Hi, We have started letting our 10month old lab out of her cage for 30mintes (so far so good) at a time to build up to no more cage. Just wondering if anyone can recommended things to get that will occupy her. She loves antler bones and her Kong is a favourite. Thanks Yasmin
I hope I have misunderstood your post. I read it to mean that after 30 minutes you put your Lab back in her cage. If so, she really needs to be free to move around most of the time and only caged for night times and perhaps a couple of hours in the day while you're busy. Your puppy is a mammal, so needs physical exercise for her cardiovascular health. Take her for walks and play games like fetching a ball or tug.
No she's only in the cage when we leave the house. We have been testing going out of the house and leaving her cage open and coming back after 30 mins. Yes I'm aware she is a mammal and how much exercise she needs. I was hoping for some ideas for things or activities to leave her while we are out.
I don't leave stuff for my dog to play with/chew as I am a bit paranoid about him chewing it and coming to harm while I'm not there. I'm sure stuffed Kongs are really safe though, so I'd stick with these. Ideally, my dog will sleep while I'm out..I think he does, but I've not left a camera to check..I do keep thinking about this. How's she been after your 30 minute absence? Is she getting herself into trouble or has she been good so far?
Ah, thanks for clarifying, I was a bit worried by your first post, too! Ooooh, the perils of decrating. Hehe. If I were really paranoid, I'd start by gating off a relatively safe area, and increasing that space over time. It really does depend on your dog, though. I had issues with Willow chewing the wall, but that was all. (Must get round to fixing that at some point! ) Stuffed and frozen kongs are great. I also use a Kong Stuff-A-Ball, which I wedge bits of cheese and roasted chicken into. That seems to keep them occupied longer. Other than that, they sleep, which is really very normal. If I have to go out and leave them, I tend to do a 15-minute training session with the puppy to tire her brain out right before I go. Once she's had her Kongs, she's then happy to snooze.
Yes we don't leave anything she can chew through regarding toys as she does have a tendency to destroy her own toys. It's going great so far, just don't want to throw her in at the deep end, keeping to 30minutes and I think yous are right she must be sleeping as we left treats in different places in dining room and they were still there when we've got back
Oh, a favourite thing I did was leave cardboard boxes for them to tear up. You come back to cardboard confetti everywhere, but it keeps their destructive side happy. Just make sure there is no tape on it. Somehow, my dogs learned to differentiate between a cardboard box that was for them to destroy and a cardboard box that wasn't to be touched.
Sometimes dogs left on their own don't eat through stress of being alone. Is she eating her kongs OK? We use a cheap pet monitor with a phone app, to check on our dogs when we are out. I can check literally anywhere that they are OK.
Yes. She prefers for us to put something in she can knock out of it. We have tried peanut butter and cheese spread but she's not a fan. Can I ask where you got your pet monitors from?
Ooh I like this idea as she loves tearing up boxes and she dosnt eat the cardboard just litters it around like confetti
We get the empty toilet rolls and fold together one end, put a treat in, then fold together the other end. A few of them scattered around provides a bit of doggie fun. Kibble dispensing toys are also good. We use one of these in the large size: http://starmarkacademy.com/products/bob-a-lot/ We also use frozen Kongs, usually with mashed veggies inside.
You can also scrunch up newspaper with bits of kibble inside, fold up old toilet tubes with kibble in and hide bits in a box in a box in a box, pass-the-parcel style
Hi Yasmin, I leave a few toys for my 7 month old pup and an antler chew but I always walk her before I go out if it's in the morning and she usually sleeps, she's always asleep when I get home and that's after a couple of hours. Occasionally I'll leave a filled Kong. If it's in the afternoon she won't have had a walk right before I leave but she still sleeps, so you may find that your pup mostly sleeps. My pup is in the kitchen behind a baby gate. She also loves cardboard and plastic bottles but I don't leave the plastic when I'm out.
When we started de-crating I started a routine that I still do (if she is alone for longer than an hour). I leave her breakfast in a toy that dispenses her kibble, a frozen kong and a treat hunt in the living room. She used to not notice me hiding treats, but now that she knows the game she gets so excited...I put her in a sit/stay and hide about 10 treats in different spots then release her. From spying on her from the window, she does treat hunt first, then kong, then breakfast! Takes her about an hour to an hour and a half to get through it all and then she sleeps. She has a toy box but never plays or moves any toys when she is home alone. We started de-crating at about 11 months and it took about two weeks of building time until she seemed less anxious about us leaving. Now she loves when I leave (see treat hunt above)! She typically does not leave the main room, but we have slowly given her access to the whole house and rarely she will go in our bedroom on her bed in there/look out the window.
OK, sorry if my post sounded a bit 'off' - it sounded as though she was caged almost all the time and great to hear that's not the case. Molly used to enjoy a few bits of kibble in a plastic bottle without a lid so she could knock it about to get the kibble out.
I like the balls or Kong wobblers that dispenses bits of kibble when they knock it over. Keeps Max entertained for a few minutes whilst I'm heading out of the door. I generally don't leave him for more than 6/7 hours but my step father is almost always home. Max also gets at least an hour walk before I leave so he's pretty tired after that. He's quite a laid back dog, I even set up a camera one time to see what he does when I leave and the answer to that is nothing! Watches me leave then curls up on his sofa Frozen kongs & ice lollies are good too but max doesn't bother unless it's summer I don't leave chews out but his toys are always out, he's 3 and not a destroyer...unless it's a stuffed toy then he takes all the fluff out and leaves it all over the living room Just a quick edit I just remembered: always ensure the room is lab proof! As a pup I remember Max chewed part of the stairs, some side board wall and the sofa! Gosh it was so long ago I forgot that he was handful back then haha
