Keeping Your Furbaby Happy While You’re At Work
Ever seen the movie ‘Life of Pets’ and wondered what exactly your fur baby gets up to while you’re at work? Unless you have a camera system in your house, it is hard to know exactly what they are up to. Behaving? Maybe. Not Behaving? Possibly. If the people in your home are out for most of the day, it is likely that your fur baby gets bored, and with boredom comes misbehaviour so keeping your furbaby happy is important.
This is why we thought we would share some simple strategies to help keep your dog busy while you’re at work:
1. Let your dog watch TV
Leaving the TV on while at work can help keep your fur baby calm. The noise travels through the house as it would if you were home, giving a familiar feel. Channels like animal planet will help distract your dog as well as stimulate their brain allowing them to concentrate on certain things, e.g. other dogs on the TV. If there are other objects or sounds your dog can concentrate on then the less likely they are to concentrate on destroying your brand-new bed pillows.
2. Making sure there are plenty of toys!
Having toys around the house for your fur baby is a no-brainer! If your dog has easy access to their toys, then they can keep themselves entertained throughout the day. Some days you can even mix it up by using a ‘treat dispensing toy’. For example, putting peanut butter in the middle of the dispensing toy will keep them entertained for ages. Or even our Hoki treats will be a nice end reward for all their hard work without adding those extra calories.
3. Employing a dog walker
Employing a dog walker to come to your house once a day, or a few times a week not only gives your furbaby the exercise it needs but also gets them out of the house for a good hour or so. Added bonus, it will tire them out, allowing your dog to release their energy is a simple strategy in helping to calm their behaviour. So, hopefully, for the rest of the day, they will be too tired to destroy the house! Think about it, if you had heaps of energy you couldn’t release, you would be going crazy too.
4. Give your dog access to see outside
Giving your dog access to see outside through a window or door means if something alerts them they can go and observe. Dogs have a natural protective instinct if they don’t know what is going on, and this can cause them to bark and feel stressed. If your furbaby is stressed or anxious, this can cause them to act out and misbehave, keeping your furbaby happy decreases stress. So, it is a good idea to always have an area where your dog can see and help with neighbourhood watch this will also help keep him happy and informed.
So, there you have it, a few strategies to help keep your dog distracted while you’re at work. These should hopefully help save that new furniture of yours, and give you a little piece of mind while you’re working away!
And don’t forget, when you get home after a long day away – make sure you spend some time doing activities or teaching some tricks to your fur baby to reward them for their good behaviour while you’re away this will keep your furbaby happy.
You could even be like Gryff’s Mum and let him play in the bath with his ball – never was there a happier dog to be found after a long day at home by himself.
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