Indoor Winter Activities for Your Pet

It’s the time of year for snow, ice, and freezing days. While we may appreciate the chance to go sledding and building snowmen, our pets outside time gets limited. It can also mean a lot of time cooped up together looking for new things to do. It’s important to remain active during the winter months for your pets mental and physical well being.

These are ideas to keep your pet’s mind stimulated and active during cold days.

Groom them - Whether it’s clipping nails, expressing anal glands, or a full hair cut, it’s important to keep your pet clean! Make sure to have a little treat ready, so your pet can associate a positive reward with each nail clipped.

Change out the toys in the toy bin - Keep toys on rotation to minimize boredom and to keep from having toys with pieces missing caused by intense chewing. High value toys should be put up and only used for training or big rewards.

Clean the toys - While you are changing them out, don’t forget to clean the toys! Toys get lots of saliva and dirt all over, particularly outside toys, so clean them with a pet safe laundry detergent like Seventh Generation Free and Clear. You can also mix one-part distilled white vinegar and one-part water, and leave the toys to soak for 30 minutes.                                                  

Work on obedience training - Being indoors is great for working on commands. From a simple ‘sit’ to a complex ‘place’, practice makes progress!

Teach hide and seek - Dogs love a challenge and love being with you. Hide and seek fulfills both. The only commands your dog needs to know are to “sit” and “stay”, while you go hide. They “come” to you when called.  Try to find new places to hide each time and reward them with treats or lots of love.   
Play interactive games - Tug of war, fetch, or having a ball with a treat tumble will make the time go by fast. You can also make bubbles with one cup of water and one tablespoon of Dawn dish soap.

Try food motivation - Dogs are highly motivated by food, so what better way to keep their attention than by making them “work” for their meal?  Kong makes durable toys that you can fill up with peanut butter or kibble, that will keep them busy for hours. You may be shocked at how quiet they can be with a fillable toy, filled full of yum yums! 

Give your dog a job - Having a job will increase your dog's confidence and lower anxiety. Get eight heavy plastic cups. Put one upside down with a treat under it. Have your dog sniff at it and when he knocks it over, praise him. Over time, add one upside down cup at a time. A treat should be under only one cup. Make sure to space the cups apart so that your dog doesn’t knock them all over at once.

Teach your dog new words/name their toys -  Dogs have an amazing capacity for words. Begin teaching them things you use daily, like “leash”, “food”, “outside”, “ball”, etc. Then, use full sentences, like “go get your leash”, “let’s go outside”, “go get your ball”. As always, praise them when they accomplish your commands.

Make a play date -  Maybe you have a coworker, classmate, or family member that has an easy going pet. Invite one of your pet’s friends over to romp around to get out that extra energy.

Take on pet friendly errands - Many pets love to go for car rides, so if you have errands at pet-friendly stores, take them along! They will be glad to get out of the house and you’ll be glad to have your best friend with you.

Always make sure to take time to relax and enjoy each other's company.

Dog toys for inside:
Check out our blog on mental enrichment for a list of puzzles and games that your pup will LOVE! 

Paintings by pets

Another indoor activity is to have your dog create their own artwork - fun for your dog and a lovely accent piece for your home!

Step 1: Put a small square canvas with different color paints in a large zip lock bag

Step 2: Spread peanut butter on the outside of the zip lock bag

Step 3: Let your dog get creative and make a masterpiece by licking the peanut butter

Need more ideas or a helping hand with your pets? We’re available to brainstorm and come over for walks and playtime for even more activity.