Ideas of how to keep difficult dog occupied
Hi reddit folks. I have a middle aged Pomeranian male who I am hoping to get ideas for as far as keeping him entertained. He is a difficult dog. He mostly exists within a large playpen we have built for him (it's about half a living room and he can run around…
Hi reddit folks. I have a middle aged Pomeranian male who I am hoping to get ideas for as far as keeping him entertained. He is a difficult dog. He mostly exists within a large playpen we have built for him (it's about half a living room and he can run around in there) - if he is un-enclosed or unsupervised, he will pee on things, raid the trash, destroy things etc and it becomes not only a nightmare but also a safety issue for him, we have tried this before. Because of my multiple medical problems and 100 degree heat recently, I am unable to do walks with him (we used to do several a day before). He is fed well, has clean water, taken out to the yard regularly, and... oh yeah, I am unable to have him off the leash in the enclosed yard due to him getting into things and eating anything in sight he isn't supposed to do he needs to always be closely monitored - he got very sick a few months ago and almost died due to eating something toxic and required multiple hospitalizations and monitoring for weeks. I've gotten him a kong and he gets frozen food pupsicles within it whenever I have enough energy to make those. I work from home but I am bedridden at least half the time and work from upstairs where the AC is very bad and it's too hot for him so he stays downstairs where it's cool. I have been feeling guilty about not being able give him enough attention/keep him entertained. Giving him up is not an option - this is multifactorial and a very long story I don't want to get into but this is not a possibility unfortunately and I don't have family members who have the mental or any other capacity to take care of him safely. It would be great for him to maybe be around kids who can play with him but I don't know any unfortunately where I can send him to and I can't really afford doggy day care regularly. Any ideas are appreciated.
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The TV thing is a good idea! I will try that, we have plenty of TVs and I could set one up for him. I'll try some more of the treat stuff too. He also has a ball that he can roll around to dispense treats and kibble but he usually gets it all out of there within 3 minutes lol 😅.
Based on how much exercise it sounds like he’s getting (no walks, yard on leash only) I think you’re due for some mental enrichment - and I don’t mean just giving him a chew but actually engaging with him and wearing him out. There are games you can do in the house or on a long line - sniff work, play, training games. It’s best if you mix both physical and mental work (for example, a training game where you throw a toy if he follows a command). Also muzzle training for the yard might be a good option if you’d like a way to safely have him off leash there. Long term medication might also help with the destructiveness if it’s coming from anxiety, but since this dog seems to barely get any exercise I’d try and fix that before meds are even thought about.
Thank you, I like the muzzle idea for yard. I think I've looked into this before but has a hard time finding something suitable for his snout. I'll probably ask at PetSmart. Yeah the lack of exercise is definitely a thing, it has tanked the last few months due to my own health decompensating. But that makes sense and I'll brianstorm to see how this can be addressed.
Oh sweet, that's at Aldi? Do you have a pic or any link by any chance of what it looks like? Edit: oh wait, I could probably get one on Amazon. Looks like there's various kinds.
There are also mesh head covers if it’s hard to find a muzzle
You can look around for balls that would make it more difficult. There's a lot of different options out there! If you have the energy for that, sniffing games are very tiring for dogs. Things like hiding kibble/treats in places are great (start easy and slowly increase the difficulty).
Thank you 🫶❤️
This is kind of obvious, but is there any way to improve your AC upstairs? It might really improve things for both of you. Our dog has a treat ball that he LOVES, it’s basically a ball with a hole in it that he pushes around with his nose and his kibble falls out. We give half his kibble in the dish, half in the ball. He’s actually a 90 pound lab/coonhound mix, and this is the only inside game he really likes (although we do a lot of outside stuff so it hasn’t been a priority). If you DO try this I recommend the large size because they push them under furniture and a 10 pound visiting dog had no problem with the big one. treat ball Also, if there’s any option to get someone to walk him, it would be great for him. If you know a teenager in your neighborhood, or if there’s a job bank for seniors in your town, those might be more affordable options. Good luck, I can tell that you want to do right by him.
There's a book called Canine Enrichment that has a lot of good suggestions of indoor activities you can do with your dog. I'm sorry you're dealing with so much... Life can be overwhelming sometimes and I can hear how hard you are working to try to balance everything and keep your dog safe and happy. I also wanted to add that maybe there's a local tween or teen who could walk him and play with him for you? It could be cheaper than daycare and give him an outlet and some fun energy while you recover.
Muzzle training is actually such a good shout. My cousin had to do this with her dog who ate everything in the yard like a vacuum cleaner. Took maybe two weeks but now the dog just associate it with outside time and doesnt care about it at all. For the heat problem maybe try some puzzle toys? You can hide treats in them and it keeps them busy for a good while without needing you to be there the whole time.
There are few things you could try and I hope this helps! Does he have a TV downstairs, or is that something you could set up for him? Leaving something like DogTV on when you're upstairs could hepl with company, tossing his kibble around the pen instead of a bowl turns mealtime into a little brain game, and short scent games (hiding a treat under a cup) only take a few minutes and wear him out mentally. But given his history, just keep it supervised and food only :)
Get puzzles to put his treats and food in. Snuffle boards are good. I got a snuffle ball from Aldi and the first time I gave it to my dog she was occupied for probably over 2 hours.
There are mesh masks you can put on the dogs head to make it so they can’t eat stuff outside
What do you have against training? These are all problems that training can easily prevent or solve.