All dogs need exercise to be physically and mentally healthy. During nice weather you can enjoy long walks, trips to parks and beaches, games of fetch out in the sunshine, and jaunts to a dog park – the choices are many. But what do you do during a blizzard when you’re stuck at home?

Unless you’re one of those brave souls who will strap on cross-country skies to glide through the neighborhood, the safest place to be is indoors.

How can you keep your dog exercised indoors? There are activities that will keep your dog from being bored and teach him to use his mind as well as his body.

Dogs have wonderful olfactory systems. The nose that can sniff out so many things can be put to good use in a game of Find Your Dinner. If you feed kibble, you can hide some in various places and allow your dog to discover each piece, or a few pieces together as a jackpot. That will keep his mind and body moving.

Lore I. Haug, D.V.M., who owns Texas Veterinary Behavior Services is a proponent of environmental enrichment. Dr. Haug favours food-dispensing toys that move, such as Kibble Nibble, Buster Cube, etc. We’re fortunate that today there are some wonderful puzzle toys for dogs. These will keep your dog busy taking pieces out and putting them back into place. I know of one little Chihuahua who was very good at removing the toy birds from the birdhouse but rather than replace them, she insisted upon putting each one into her water dish as if it were a birdbath.

Playing with your dog with a clicker will also produce some interesting and fun results. Interactive activities help you strengthen the human-animal bond. You can play Karen Pryor’s game of 101 Things to Do with a Box, where you click for each thing the dog does with a cardboard box, whether playing with it, getting into it, etc.

Dr. Haug suggests round robin recalls in the house as another good activity that incorporates the entire family. “Multiple family members can call the dog back and forth through the house. This gives the dog some interesting exercise and also helps to refine the dog’s Recall skills.”
You can teach your dog various moves – such things as backing up, spinning on cue, weaving or praying (front paws together).

Then there are the practical things that will keep your dog busy and moving. Have your dog help you with the laundry, picking up towels and taking them to the hamper. Teach him to pick up your keys and bring them to you. If you live in an apartment, you can teach him to ring for the elevator.

A little dog can get a lot of exercise playing fetch in an apartment or condo. Tiny dogs don’t need a lot of space in which to exercise, but dogs of all sizes need to keep their mind and body active. The little ones also benefit from games that challenge them mentally as well as physically.

Larger dogs, too, can benefit from a fetch game. “For dogs that like to chase or fetch, I often recommend owners toss pieces of food down a long hallway or up or down a staircase,” adds Dr. Haug. “This can also be combined with training by asking the dog for a behaviour and then, rather than handing the treat to the dog, the owner throws the food reward so the dog can chase it.”

Think about setting up a small, informal agility course, especially for your little or medium-sized dog. You can use chairs, tables, etc. Your dog can go under the chairs and tables, weave through chairs set up in a row. You are hampered only by your imagination.

Your can play Hide and Seek with your dog indoors. One person hides and you send the dog to “Go find…” adding the person’s name. Most dogs will relish this sort of game. Since the dog’s nose and hearing are so acute it may not be a huge challenge, but it will be fun.

Be sure that all games involve thinking, not brute strength, wrestling or mindless play that can only teach your dog to be unruly. The point is to be creative and work with your dog to learn new things – fun things that you and your dog will enjoy doing and showing off to friends and family.

I suspect we have a world full of very bored dogs that aren’t making full use of their minds as well as their bodies. Use the inclement weather to ensure that your dog isn’t one of those.