Cabin Fever!

[Guest EvanstonGrey]

Hi all,

With the insane heat it feels like we've been stuck in the house forever! Anyone have tips for keeping hounds healthy and happy when it's too hot for more than quick potty breaks outside?

My girl loves her Kongs and stuffies but she's our only dog and I wish I knew more tricks to entertain her

All ideas greatly appreciated!

[Jimbuck]

We've been doing some training inside to keep our hound mentally stimulated in all this heat. We've been working on the stay command and then hiding his dinner kibble in a different room, then releasing to go sniff it out. We still do walks in the morning but with all this heat, after work or evenings are out of the question. I know he's missing it, but we'll make up for it once the weather isn't so miserable and go for some hikes.

[3greytjoys]

Dog puzzles (made for large dogs) are a nice brain stimulator for supervised sessions. Wooden puzzles are usually stronger/safer than plastic.

 

http://www.amazon.co...k/dp/B003F1JYCQ

 

http://www.entirelypets.com/treatwheel.html

 

We practice "come" recall training inside for special treats. I go into another room, blow a whistle (like PE teachers use) and immediately say "(dog's name) ____ + come". I couple the verbal call with this whistle because the sound carries farther if needed in an emergency loose hound situation outside. It's easy to keep an extra whistle in cars, or wear around human's neck. If traveling, it's easy to find/buy a whistle.

 

(BTW, we DON'T use a squawker for recall training. GH racing trainers have already done a superior job teaching squawker use with MUCH higher GH rewards. Reason we save squawkers for emergency use only: Some retired hounds can become desensitized to squawker sound if overused with lame rewards and without the racing chase. Retired Greyhounds don't need any "practice" with squawkers, they usually respond to a rare squawker sound forever, even if they haven't heard one for years.)

 

Jimbuck offered good suggestions, along with playing general hide and seek in different rooms for treats.

[jamngrey]

You can also try training her. It works the brain which as well wears them out

[Guest EvanstonGrey]

Thanks very much! We do clicker training and she's great at it but I've read that it's best to do in short sessions throughout the day... The puzzles look like a great option!

Stay cool everyone!

[Beachbum1]

It's been boiling hot here in South Florida for a month or so and no more long (45-60 minute) walks at this time.

We go "shopping" at Lowe's a couple of times a week.

That gets Taylor two 15 minute rides (and he LOVES going in the car), and then maybe 20+ minutes of wandering around a nice big air conditioned store, with clean wide aisles. He gets some exercise, plus lots of attention from workers and customers, too.