So yesterday we told you the best 3 ways to save you money on your Dog Training but you may have noticed that for you'll need time and dedication. Today we're going to cheat a bit.
How can we improve our dogs behaviour without training? Yesterday's post is valid we will have a happier more content (and therefore less destructive and frustrated) dog if we enrich our poochy pal's physical and mental outlook.
The good news is that the first suggestion I am going to make here is one from yesterday's list - Control and Management as a way of reducing your dog's unwanted behaviour. If you constantly come home to the contents of the bin emptied over your kitchen floor you could buy expensive and invasive gizmos to try to prevent your dog from their own form of dumper diving but in reality it is easier and just as affective to change where you keep your bin. You can move it in to your pantry or outside the backdoor or get a posh one for inside your cupboard. Look at your current problems and see if you can make your life a little bit easier and remove some of the temptations.
Adequate physical and mental stimulation is the key to your pups problems. Take a few moments to look at your routine and see if you can add a little extra excitement to your dogs day. Off to see your Mum? Well could the dog go too and enjoy a little sniff around her garden (take some poo bags of course!)? Meeting a friend for coffee? Is there a different, perhaps owner managed and independent, coffee shop that is dog friendly or by the side of a park (it my well be better value than your ususal 'one on every corner' barista? Walking the kids to school with dog in tow will improve your kid's health and popularity and may not even take much longer as you'll not need to fight for that illusive parking spot!
Ok, you may have thought of all of the above, my last suggestion today is to make the most of the many boredom buster toys on the market and the ones you can create yourself. If you dog loves a stick then collect a few and keep them hidden. When you let your dog out in the morning instead of just leaving your dog to drearily wander around smelling the familiar and unexciting ground of your back garden throw one of the new sticks, it will smell different and engage his senses for that bit longer. Rubber toys such as Kongs can be great, particularly if your leaving your dog, but so can some of the boredom busters designed for horses. Place a ration of your dog's breakfast and let them move a play ball around to get the kibble out. Other household items that can keep your dog entertained include plastic drink bottles, remove the lids and put some small treats inside; most dogs will love the noise they can make with these and will enjoy the rewards too. Main thing to say here is keep toys hidden away otherwise they'll lose their appeal.
Go on, get creative or be like me and use other peoples' ideas from the internet there's a lot of good stuff out there!