When your dog or cat is entertained, you will have far less behavioural problems with them! It’s fascinating how incorporating play into the household can eliminate many behavioural problems including excessive barking or destroying things in the house. Sometimes (not always!) that’s all you need to improve not only the life of your pet but also your own. It can give you peace of mind and significantly decrease your stress when you no longer have to keep reacting to your pet’s mischief but instead proactively give him behaviours that both of you accept. The relaxed life with your pet is in your hands.

See a couple of examples below of what can you try to make your pet’s life more interesting.

DOGS

Ditch the food bowl.

I know that many people don’t like to hear it. They say “but everyone uses a bowl, it can’t be bad!” It’s not bad in itself but do you also provide mental stimulation for your dog? If you only feed from a bowl then your dog doesn’t have to explore for his food. It’s far more exciting to look for food or to work out how to get it than to just get it for free. What can you try?

• Chew toys like kong filled with his breakfast are great to get some of his energy out.

• Another idea is to scatter feed in the garden. Throw his food on the grass and let your dog look for all the pieces. It’s a lot of fun!

• If you use kibble, you can also throw it so your dog needs to chaise it.

• Get interactive puzzle feeder or make one yourself. The invaluable tool is a snuffle mat that can keep your dog glued to it for a long time if you sprinkle it with many tiny pieces of treats on it. You can even make one yourself, see how in this video tutorial. If cost is of concern, I highly recommend using what you currently have at hand like muffin tin where you put some treats and cover them with tennis balls. Here is a video tutorial.

Some dogs refuse to eat from a bowl and simply changing the way of feeding them into something more interesting can make all the difference.

Do short training sessions.

Training sessions with dogs strengthen the bond between you. You can teach many fun behaviours as well as prepare for important tasks like vet visits, nail trimming or simply putting the collar/harness on and off. There are many misconceptions about training and it can be done unskilfully. If it feels like it doesn’t go well, consider hiring a trainer or enrol in an online class with a positive reinforcement trainer. If something doesn’t work, there is something that can be changed to make it work. Don’t just deem your dog uncooperative, try something else and see how his participation increases.

Have interactive toys and play with him

Playing with your dog should never be underestimated. The problem with it is, you might want a different type of play from your dog. Not every dog will naturally like to fetch. You might gradually teach it and allow your dog to start enjoying it but you can also try a different type of play like a tug of war and see if that’s not more interesting for your dog. What can you try?

• Having a lot of toys, preferably big soft toys as well as rope toys or frisbee is great to make sure it won’t get boring for your dog. It doesn’t matter if your dog likes to chase them, chew on them or playing tug of war, as long as he plays with them.

• A flirt pole is a big version of a cat toy where instead of feathers at the end, you put a toy or fur. Many dogs love to chase it and it’s easier for you to get them running around when you only hold the toy. A good example of how to use a flirt pole with your dog is in this video.  

• Toys where you hide treats, including puzzle feeders from above.

It all makes your dogs’ life more interesting.

CATS

Ditch the food bowl.

Cats tend to eat many small portions throughout the day. They are solitary hunters. To meet their need for hunting at home, it’s great to spread out the food around the house on small plates or cups so cats need to look for it. Getting interactive feeder can be costly but it can also be a great way of providing mental stimulation for your cat.

Do short training sessions.

Cats respond to training just as much as dogs do. They might need smaller treat/food portions and you might need to adjust to their speed (especially when you are used to a dog who moves fast like a border collie) but the principles of learning are the same.

Furniture for cats

For cats having multiple scratch poles as well as hiding places like boxes is great. I heard many times how cats completely ignore fancy and expensive scratch poles to find a favourite chair or old rug that they will interact with. I would encourage you to use whatever works and don’t insist on the fancy scratch pole. Change materials on something, even buy a separate chair that he can play with. I used to have a chair from Ikea that every cat loved to play on and we had many cats from the neighbourhood visiting our house. I always laughed that I should write Ikea to let them know that they should promote the chair as a cat toy instead of a chair. The great fact about the chair was, even after 5 different cats scratching and playing on it, it never broke and there were no scratch marks on it! A chair that became the best cat toy ever!

Have interactive toys and play with them

Having a variety of cat toys is very crucial in fighting against boredom in them. Play with your cat to make his life more interesting. Some cats even learn to fetch! Try different things and see what your cat’s interest are. Entertained cats are a delight to live with.

Be a superhero for your pet, he will love you for it!