Mind games.

With the long dark winter nights ahead of us what do you do to alleviate boredom? On Mia's second walk of the day I tend to leave it till just before dusk. What can I do to occupy her if she gets bored? Thanks in advance  

few good toys , hide the treat , and more training

I tend to walk our last long walk at lunch time now, as its a wood walk and just too dark in there and have to be careful of the wild boar!
So a road walk at nites and a few games of hide and seek or tug seems to finally tire him out!  

Tug, hide & seek, we also have a sock tied to a whip and Darcy chases the sock

sash loves a game of tug or war with her dad in the evenings,tires her out and him too!

Well, during the loooooong dark cold winter nights, if Kuchar is feeling restless, we walk the streets! (On a lead, of course). I've got to admit that I don't enjoy it much, but Kuchar on the other hand finds lots of bushes, street-side trees, lamp-posts, walls etc etc to sniff at and anoint if he feels so inclined. He seems to enjoy these walks as much as the ones in daylight in relative countryside, the only difference being he doesn't get to play with other dogs. Inside the house, his greatest joy and which wears off his energy, is chasing things. Squeaky toys are good, but the very best thing he loves is an empty plastic bottle (slightly deflated and top screwed on tight) - lovely crunchy noises when he catches it and plays with it and brings it back to be chucked again.

Our 2 just took themselves up to bed after their walk and their tea........ so I called them down and said to hubby that we should hide some treats - keep them alert a bit longer........ I put some gravy bones in a tub trug - they peered over the top but we're too dense to work out how to get them out. I go into the kitchen for 5 minutes and, yes, he's 'helped' them   I turn the tub trug upside down and hide some more gravy bones - the girls just go upstairs to bed   They're not the brightest buttons these Staffies but I do so love them  

my 2 must be so lazy , no walk since 4 , no real play and both flat out on the bed now with mummy and apart from jumping down for a wee when mummy moves around through the night then they will be ther until 7 ish tomorrow

jo what on earth is a tub trug ????

Dave wrote:jo what on earth is a tub trug ????

haha Dave, it's just one of those bendy buckets that builders use with 2 handles - I use them for gardening, washing, all sorts, one of those 'can't live without' plastic thingys..........  

I start - reluctantly - jogging at night. I hate jogging and never do it normally. However Rupert encourages me and you feel so in sync with your dog its ins a wonderful feeling. I also put him in a bright LED collar. He looks a bit like he's going to a rave but it adds to the excitement of the run, makes people smile and cars see him (though always on lead). I still can't stand jogging though.

Poppy has a Grabber keeps her amused for ages...looks like a large rugby ball,she chews on that,tires her out,then she will flop down on her dads lap,till her last wee,she then comes in and goes straight up to bed...such a lazy lovable little minx...sleeps till the morning,then at the break of dawn creeps in dads side of the bed,till we get up...

Get a laser pen! I got one for around £2 delivered off eBay and it keeps Zeus entertained for a while, he runs around like a maniac trying to get it.

Tug of war is also really good to tire them out in winter nights, just make sure you teach Mia to drop/stop on command.

Biscuit is probably the laziest dog in the world, she turns into a real dog when we go for walks but in the house she is a cat, just sunbathes, snuggles and sleeps. We do some interactive training, and my OH play wrestles with her quite a bit, she also loves deflated plastic bottles and has a whole tub full of toys and chews. She's interested for a 5-10 minutes, but will sneak off to bed when you're not looking! She does enjoy a kong or stuffed marrow bone in her bed though, so that's something that she can do, whilst lying down.