Question
I have a one year old border collie who has kennel cough. He is vaccinated, I'm not sure how he got it, but here we are.
He is confined to the house/yard, and he is losing his mind. He normally goes to doggy daycare twice a week that sort of relaxes him, but he hasn't been able to do that since he got sick.
He plays fetch poorly, maybe for about 5 minutes max, so it hasn't helped in exercising him. I've been using a laser pointer to take the edge off, but he gets bored of that too.
We do about an hour of clicker shaping/training in the evening, which I think mellows him out a little. But not enough.
Other things I've tried:
- Frozen Kongs - he will eat the easy stuff off the top and leave the Kong until it defrosts.
- Bully sticks - actually pretty good, buys me about 20 minutes of free time
- Bones - also about 20 minutes worth of entertainment at a time
- Snuffle mat - we do this for about 30 minutes, but I don't know if it does too much.
- "Find it" game - he doesn't seem to get the idea. He gets the easy ones and lays down.
- Flirt pole - gets bored after about 5 minutes.
- RC car - works great, but he barks and herds and it gets kinda loud. Plus I don't want to encourage the barking.
I am looking for ideas for entertaining a high energy dog that doesn't require me to spend all of my free time after work doing it. Games? Fun toys? I want to avoid high-calorie activities because he also isn't exercising too much.
Answer
There is not going to be a one size fits all answer to this, as each dog is unique.
Both the question and existing answer have some good ideas, here are a few more.
Television: Animal and educational channels often have sound and pictures that some dogs find interesting
Mirror: That strange new dog that does not have a scent, can be a distraction. Be sure it is securely fastened so there are no accidents
Wildlife soundtracks: I have seen this work for short times, if you have one I would try it, but would not go out and buy one.
Stuffed animal: These can make good friends. Stay away from eyes or buttons that might get swallowed. Consider the risk (to your dog) if the stuffed animal gets eaten.
Answered By - James Jenkins