How to Keep Dog Entertained While Alone

[amt813]

My husband and I recently adopted a about one year old boxer (exact age was not known, estimated at 10 months to a year). She is a REALLY good dog overall, but she can be a little destructive when left alone, so I am seeking some ideas on how to alleviate this behavior.

My husband and I both work, so she is left home alone during the work day (about 8 - 9 hours). We have a dog walker that comes midday and takes her running and spends about an hour with her. When she is alone, she is confined to the laundry room. In the laundry room I have her bed, water, and a nylabone (sp?).

There isn’t much for her to get into in this room, but I did notice a few bite marks on the dryer hose which concern me. Also, if something is left out she will inevitably find it and destroy it - like the one day I forgot to put her leash in the cabinet.

The “destructive” (putting it in quotes bc it really isn’t that bad) behavior tends to occur after the dog walker comes … maybe my dog likes her better than us haha. But I am looking for some ways to entertain her while she is in this room.

I have filled a kong with peanut butter, frozen it, and given it to her while I have been there and this works to keep her occupied. I am having the dog walker give this to her when she leaves today. However, is it safe to do this everyday? I don’t want to overload her on PB. I thought about maybe freezing some wet dog food in one and cutting her food a bit - is it safe to freeze this food?

Any suggestions people could offer for helping my dog pass the time while she was alone would be most appreciated. TIA.

[saultgirl]

[QUOTE=amt813;8413830]
My husband and I recently adopted a about one year old boxer (exact age was not known, estimated at 10 months to a year). She is a REALLY good dog overall, but she can be a little destructive when left alone, so I am seeking some ideas on how to alleviate this behavior.

My husband and I both work, so she is left home alone during the work day (about 8 - 9 hours). We have a dog walker that comes midday and takes her running and spends about an hour with her. When she is alone, she is confined to the laundry room. In the laundry room I have her bed, water, and a nylabone (sp?).

There isn’t much for her to get into in this room, but I did notice a few bite marks on the dryer hose which concern me. Also, if something is left out she will inevitably find it and destroy it - like the one day I forgot to put her leash in the cabinet.

The “destructive” (putting it in quotes bc it really isn’t that bad) behavior tends to occur after the dog walker comes … maybe my dog likes her better than us haha. But I am looking for some ways to entertain her while she is in this room.

I have filled a kong with peanut butter, frozen it, and given it to her while I have been there and this works to keep her occupied. I am having the dog walker give this to her when she leaves today. However, is it safe to do this everyday? I don’t want to overload her on PB. I thought about maybe freezing some wet dog food in one and cutting her food a bit - is it safe to freeze this food?

Any suggestions people could offer for helping my dog pass the time while she was alone would be most appreciated. TIA.[/QUOTE]

Yes, freezing the wet food is fine. I’ve done that a lot!

Maybe you could leave a radio on for her?

[Bicoastal]

How recently did you adopt her? She may still be settling in.

Sounds like the dogwalker’s visit might be amping her up and not wearing her out. The dryer hose is a little surprising. Usually dogs target the door/frame. How can she reach the hose?

There are lots of food puzzles out there. Stuffing with food or PB then freezing it will last longer.

Can you give her more toys than a nylabone? How much exercise does she get in the morning? Add some OB/training to exercise her mind, too.

[TheHotSensitiveType]

I used to mix our dog’s breakfast kibble with wet dog food, froze over night, and then gave it to him in the XXL Extreme Kong. He is a ‘power chewer’ so that is the only size he could have… and he still tore it in 6 months. It took him over an hour (often 2 hours) to get all the food out! Now that we have more than one dog, I can’t do that anymore…

[neversaynever]

A buddy.

[horsenut_8700]

My dogs are crated to avoid such destruction but when my sister lets them out mid day she gives them each a Kong with frozen canned food/pumpkin mixture. Keeps them busy for a bit and the pumpkin minimizes the extra calories.

