keep him occupied. Regular walks are a must, and extra
periods of play give your dog something to look forward
to. Play acts on dogs as it does on people – physical
exercise puts us in a better mood, loosens up our
muscles and joints and helps everyone sleep better at
night. One way to deal with doggie ennui is to provide
your dog with toys that he can play with while you’re
occupied.
Ideally, you will be able to set aside regular times for
walking and play, so your dog knows that play-time is
right after you come home from work, and walks happen in
the morning and at night. Like us, dogs like to have
something to look forward to, and a dog who can depend
on scheduled activities is likely to suffer less from
anxiety and boredom.
Another way to combat boredom is by teaching your dog
games you can play together. Hide and seek is one, where
you teach him to search for someone or something you
have hidden. You can start by playing these games in the
house, so that once your dog has learned what “Go
search!” means, you can move out into the backyard, or
the woods.
Obedience training is a great way to work with your dog.
Learning a set of skills together keeps you both from
being bored and builds trust in your relationship. Your
dog learns that you mean what you say and you learn
things about his intelligence that you might not
otherwise discover. Obedience training is good for
people too – dog-training has been used therapeutically
with emotionally disturbed youth, autistic children and
developmentally disabled folk. There is something
healing about working with a dog on a regular basis: it
stabilizes and enriches our emotions and teaches us
lessons about trust and meaning we may not get from
other people.
Article
Summary
Bored dogs bark
Walk, play games and exercise your dog.
Schedule activities on a consistent basis –at regular
times through each day.
Obedience training builds your relationship with your
dog.
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