Ideas for entertaining our dog while we work?
We have a 2 year old GSD, she’s incredibly smart, easy going, and eager to please. Right now she goes to daycare during the week, this is something we’d like to stop doing for a plethora of reasons. However, my fiancé isn’t convinced that she’ll be…
We have a 2 year old GSD, she’s incredibly smart, easy going, and eager to please. Right now she goes to daycare during the week, this is something we’d like to stop doing for a plethora of reasons. However, my fiancé isn’t convinced that she’ll be entertained enough at home alone. I’ve tried to tell him that I don’t think she gets a lot of interaction at the daycare, they try, but she’s kept separate since she’s not spayed yet (health reasons and breeder’s contract). From what it sounds like, she enjoys spending most of her day outside rather than in the kennel, understandable. I’ve thought of the following to set up for her: Once or twice a week 1hr walks during the day via Rover, I normally walk her 30 mins to 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening after work. We also use this time to train, she loves it. I figured an extra walk twice a week would be a nice way to break up her day and get extra exercise in. Puzzles, we have 4 puzzles for her already. She loves them, I’ve wanted to get her a few more to rotate out different puzzles. I figured maybe setting up 3-4 around the house for her to play with wouldn’t be so bad. Snuffle mats, similar to the puzzles, probably just 1 out during the day. Frozen kongs, we actually have the woofsicle thing. A bit easier for her so she doesn’t get as frustrated and walk away to forget about it entirely. I figured one in the kitchen would be good. Go Dogo remote training treat dispenser, thought this was interesting. A bit more randomized for her, so I figured that would be nice. I can’t think of a lot more, she enjoys hide and seek with treats, but it’s like the puzzles and kongs, she’ll forget. We already have a minor mouse problem and I don't want to encourage them more than we already have. I just don’t know if maybe higher value treats would be the key or not, or if hiding treats like that would just encourage more inappropriate rummaging in other environments. Any recommendations are welcomed!
Collected discussion
My shep is 2 and if I take him for a long walk in the morning or dog park, he sleeps until the evening and then we do a short walk and he sleeps through the night. Is she crate trained?
I have no doubt she’d be fine without all this, maybe a frozen kong and bully stick, my fiancé is the one who is having a hard time swallowing the idea of her being alone at home. :/ Edit: Same goes for me, we’ve always had dogs and worked full time. The dogs were always fine.
Yes, she is. Same goes for her, 2 walks with the way we do them and she’s pretty tired the rest of the day along with some tug and a chew. He just doesn’t want her in the crate all day, I’ve even suggested a large kennel in the basement to keep her cool, still not super excited about it :/
Yeah I wouldn’t leave in the crate all day either. Honestly she sounds like she’s got it handled. If she’s not destroying anything and she’s sleeping, I don’t see a need to change much of anything. Dogs just sleep when we’re not there. Put a camera on her and watch when you leave, guarantee she will sleep most of the time if she’s had adequate exercise.
Dogs sleep 16+ hours per day. I’ve worked full time my whole life and always had high energy huskies. Every one of them slept from when I left till when I got home. When I got home we had a lot of fun but expecting a dog to sleep for 8-9 hours while you work isn’t unusual.
This has been a hangup for me getting a dog. I'm gone from 5am to 3pm for work and hated the thought of leaving one home. I always lived with someone before but am solo now. Also, my rent will be raised so that'll be a monthly hit, but damn am I lonely... lol
Your pup will be fine if her mental stimulation needs are met when you're there. You don't need to (and actively shouldn't) arrangeme for "entertainment" when you aren't there. Time with you is when her brain gets exercise. Time alone is for sleeping. :)
honestly sounds like you've got a solid lineup already, the rover walk a couple times a week is a smart call to break up the monotony
Frozen kongs and lick mats are lifesavers for high brain working breeds like shepherds.