Hi All... This is my first post on the forum and i was looking to see if anyone had any interesting suggestions for keeping a puppy occupied/stimulated in a single person, working, household. I have a lovely female Choc lab,named Kenzi, who is 4months old today. Kenzi is a very high energy pup (given that description by her trainer) and she tends not to want to sleep too much during the day and only food keeps her attention for more than 5mins, it means she's great to train but a handful to keep occupied especially on my own. We go on 2-3 little walks a day, I play with her quite often (inside and outside weather permitting) and do random little training sessions for sit/stay/come etc. However, i still find that she often appears bored and on days when friends/family are around she's much more sleepy due to the additional stimulation. I also have to crate her each day as i work from home and when crated she tends to start whining/barking after 1.5-2hours max and i know it's not a bladder thing, she's just bored. So was wondering if there was anyone on the forum raising a puppy on their own, or anyone with a particularly high energy pup, and if they had any suggestions for keeping her entertained/stimulated? Note: have kongs they occupy her until the foods gone which is maybe 5-10mins max, she is totally uninterested in items like nylabones or antler chews but she will rip up a cardboard box with a little peanut butter on it but again for a max of 10mins before she's looking for something else to do.
Re: High energy puppy... Hi Skooch and welcome! I can't help much as I am still waiting for my pup but I will mostly be on my own too. I have seen toys that help keep dogs' minds occupied; they have to figure out how to get to a treat - not kongs but something more engaging. Other than that, I don't know. I will be watching this to see what others think!
Re: High energy puppy... Hi and welcome. I'll be waiting with interest too as I have an 8 week old pup who needs something to keep her occupied as well. I am on my own for most of the day as well.
Re: High energy puppy... Hi Skooch. Are you freezing your Kongs? 10 mins is pretty quick for a puppy I haven't any experience of a high energy puppy, but do look after a fairly high energy dog at times. Our approach is that "down time" is good and it is beneficial to not always be doing something. We find that the calmer and quieter we are around our older (2 and a bit now) visitor dog the quicker she settles. It can be pretty hard going at the beginning. Slowly increasing crate time, and letting her out only when she is quiet and not when she is "asking" might help? Good luck
Re: High energy puppy... Just looked on Amazon; they have a few interactive toys for dogs. There's a few treat balls where the dog has to roll the ball around for treats (however they make little noises and I'm not sure about giving my pup toys that make noises). There's also problem solving toys for dogs but maybe you'd need to supervise and would not be able to work at the same time. ???
Re: High energy puppy... Hi there, and welcome to the forum How long are your puppy's periods in the crate, and is she crated where she can see you? Or in a separate room? There are advantages to being on your own with the pup, so that can be quite a positive thing. It will be much easier to do her initial training without interruptions or distractions. You'll need to make an effort to get helpers for proofing, but most people have to do that anyway as dogs behave differently with strangers than with family members.
Re: High energy puppy... All, thanks for the replies. On the kong i've tried freezing it a couple of times but she tended to be smart and had her nap first for an hour and then ate the food in the kong when she woke up. I also have the treat ball, Kong wobbler, she got a bit bored with that after 3-4 times but still occasionally use it however can't use that in the crate as it's more for open space. At the moment apart from squeaky balls the only thing that tends to hold her attention longer than 5mins are emtpy plastic water bottles because they're noisy when she gets them in her mouth. Pippa - she's crated in a seperate room whilst i work in office upstairs, i do have an IP camera to keep an eye on her though to make sure she doesn't get distressed. Max she's ever stayed in her crate in one go was 3hours, she started whining after about 2hours though, so left her in and she finally settled after about 15mins of whining. Not sure if part of the problem is me being too soft with her in the crate and reacting to her whines vs letting her calm herself and leaving her in. She definitely doesn't hate the crate, she's been going in there since her first night home and often goes in of her own accord when she wants to be away from people. I might go back to the frozen kongs and hide them inside the cardboard boxes to see if that keeps her busy.
Re: High energy puppy... I too have a high energy puppy. I give Molly most of her food in play items like a treat ball or a buster cube. It gives her something to do and uses up time when she would otherwise be into mischief. I admit to walking her more than the recommended amounts. It is the only way to retain both our sanity. I try to walk her on soft surfaces like grass. I figure it is less stress on her body than the constant jumping up and counter surfing (something for you to look forward to) which she constantly indulges in. She was recently spayed. When I took her to the Vet less than 48 hours after the OP for a wound check. He recommended that I take her for a walk. In his words 'with that one if you don't she'll be bouncing off the ceiling as well as the walls'. So I haven't been imagining it. She goes to bed fairly early, I guess she's exhausted.
Re: High energy puppy... I have a high energy boy on restricted exercise, and often work at home. Keeping him in his crate is counter productive for me (I often have no choice, but keep it to a minimum). Instead, I make the room that I am in dog proof. So absolutely nothing he can reach, nothing he can chew and so on. Then, I just ignore him. He settles eventually. Then, because he hasn't been in his crate, he is better etc. If I keep him in his crate, he gets much worse in terms of not settling etc. when he is out of the crate. I have a lovely study, which I can't use right now (my boy is recovering from an op and my study is too big). So I have my work chair and PC in the kitchen. It works. If he has to be in his crate, I try to make sure he has lots of little breaks, and lots of games and activity, but I know how hard this can be if you need a long period of work.
Re: High energy puppy... I have a high energy dog, she's 14 months old now and shown no signs of calming down but then she is from working parents so she's meant to be high energy. With regards to the crate - you say you feel like you are being too soft, how do you mean? Do you go to let her out when she whines? If so this is likely the reason that she cries in there - she knows that you will come and get her. The general recommendation is not to go to a crying puppy. She needs to learn that she will only be let out for being quiet. When I was first crate training my pup I would wait until she stopped crying, count to ten and then go and let her out if she was still quiet. If she started whining again during the counting I would stop and start counting again at the next quiet time. You said you are walking her 2-3 times a day, how long is this for and what sort of walk is it? Does she get to run around off lead and see other dogs? The general advise is to only exercise a puppy for five minutes per month of age HOWEVER with a high energy puppy such as you have, and what my girl was like when she was that age, you will probably want to exercise her for longer. As long as she's not walking on hard surfaces eg. pavement walking, a couple of half an hour walks each day would be fine as long as she gets a chance to run around off lead. She obviously sounds like quite an intelligent pup if she's figured out her kong so quickly so it's important that she has lots of activities to keep her brain occupied. This can often wear a puppy out quicker than physical exercise. I used to do 3-4 training sessions every day with my dog, at 10-15 minutes each. By four months old she knew sit, down, paw, stay and roll over. Hide and seek games are great as they will engage the brain.
Re: High energy puppy... Hi there and welcome to the forum. Lots of great advice on here. As already said, getting her to use her brain by playing hide and seek with toys or little treats may be helpful. Does she play with other dogs? Social interaction on her walks will also help to tire her out, and may mean she is not quite so dependent on you for all her stimulation. I'm sure you already know this - but do remember she is a little puppy still, and does need a lot of your time and attention. The time will come when she will probably lie quietly under your desk while you are working - but that is months away yet. Hang in there
