Dol Dogs Favourite Anti-boredom Devices!

[FranVT]

Hey guys!

What are your dogs' favourite anti-boredom devices? I wanna know! Cheap or not, DIY or not, I would love some recommendations!

I left Luuka alone in part of the house yesterday for the first time in her life (with no dogs or people) and she was actually really really good! I had a pile of cardboard boxes on the veranda that she had access to and she didn't even touch them. Only thing she did was chew a wooden coathanger and, I realised as I went to bed, did a wee on my bed! She's never done that before, she is really good with her toilet training. It is my fault though, she is not sure where to go when she doesn't have access to a yard so I need to reinforce the (newspapered) area of the veranda as her toilet spot.

Anyway, I feel sorry for the poor little tyke left on her lonesome all day, like Shelle said I reckon she probably does sleep a lot but I'd love for her to have fun things to do. I'm thinking of filling the clam pool with sand and putting that on the veranda for her and burying her toys. I left toys for her yesterday and she did definitely use some of them but they're not very 'fun' toys really just squeakies. Today she's having a playdate with my ex MIL and her dog, Presley, they live right near my work and have offered to have her on the days that I work long hours which is just lovely :D

I'd love to hear other DOLers brilliant ideas as I am constantly amazed by the ingenuity of members on here to enrich their dogs lives.

Thanks!

Edited May 5, 2010 by FranCQ

[dee lee]

I find having a mail slot in the front door really keeps Honey occupied...

Especially if new credit cards get delivered..

Sorry, I'm no help- I'm in the same boat Fran, looking forward to some good tips! :D

[VJB]

A 2 litre juice or coke bottle with a bit of kibble that rattles around in it. Make sure there are no plastic rings left on the bottles, and no lid (so the kibble can come out at some point if rolled the right way).

Paper towel rolls with a bit of peanut butter smeared in the middle of the roll.

My dog loves those moulded silicone ice cube trays that I fill with an array of treats and freeze. Usually I put some wet dog food, cottage cheese, mashed sardines etc in them, and this takes her quite a while to get through. I've only given this though when we are home and have people over for dinner. While we eat, she gets this outside and it keeps her occupied instead of smearing her nose against the glass door and looking longingly at us all enjoying a b'cue.

Edited May 5, 2010 by VJB

[FranVT]

Cooool VJB! Does that mean you put the stuff in the ice tray and freeze it or just shove it in there? I have frozen bits of sardines inside ice cubes for her when it was really hot, that did keep her occupied! That was a DOL idea!

[Guest Ams]

Toilet paper rolls with kibble inside (like bonbons).

Frozen treats - mix wet food and kibble together, freeze in kongs, yoghurt or butter containers.

Tie treat biscuits to a toy and suspend the toy with elastic so when they try to get the treat if they let go it bounces up out of reach. Even better if you make the toy a bit high and they have to stretch to reach it in the first place.

Freeze vegies in ice and drop into water bowl. Low calorie and good for "apple bobbing".

Put morning meal in little tiny piles all over the place so she has to go search for it and not have it in one place. Individual cups from egg cartons are good (good for cats too). Or if she has access to yard throw the kibble all over the lawn, it can take all day to find each individual piece.

Collect old socks and put one inside the next, inside the next, inside the next, until you get a sock ball. They can spend all day pulling one sock off at a time and you just put it back together that evening for the next day.

[Bundyburger]

Toilet rolls are used here... Kongs are now the "in" thing too I like the icecube tray idea, except I know "Mr Munch" would end up chewing it to bits like he did his water bowl one day when we were out longer than normal and he'd worn out his bunch of toys and treats!

[W Sibs]

Umm... I'm keeping Emmy and Charlie separate at the moment. Emmy has one half of the house and Charlie has the other half.

With Charlie... he just sleeps. I know this because the meds that he is currently taking will knock him out for the rest of the day. Plus, he gets the front glass sliding door, and he gets to watch people and cars going pass the house. He loves people watching. He is a very nosy neighbour!

With Emmy... it's kong. It's different toys. It's dog bikkies scattered around the floor. She also got the full access to the backyard, and I've set up the bubble machine for her too. But, she is still young so she still sleeps a lot.

[FranVT]

Omg a bubble machine! That is the best idea ever!

This is so great guys keep it coming!

[all that glitters]

Yay I'm glad she was a good girl! Except piddling on the bed.. wow!

