Indoor Fun: Tips to keep your dog happy when it’s too cold outside

Does this cold weather have you feeling the effects of cabin fever? Our four-legged companions can also get pent up when they’re taking shorter walks and spending less time outside. When dogs can’t get their energy out, they can become stressed, anxious, or even destructive in the home. Here's some fun ideas for you to try out on cold winter days.

By Vikki Sushka, CBCC-KA, FFCP

 

Does this cold weather have you feeling the effects of cabin fever? Our four-legged companions can also get pent up when they’re taking shorter walks and spending less time outside. When dogs can’t get their energy out, they can become stressed, anxious, or even destructive in the home. That’s why it’s important to spend extra time engaging with your dogs and giving them plenty of activities and outlets for their energy. Tossing them an extra enrichment item or a new toy throughout the day, or even spending 10 minutes giving them extra attention can make all the difference.

When we’re stuck at home with our dogs on these cold days, we can work on training and play interactive games to help stimulate their minds, release energy, and strengthen our bonds with them!

  • Consider doing short repetitions of training followed by play.
  • Fetch, search and find, tug of war, and catch are just a few of the games you can enjoy both indoors and outdoors with your dog.
  • A popular activity involves hiding an enrichment box with high value, smelly food inside. They will use their nose to search for the enrichment (prey) and once they find it, they can dissect it and then consume what is inside, satisfying several parts of the predation cycle and giving your dog an exciting activity that helps relieve stress!
  • Does your dog have a canine friend that they enjoy spending time with? Consider setting up extra play dates during the winter. Play sessions are highly beneficial for social dogs and can help mitigate the effects of cabin fever.

When you’re short on free time, be sure to give your dog extra enrichment to keep their mind stimulated.

  • Interactive toys and feeders are popular tools, and you can even use multiple to feed your dog throughout the day.
  • Kongs, lick mats, Nylabones, and other objects that can be smeared with peanut butter, cheese, or wet food are great too.
  • If you freeze them, your dog will benefit from spending a much longer time engaging with the item.

Giving time consuming enrichment items can also be a great reward after training and a good decompression activity after high arousal play. Decompression time is important for keeping dogs settled during the long winter days inside.