A Dog's Day: Having Fun Is Not A Luxury

We have mother’s day, father’s day but we don’t have a national dog day. They’re a member of the family, quite a crucial one at that, surely they deserve one day out of the year where it's all about them. So, mark your calendar and set out a day where you will pamper and please your furry companion. What do they want? Well, they’re a dog so they can’t tell you obviously but we all secretly know. They want things that will drive their senses wild and keep them occupied. They want to get lost in their own doggy world of smells, textures, biting, gnawing and running around like a wild horse. Well luckily for them, there are so many options on the market for the ultimate dog toy. Everything from soft, hard, flexible and squeaky, they love all kinds of toys. Just like we want different forms of entertainment, dogs love different shapes, colors, and sizes of their toys. It's a dog’s day!


Photo credit Karen Arnold

Dogs love football
Dogs have so many human qualities and they just like us, love to have a kickabout. Buying your dog a bite-proof football is going to be one of the most worthwhile gifts to a pooch you could ever give. They will chase and chase until they are out of breath and tired. It's so much better than a ball you have to throw because playing fetch is a based on their mood. Dogs have it in them to chase and recall, but kicking around a football, biting it and jumping up to header it is a combination of things they love. Firstly chasing the ball will activate their primal predator of chasing prey, then biting down on it will introduce them to new textures on their tongue and jumping up is just a fun thing they do.

Gnashing all day
There’s a reason why dogs love to gnaw on bones and it isn’t just to get the marrow from the centre out. They just like to fiddle around, biting around feeling different shapes and surfaces, that’s why they love chewy toys. On DogsByNina there’s an article which explains what kind of chew toys are the most popular. They also release some behavioural characteristics that you may want to look into and see if your dog shows signs of such activity. In the post about chew toys, it explains that dogs can get tired and bored of toys they get too familiar with. That’s why human interaction while playing with toys is so important, to keep them engaged. They want toys they can manipulate and gnash all day.



Games with treats
A simple game that you can play with your dog, keeping them locked and focused while giving them treats is the 3-cup monty. All you need to do is show them a treat in your hand, then put it under one cup and start mixing around the three cups altogether. Then when you stop, ask them to point to which one they think the treat is under. If they guess right, they get the treat and if not, you play again. This can go on and on until you get bored.

Having fun should never be a luxury that a dog is given just for being good. It's part of their natural life and it should be a part of yours too. Chew toys last long but footballs will excite them the most.