5 Fun Activities With Your Dog

You are at home, your pup is staring out the window with a forlorn look on his face. What should you do? There is really no right or wrong answer, but the best answer is to get them out of the house and do something fun. If you are short on ideas, here are some great examples of activities you can love with your canine buddy in tow. Here are 5 fun activities with your dog!

Dog parks

An age old favorite! A place where your pup runs free, free as a bird (well…a dog, but you get the idea). These are available in most cities and towns, you would be surprised how many there are and how easy they are to find. A quick search on google will likely bring them up. Secure fencing and double gates leave a nice secure environment. Although you should probably watch those Malinois, we know they can be a bit sneaky at times and find that one way out no-one thought of – like jumping the 7ft fence in one bound). In all seriousness, though you should find these parks well kept, sign-posted and have a few rules that you should follow (the most important being considerate of other owners and dogs). Social dogs can find new friends, hey maybe the hooman can find a new friend too. If you have a small dog you might want to investigate a little as some parks specifically have small dog areas to prevent accidental injury from a playful big guy.

Frisbee and Fetch

So, you find a nice open field, or even a spacious dog park, now what? Oh that’s easy, take a favorite toy or better still, maybe teach them to catch a Frisbee. For some reason, sticks, balls, and frisbees are like an addiction to dogs – personally, I think mine just likes to show off his ability to jump higher than I can. Usually if a dog loves the ball and stick, a Frisbee is a natural change of pace and will exercise some different muscles, but still get that cardio up and keep them healthy! As always, it’s worth just checking your dog’s health for jumping, if they are aging you don’t want to injure them as their excitement gets the better of them. As always, it’s worth just checking your dog’s health for jumping, if they are aging you don’t want to injure them as their excitement gets the better of them.

Hiking

Enjoying the great outdoors, it’s not just for humans and bears, your pup will love it too. Just like a Cub Scout adventure to the trails, the leader of your pack needs to plan ahead just a little too. Arguably, the most important thing to do is make sure your dog is allowed where you are going (some areas forbid pets). After this is confirmed your preparations are about you and your dog. Make sure both of your health is good and that you have some basic medical treatments with you and that you have enough water and food to keep you sustained on the trek, but a little extra in case something happens too. Make sure your pup’s flea and tick medication are up to date too!

Tracking

Bring out the inner bloodhound in your Shitzu and play a little hide-and-seek you’re your pups favorite toy, item, or snack! The best part about this is you are undertaking a little training (and they have no idea, it’s like making math fun for your kids). Of course, the other advantage of this game is the ability to do it indoors or outdoors – which means it can be a game that you play in the dead of winter (inside!), or you throw that coconut oil treat outside and they track down a nice frozen island-inspired treasure.

Agility Training and Courses

Of course, if your forever buddy loves running, chasing, and jumping you should strongly consider some agility work. While the training can be challenging but rewarding and of course there is potential competitions you can both compete in too, which adds a little more fun in the mix! Training can involve running through tunnels, along planks, over teeter-totters, through weave poles and some big ol’ jumps so they can show off those springy legs! We advise just having some fun with it and see how much excitement your pup gets before going pro and driving hundreds of miles for next big competition.