Dear Miss Behavin’:
While our current situation of having to shelter in place is very scary, the bright side is that I get to spend more time with my dog! I am worried though when we return to “normal’ how will he adjust?
This is an excellent question as many of us do not normally work from home or bring our dogs to work with us on a daily basis. There are a few things you can do now in order to prepare your dog for when your routine returns to normal.
If you are currently venturing outside for walks, you can try and take some of the walks without your dog. I know that our dogs are getting many more walks than what their normal is. This is great on a health standpoint, but we are also setting a standard that our dogs may come to expect. If we are not able to provide that down the road, we may see destructive behavior emerge in the absence of the physical activity.
You can turn to mental exercise instead of extra physical exercise by playing indoor games like Find It. There are many ways to play the game, but the idea is to hide things for your dog to find. This can be a game of Come in the house, were family members hide and then they call the dog’s name out and they have to find them. It can also be hiding treats or stuffed Kong’s in a room and having your dog hunt for them. This is easy to continue once you return to your normal routine.
You can also up your dog’s box of tricks! There are many out there, pick an easy one to start and build on the difficulty as you go. Once we are back to being able to gather in groups, your dog will be able to show off all their new skills!
In addition we are currently offering virtual consults and classes. Contact our Behavior Department at [email protected] or 650-340-7022 ext. 667 for more details.