Are you running short of ways to keep your pup entertained? I know I am. I never realized just how much playing would be enough for a puppy. Even after an hour of play Kip wants to play more. So how long is enough? Well, he seemed tired after 9 hours at the daycare, but I just can’t devote nine hours a day to play with my puppy. I have work, and on weekends I get to catch up with housework, groceries and errands. So thus the hunt goes on for ways to keep my puppy entertained. When I searched the internet, there were a few ideas as to how to keep your dog entertained.
The first way was to hide their food in a box, so that they have to use their nose and work for their food. This turned out to be a big no-no. While it did make Kip work for his food, it also led him to ripping open the box into a thousand pieces, scattering it all. over. the. floor. Pieces small enough to be scattered over my entire apartment, big enough that it would probably kill my vacuum. I had to squat and pick up them all up, swearing that I would never give Kip his food in a box again.
The next way was to put a tennis ball or food inside an old sock. I decided I would his kong with some peanut butter inside 3 layers of socks. I came home and found the toe of the sock torn open and the kong licked clean. Needless to say, one cannot supply an old sock for their dog on a daily basis. Plus, now I need to teach Kip that socks do not belong to him, and neither do boxes or paper. Save yourself the trouble of trying these methods out, I can tell you first hand that they are bad ideas.
But if you do have a Kong…
Try freezing it with water inside the water bowl. Kip’s water bowl has a stainless steel part that can be conveniently lifted out of the holder. I haven’t tried it in a regular bowl (since Kip doesn’t have multiple bowls) but fill the bowl with water about 2/3 of the way. Have part of the Kong sticking out of the water surface so that your dog will be able to bite/paw at it. Don’t forget to run some warm water over it so the ice starts to melt and your dog’s tongue doesn’t get stuck.
The beauty of having a separate bowl and holder, is that the bowl will spin around in the holder when your dog tries to paw it out. Check out this video on YouTube of Kip trying to get his frozen Kong.
And do let me know how it works out for you!
