5 Ways To Keep Your Dog Entertained While You’re At Work

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Your dog risks feeling very bored while you’re away at work. Of course, you’d wish to spend all of your time with them, but logic dictates that you have to be away for other worthwhile ventures.

But, even so, it wouldn’t be so nice of you to leave your dog all alone for an entire eight hours or more with nothing to do. If you’re such a kind of a busy mom or dad, here are five handy tips to keep your dog entertained in your absence:

1. Let Your Dog Outside

Like many other animals and pets, dogs enjoy being outdoors. That’s where their ‘action’ happens. For you, it’s easy to stay indoors since you can entertain yourself with things like TV programs, music, video games, and the like.

But, for your dog, the indoor environment may feel a bit confining, almost like being caged, especially when you’re not around to keep them entertained. So, consider giving your dog access to the yard.

You’ll have to put into consideration issues like:

• Possibility of your dog being stolen: Ensure that your home security system is reliable.
• Risk of escaping your compound: Ensure you have a reliable dog fence, preferably designed with anti-climb and chew guard features.
• Bad weather: Ensure your dog can retreat to a shelter anytime it gets too hot or cold, windy, or rainy.

2. Exercise Your Dog Before Leaving

Dog exercise needs are mostly determined by breed. Dogs can be classified according to their level of activity.

• Low energy dogs, like giant, sight hounds, and brachy breeds require 30 to 45 minutes of exercise daily.
• Medium energy dogs, like scent hounds, terrier, and toy breeds need 60 to 90 minutes of exercise on a daily basis.
• High energy dogs, like working, sporting, and herding breeds, need 60 to 120 minutes of exercise every day

In which category does your dog fall? If they don’t exercise for the above-average durations, they’re likely to engage in destructive behavior while you’re at work. You can even use treats to motivate them to exercise. Check out best dog treats: how to choose the best treats for training to know more. 

So, before leaving for work, ensure that you give your dog as much exercise as possible. You can take them for a walk, run with them, cycle while they run, take them swimming, play games, like hide-and-seek and tug of war, or get your dog on the treadmill.

Once they expend their energy through such activities, they can spend the rest of the day resting and sleeping until you come back from work.

If that feels overly demanding for you, consider the next tip.

3. Hire A Dog Walker

Your schedule can be so busy that you can’t afford to take your dog for exercise. Instead of leaving your dog to wallow in boredom, hire a professional dog walker to keep your dog entertained every day.

A good dog walker should have the following traits:

• Honestly interested in looking after dogs
• Good in keeping time
• Flexible enough to make themselves available on short notice
• Good knowledge of your neighborhood
• Compassionate enough to help your dog in times of crisis
• Dedicated to the job for the long term so that your dog becomes comfortable with them

4. Leave Your Dog With Interactive Toys

Your dog will really love treat-related toys. There are plenty of these in the market, with different designs and sizes. The basic idea is to reward your dog with treats as the toys roll, spin, wobble, or bounce.

Make sure to alternate the treats you place into the toys so that your dog doesn’t get bored. You can try out kibble, peanut butter, meat, cheese, carrots, apples, frozen broth, and dog biscuits, among many others.

5. Leave Your TV On

Believe it or not, dogs are capable of perceiving TV images and reacting to anything that interests them. In that sense, there are already TV channels that broadcast content purely for dogs. You can tune in to such channels and let your dog view them for hours.

In a similar manner, your dog can actively listen to music and audiobooks. Just ensure that they’re specifically tailored for the canine brain. However, let it not be a daily thing; your dog will get bored. Think of a workable schedule, say twice a week. For the rest of the days, you can keep your dog entertained in some other ways.

Conclusion

Dogs need entertainment, just like humans. And, that’s especially crucial when they’re left all alone at home while you’re out for work. There are dozens of ways to keep your dog entertained, some of which have been highlighted above. Don’t allow yourself to run out of options.

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