Dog Friendly Gardens by Cheryl Smith

Author:Cheryl Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dogwise Publishing

Starsky’s occupation of choice.

My two retriever-type mixes, when I couldn’t indulge in long sessions of smashing tennis balls for them to retrieve, had their own home-built ball launchers. It never offered the sheer abandon of running a football field after a struck ball, but it did occupy them at times, and my boy, Serling, even learned to reload by dropping the ball in to the cup. Now there are pricey commercial launchers meant to do the same thing, and holding an entire bucket of balls. But it’s still more fun to hit your own.

Water-loving dogs might enjoy a pool to call their own. Even dogs who only wade rather than swim may like the chance to cool off in warm weather. Kiddie pools work just fine. Be aware that if you set them on lawn, they will kill the grass beneath them. Make the pool more entertaining by tossing a handful of hot dog slices in and letting the dog bob for them. Some dogs may need to start slowly, with you holding a bit of hot dog just under the water, before actually plunging their face into the water.

You can also use food outside the pool, hiding dog biscuits or even the dog’s kibble around the yard so he has to “hunt” for it. If you have problems with mice or rats, this may not be the right suggestion for you. Some dogs will happily spend their days tracking down each individual bit of food.

Some dogs would rather “dissect” than hunt. Tie a hard biscuit up in a rag, then tie that in another rag, and present the bundle to the dog. Supervise when you first try this, to see that your dog isn’t going to eat the rags.

Taking a good dog training class will give you some good control exercises to work on with your dog, and the trainer might have other suggestions for ways to entertain your dog and burn off some energy. Chapter 9 discusses some jobs you can give the dog to do to actually help you in the garden.

Whatever toys you choose, keep them fresh and interesting by having a variety and rotating them daily. Only have a couple available to the dog at a time, pick them up when you come home, and put down a new pair when you leave the next morning. Have enough to get you through three or four days of rotation, and they will be much less likely to become boring.

Also see Chapter 9 for more suggestions for entertaining a dog, such as a digging pit or hiring others to keep your dog busy.

You should know how your dog likes to play, or experiment with some of these suggestions and visit a good pet supply store. It’s not hard to have a good time with a dog.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.