[amt813]

Thanks for all the responses -

We have only had her about two weeks - so yes, her still settling in is definitely a good possibility. However, I don’t want her to be bored, so thought I would take steps now to see what I could do.

I will get her some more toys. I am concerned about the plush toys as she tends to tear them apart. While I don’t care about her destroying them, I am concerned about her ingesting them. However, I will look for tougher toys to give her a few more options.

I will get more kongs and freeze them with the food suggestions - glad to know this is an option.

I was surprised by the dryer hose to - when my husband told me it looked like she had chewed on it I didn’t believe him at first - but there are definitely teeth marks on it. It is not an ideal set up … we need to get a soft hose so that it can collapse against the wall and not be accessible to Greta (my dog). For now, we have placed a gate around it to prevent her from chewing on it.

If it were just me, Greta would have multiple buddies; but I don’t think I can get my husband on board

Thanks again!

[saultgirl]

The kong wobbler is also good. I have a big one and it fits 1 cup of kibble at a time. It kind of scuffs up the baseboards as it gets knocked around but I don’t mind. They aren’t cheap but it’s really durable.

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/interactive/wobbler-2/wobbler/

[gloriginger]

yogart is also good for kong - frozen ofcourse.

You could also leave a radio on - helps my dog when she is left alone.

[Paddys_Mom]

Wait - no pictures of boxer puppy cuteness??? :eek:

[stargzng386]

I freeze salmon cream cheese into kongs and bones to give my dog. I used the same with a foster and it really helped her anxiety when we left.

[amt813]

Thank you all so much - I am definitely going to get a Kong Wobbler.

My dog walker called me to tell me that she had take all of the stuffing out of her bed :no:

A little bit of an off topic question, but are bully sticks safe? I have heard the warnings against rawhides, but wondering if the bully sticks would be okay to give her too?

Opinions on crating her for a few months, and seeing if she outgrows this? She doesn’t have too much room now, but she can get up and walk around and that has always made me feel better. If I crated her she would be in the crate about 4 to 4.5 hours at a time - is this too long?

I really appreciate everyone’s suggestions.

[Jchambers]

Bully sticks are fine but you shouldn’t leave your dog alone with them. They are pretty expensive as well so we give them to our dogs as a special treat only. I crated my one year old rescue with her fuzzy blanket and a frozen Kong stuffed with canned dog food and some treats inside. She never had any stuffed toys unsupervised either.

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=amt813;8414343]
My dog walker called me to tell me that she had take all of the stuffing out of her bed :no:

A little bit of an off topic question, but are bully sticks safe? I have heard the warnings against rawhides, but wondering if the bully sticks would be okay to give her too?

Opinions on crating her for a few months, and seeing if she outgrows this? She doesn’t have too much room now, but she can get up and walk around and that has always made me feel better. If I crated her she would be in the crate about 4 to 4.5 hours at a time - is this too long?[/QUOTE]

I love the Kong Wobbler. There is also the twist n treat, tug a jug, and a myriad of balls with holes for kibble.

The dogwalker took all of the stuffing out of the bed or the dog did? Try a mat or a towel. It sounds like the destruction is increasing. How much exercise is she getting? Is she crate trained? How was she housed before you adopted her?

Regarding bully sticks, I would try under supervision first. Give one and wait 24hrs to see how her GI system reacts. That’s a good idea for any of the chewies (hooves, marrow bones, etc)

[Sabino]

My younger Chesapeake STILL needs to be contained when we aren’t home as she’ll chew up the strangest stuff. And she will be 4 in March… She isn’t kenneled, just gated off in a small are but with her kennel in there so she can go in there if she wants.

[fatappy]

I love the kongs for my aussie, but have found that a tennis ball with a hole cut in it is just as efficient and much cheaper.

For her Kong; I put a few treats in it, then seal it up with peanut butter and stick it in the freezer. She has to get through the peanut butter first then still has the treats to work out. It’s a winner for my girl.

