Winter Indoor Workout!

In Winter temperatures drop and bad weather prevents you and you four-legged friend from doing outdoor activity, such as walkies or running on the beach; so, have you ever thought your house could turn into a perfect “gym” for you two? Following some little tricks and organising specific activities, you can get ready and create your personal fun and “training” area. Here’s how:

• If your dog is very playful, classic “hide-and-seek” is a very good activity to entertain them. Play with them throwing a toy, an object they love or even some kibbles to distract them. Then go and hide and let your dog’s “hunting” begin. They will keep on looking for you till they find you, meanwhile doing physical activity and even focusing on a specific target;
   
• Another effective way to keep your dog active is to stimulate their smell. You can do it, for example, by hiding their meal somewhere in the house or putting their bowl in a box. Then use chairs, pillows and other small obstacles to create a real course: they’ll have to complete it to reach their “treasure”. Besides their smell, it is a good way to stimulate your dog’s curiosity too;
   
• • Skill games – e.g. catch the ball, bring back an object, etc. - are the most “difficult” to organise indoor, due to the lack of space. However, there are many other useful activities to stimulate and improve your dog’s intuition and skills. Here is an example: tie a bone to one end of a piece of twine, making it swing at good height (you can use a quite high piece of furniture or a coat rack), so that your four-legged friend cannot immediately reach it by jumping. Then tie the other twine end to a door. In this way you will stimulate your dog to understand how the bone gets away or closer, when opening or closing the door.

If you don’t have enough space to organise indoor activities at home, you can look for an agility indoor structure, to keep your dog active and fit also in Winter.