'We're stuck at home and the dog is bored!'

In my last entry I looked at a couple of ways to exercise your dog's brain if you are restricted to home for any reason. Today, I am going to go through a few training exercises and games that Finn and I do in the house or garden on days when we don't get out for a long walk, or we are on a 'cortisol break' following a difficult encounter with one of his triggers.

A half blown up football has always been a favoured toy

With a big enough garden, a game of fetch or frisbee is possible, but there are more constructive and interactive things that you can do. Being restricted to home for whatever reason gives a great opportunity to come up with new ways to have some interactive fun with your dog and to build and strengthen your bond.

Flirt pole. We have a home-made version of one of these lures. A six foot bamboo cane, a length of bungee cord, an old squeaky toy and some cable ties. You can drag it along the ground or throw the toy in the air for the dog to chase and catch, allowing them to display natural behaviours. Flirt poles are also good for working on impulse control. Finn has quite a strong chase drive, as expected with his breed, but has learned to wait on command as the squeaky toy on the end of the line is dragged around him, swung through the air near him and even dragged lightly across his body. Once released from the wait, he takes great joy in pouncing on the toy and running joyous circles around me!

With a bit of imagination and some handy man skills, you can make some agility equipment for the garden. Having bought a set of weave poles that go into the ground using spikes, we bought some little pole holding cups and attached them to some of the poles to make jump stands, using a few of the remaining weave poles to make jumps. Great for practicing close control and directional commands, impulse control and patience with the initial wait. Remember not to overdo jumping, in size, repetition or when the dog is very young as any of these could result in joint issues. We have a tyre jump as well, using a worn out motorcycle tyre, and a table that can be used to ask him to jump up, move around on it and waiting on it.

Paws up. This is something Finn and I have started doing fairly recently. Any stable structure can be used. On the command 'paws' Finn will put both front paws on whatever I am pointing at and wait. This is good for working on balance as they wait, and you can vary the commands for two or four paws.

We mix and match our obedience training outside. We might start with a heel, then into a back up and forwards again into a spin, then spin the other way. Another day it is a sit, into a down, then a right down (he lays his chin flat on the floor) followed by a sit up. These strings of commands will be interspersed with other activities, and never dwelt on for too long. One string of obedience commands and then on to something else. Not everything that you teach your dog has to have a 'use' as such, sometimes you can teach them things for fun - there is no real use to asking Finn to spin in a circle but it is something I taught him a long time ago and he found easy, so I will use it if he is struggling with something new I am trying to teach so that I always have something positive to ask him to do and be rewarded for. Anything that dogs can do successfully and we can reward them for doing is 'useful' and having fun with commands is great for building bonds.

Another game that we play frequently is the 'mark' game. I first taught Finn to touch his nose to the palm of my hand when he was small as a means of getting him to focus on me. As he's grown, it has turned into an interactive game. Wherever I hold my hand, he has to work out a way to touch his nose to it, whether that means jumping up, climbing on furniture or getting on the furniture and then jumping off to hit my hand while he's in the air. Obviously I always make sure that he does have a way he can do it, and it is massively entertaining watching him solve the problem of how to get to my hand.

Mark can be played inside or outside. When restricted to inside for any reason, Finn gets given challenges around the house. He has been taught how to open a particular cupboard door (one that now has no food items behind it... Always think through the consequences of what you are going to teach your dog to do!) and can also help me get washing out of the washing machine.

Between these kinds of games and training sessions, and the food based suggestions from the previous post and some imagination to develop more enrichment and exercise ideas, you can come up with a list of activities to keep you and your dog happy together at home.