[amt813]

The dog took the stuffing out of the bed.

This is week 3 of having her and this is the first week we have had an issue. However, right after adopting her she got really sick (so sick that the vet was worried that she may have distemper). She very quickly improved on antibiotics though and is very healthy now. So she might have just been too sick to be destructive earlier.

She is crate trained and perhaps I will go back to that. She was pulled from a high kill shelter in TN and came up to NJ. She was with a foster for a week and then we got her. When her foster mom was at work, she was crated. I was just hoping to gradually increase her freedom while we were out of the house so moved a small confined room. She still sleeps in her crate at night (but in our room). I don’t know anything about her history before she came to NJ.

Unfortunately morning exercise is a bit brief. I take her out quickly in the morning, then feed her and get ready for work. I then take her back out for about a 15 minute walk around 6 and then my husband does the same around 7:30. My dog walker comes at around 12 to 12:30 and takes her for a walk / run for about an hour. I then get home around 5 and take her out to the yard and play with her. Then I feed her, change my clothes and do a few other things and then take her for about another 30 minute walk. If later in the evening she is playful I will play catch with her in the yard - however, she is not into the cold and actually doesn’t want to be outside for too long right now. I really do do the best I can … obviously leaving her alone during the day isn’t ideal, but I still feel like she gets quite a bit of attention and exercise.

I will try a towel tomorrow.

Thank you for the advice on the bully sticks - yes they are expensive!

[Casey09]

[QUOTE=fatappy;8414402]
I love the kongs for my aussie, but have found that a tennis ball with a hole cut in it is just as efficient and much cheaper.

For her Kong; I put a few treats in it, then seal it up with peanut butter and stick it in the freezer. She has to get through the peanut butter first then still has the treats to work out. It’s a winner for my girl.[/QUOTE]

From the crazy paranoid person:

Be careful with balls with only one hole in them as they can get stuck on the dog’s tongue.
http://dogthusiast.com/2015/08/24/dog-toys-with-single-opening-can-create-dangerous-life-threatening-suction-effect/
Please be careful with the tennis balls. Here are a number of toys you can stuff besides Kong toys.

The other crazy warning I have is to make sure you check the peanut butter you are using to make sure it doesn’t contain xylitol, which is toxic to dogs. A number of dogs have died from the new no sugar peanut butters that, unbeknownst to their owners, contained xylitol which is toxic to dogs.

Kong actually used to have some recipes on their website, so you can google along stuffing to see if there are ideas. I don’t shy away from giving dogs bits of chicken, etc., which can be frozen in the Kong. Nothing you’ve mentioned seems unusual for a one year old dog. They have bad tasting spray for dogs which you could try, and other than that I would just do what you’re doing with safe toys and exercise.

[fatappy]

@Casey09;8414517

From the crazy paranoid person:

Be careful with balls with only one hole in them as they can get stuck on the dog’s tongue.
http://dogthusiast.com/2015/08/24/dog-toys-with-single-opening-can-create-dangerous-life-threatening-suction-effect/
Please be careful with the tennis balls. Here are a number of toys you can stuff besides Kong toys.

Good to know, hadn’t thought about that. The tennis balls I use have holes smaller than a penny and only dry dog food goes in them. I’ve watched her with them when I work from home and she just tosses it to herself; she doesn’t try to lick them.

[MsM]

Ahhh, the joys of trying to keep a bored active dog from destroying things and self! When my Aussie was young, I tried to graduate him from the crate by keeping him in the bathroom. Ignoring his toy,he climbed into the tub and chewed soap and shampoo bottles. Put a rod in the shower door channel but he got it out and turned the shower on! Soggy dog and soggy room! He also chewed on the PVC sink pipe. He retuned to his crate for a while.
This is the same dog that later threw his toy and broke a water pipe below the shut off. In front of me on a weekend $$$. I am amazed we both survived his adolescence.