With Shyla I give her a can of sardines over her morning mince (like I said b4 it makes her so occupied she doesn't see me leaving - good old super strong smelling sardines! ), a kong filled with peanut butter and a bit of cat bikkies (she loves them, hehe) and I shove a long natural sundried chew stick down in the hole so it sticks out like a pipe. I also fill up her treat ball with kibble. I tried the kibble-in-empty-coke-bottle but I used to come home and it would be untouched! Go figure, haha. I also scatter a handful of bikkies over the floor sometimes so she has to find them all, and sometimes I hide a pigs ear somewhere to see if it's gone when I get home. I leave the radio on so she has constant talking voices/music and she gets a marrow bone a few times a week (some people dont like leaving the bones with dogs unsupervised but Shy eats them slow and careful). We also leave her sticks from outside to chew on and hard cardboard rolls (like paper towel rolls but much harder) from hubbies work

[Bubitty]

Bitty enjoys:

*nice juicy beef chuck bone,

*pureed custard apple frozen in a cup (great for trashing cup and eating treat at same time, I also make frozen banana peanut butter cups),

*a raw egg, inside an egg carton that has been taped shut. Sometimes I give her a hard paper tube with a boiled egg squished in it.

*a big carboard box, that is taped shut, with another box inside, and another box inside that and another one, with a piece or roast meat in the smallest box at the end.

*a piece of water melon with rind and all

*Empty paper tube cartons filled with fruit salad and with the lid screwed back on

*A quarter of a raw coconut

[fiveplusone]

definately kongs here (we've up graded recently to the "extreme" black one!), filled with yummy things then frozen.

Hugo also loves whole fresh carrots and happily chews on them for a while (and thankfully cleans up all the mess he makes too)

Sand pit is a good idea, we have a patch in garden that is a pile of sand that he is allowed to dig in.....bury a few treats in it to get them started.

and soft toys (safe ones made for dogs)...he loves chewing them and throwing them around.

We also have a pile of dirt, sticks, branches, leaves etc in the garden left over from a recent garden reno and he loves rummaging around in it finding the right stick to chew on.

Edited May 5, 2010 by fiveplusone

[Kirislin]

Mine would love it if I threw a few live bunnies into the yard but it's just not on!

Bones are always appreciated here. They'd probably love a sand pit to dig in, especially if it had food hidden in it but I haven't done anything like that for them.

[First Time Puppy Owner]

Golden cane palm fronds!

[FranVT]

Yay I'm glad she was a good girl! Except piddling on the bed.. wow!

With Shyla I give her a can of sardines over her morning mince (like I said b4 it makes her so occupied she doesn't see me leaving - good old super strong smelling sardines! ), a kong filled with peanut butter and a bit of cat bikkies (she loves them, hehe) and I shove a long natural sundried chew stick down in the hole so it sticks out like a pipe. I also fill up her treat ball with kibble. I tried the kibble-in-empty-coke-bottle but I used to come home and it would be untouched! Go figure, haha. I also scatter a handful of bikkies over the floor sometimes so she has to find them all, and sometimes I hide a pigs ear somewhere to see if it's gone when I get home. I leave the radio on so she has constant talking voices/music and she gets a marrow bone a few times a week (some people dont like leaving the bones with dogs unsupervised but Shy eats them slow and careful). We also leave her sticks from outside to chew on and hard cardboard rolls (like paper towel rolls but much harder) from hubbies work

She was really good! She lost it completely when I got home, poor bugger, was yelping and crying and had a little wee which her tail then flicked all over the place!

That is all so good I sense my bank account is about to get a workout! At least now I don't have mum's awful dogs stealing and hiding her toys, I bought a treat ball and a Cuz online and after a day they were never to be seen again

Bitty enjoys:

*nice juicy beef chuck bone,

*pureed custard apple frozen in a cup (great for trashing cup and eating treat at same time, I also make frozen banana peanut butter cups),

*a raw egg, inside an egg carton that has been taped shut. Sometimes I give her a hard paper tube with a boiled egg squished in it.

*a big carboard box, that is taped shut, with another box inside, and another box inside that and another one, with a piece or roast meat in the smallest box at the end.

*a piece of water melon with rind and all

*Empty paper tube cartons filled with fruit salad and with the lid screwed back on

*A quarter of a raw coconut

Gosh she loves her fruit! I'm going to buy a fruit selection this afternoon and see what she likes

definately kongs here (we've up graded recently to the "extreme" black one!), filled with yummy things then frozen.

Hugo also loves whole fresh carrots and happily chews on them for a while (and thankfully cleans up all the mess he makes too)

Sand pit is a good idea, we have a patch in garden that is a pile of sand that he is allowed to dig in.....bury a few treats in it to get them started.

and soft toys (safe ones made for dogs)...he loves chewing them and throwing them around.

We also have a pile of dirt, sticks, branches, leaves etc in the garden left over from a recent garden reno and he loves rummaging around in it finding the right stick to chew on.

