is that it is best to give a chew toy to only one of the dogs (out of two). Doesn't matter which one. If I give one to each of them, they chew on it for about 2 minutes and then abandon it. However if I give it to only one of them, they will play with it for a lot longer because they know as soon as they give it up, the other will grab it. Meanwhile, the one who doesn't have it, spends the whole time focused on the one who does, awaiting his/her opportunity to steal it. It ends up keeping both of them amused for far longer.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

My big fat ebt seems to have aged ten years in this heat. All he does is lay around on the cool hardwood floors and sleep. He barely wants to get let out anymore. We took him on a walk last night and he just wasn't into it. I bought him a bone and a new toy but I honestly think he just wants to sleep through the summer. I'm enjoying this for now because come winter the dogs gonna have a bad case of cabin fever!

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

In this kind of weather my dogs love the water--hose, pool, stock tank--they are not fussy. Then they stretch out on the screened porch until they are dry and are happy to come into the house. But the dunking sure seems to keep the edge off the urge to wrestle in the house! I have Dobies and GSDs, so once inside they really DO have to behave if I want my furniture to survive!!

Rusty

 

[danielle82]

turn on the sprinkler and throw there ball through it! they get to run and get cooled off at the same time

 

[4 the Birds]

You can get one of those cheapo baby pools for under 20 bucks. Fill it with water in a shady area and you are golden! We have a pond out back and the dogs take a dip and then come back to the wood deck where I have a floor fan set-up. They love to sit in front of the fan!! It also keeps any irratating knats or flies away.

 

[gritsar]

CityGirl, that's about all we do right now in this heat. Lay around, some bone chewing, some limited rubber bone fetching. Kane has a kiddie wading pool, but I don't even let him do that until later in the evening.
The only other thing I can think of is playing hide and seek with treats. We hide them throughout the house and have the boys "seek" em. But even that only lasts so long.