Kongs are fab, I've got to buy her another one because of above theft issue! She loves soft toys but I think they do bore her. She's not (at this stage) destructive with her soft toys, though she did disembowel a pillow the other day, looked like it'd been snowing in the front yard!

[VJB]

Does that mean you put the stuff in the ice tray and freeze it or just shove it in there?

Either. I bought a couple from Ikea once....... variety of shapes is important I have star shapes, moon shapes, puzzle shapes, etc. When filling one, I usually do the other few and freeze, then I have always got one available. If not, I just smear stuff in there and off she goes... lick, lick, lick.

Another thing I use to do was keep all her stuffed toys that she had 'un-stuffed'. I would then put some kibble inside one, roll it up and then re-stuff the largest unstuffed toy with all the other unstuffed toys...... GET IT. I know what I'm trying to say. !!! Then she would happily un-stuff them all over again. (these are hollow stuffed toys,,, I've thrown all the stuffing out)...aarrhhhgg.. I don't know if I'm expaining myself properly..

Edited May 5, 2010 by VJB

[fiveplusone]

Does that mean you put the stuff in the ice tray and freeze it or just shove it in there?

Either. I bought a couple from Ikea once....... variety of shapes is important I have star shapes, moon shapes, puzzle shapes, etc. When filling one, I usually do the other few and freeze, then I have always got one available. If not, I just smear stuff in there and off she goes... lick, lick, lick.

Another thing I use to do was keep all her stuffed toys that she had 'un-stuffed'. I would then put some kibble inside one, roll it up and then re-stuff the largest unstuffed toy with all the other unstuffed toys...... GET IT. I know what I'm trying to say. !!! Then she would happily un-stuff them all over again. (these are hollow stuffed toys,,, I've thrown all the stuffing out)...aarrhhhgg.. I don't know if I'm expaining myself properly..

Thats a brilliant idea...I'm going to Ikea soon so wil get some. Does she chew the trays though? (they are the silcone type, rubbery ones right?)

I never thought of doing that with the 'unstuffed' toys.....I just keep doing 'surgery' on them to repair them and then give them back but one in particular (a purple rabbit) is legless at the back and has no paws on the end of front legs so it won't be long before I can use it unstuffed with kibble!...good idea, thanks!

[Ellie's mum]

[quote name='VJB' date='5th May 2010 - 01:12 PM' post='4510093'

Another thing I use to do was keep all her stuffed toys that she had 'un-stuffed'. I would then put some kibble inside one, roll it up and then re-stuff the largest unstuffed toy with all the other unstuffed toys...... GET IT. I know what I'm trying to say. !!! Then she would happily un-stuff them all over again. (these are hollow stuffed toys,,, I've thrown all the stuffing out)...aarrhhhgg.. I don't know if I'm expaining myself properly..

Do you mean like babushka dolls

[raineth]

My boy loved apples so I would core them and then suspend it via a rope tied to the awning. You make it a little bit high so is a small struggle for them to eat it. It ends up being a good game a they try to grab it and it swings back and forth.

If she doesn't like apples, I'm sure you could tie something like a chicken leg.

Also if you a clam shell filled with sand you can bury bones and toys and other goodies in there for her to get. Digging is good exercise

[nicolatu]

I used to give kong stuffed with dry kibbles which last for 15 minutes.Now I wet the dry food and squeeze a couple of Oreo' favourite treats in and freeze it. This keeps him occupied for 45minutes max.

I did a combination of toilet rolls and cut-up plastic bottles. I cut 2 holes and fold up the ends of the toilet roll. Put a few dry kibbles in and Oreo have so much fun rolling it about and get a treat. After he finish his dry food, he will happily chew the toilet rolls into pieces. That keeps him company for 30minutes at most because of his strong jaw.

PS. My puppy plays kong in a weird way. He picks the kong up and drop it over and over again to let the treats drop out.

[fiveplusone]

I used to give kong stuffed with dry kibbles which last for 15 minutes.Now I wet the dry food and squeeze a couple of Oreo' favourite treats in and freeze it. This keeps him occupied for 45minutes max.

I did a combination of toilet rolls and cut-up plastic bottles. I cut 2 holes and fold up the ends of the toilet roll. Put a few dry kibbles in and Oreo have so much fun rolling it about and get a treat. After he finish his dry food, he will happily chew the toilet rolls into pieces. That keeps him company for 30minutes at most because of his strong jaw.

PS. My puppy plays kong in a weird way. He picks the kong up and drop it over and over again to let the treats drop out.

My puppy drops it over and over again too because he likes to chase it when it bounces all over the place!

Edited May 5, 2010 by fiveplusone