So much is happening around the house leading up to that crazy time of year known as Back To School. Pets can feel stressed and left out during this time, and once school starts the house can feel empty. Your dog may get bored and lonely, which can lead to unwanted behaviors in an otherwise well behaved dog. So why not send your dog Back To School along with the kids?
Many dogs experience anxiety during Back To School time. Help ease the transition by sending your dog back to school too! Here are some activities to get your dog in that Back To School mode too and prevent her from becoming lonely, stressed, and even destructive!
TRAINING CLASSES
Why not enroll in a
new Training Class at your local PetSmart or other dog training facility? It will keep your dog occupied, well
exercised and out of trouble! He may even
feel a lot more special with all that attention focused on him and all the
treats he’ll be getting in his reward based training class. Many facilities go beyond basic obedience into
more enriched classes like Tricks training, Agility, Obedience Rally, and Nosework. It's a good time to find discounts on training as dog training facilities offer Back To School specials!
If you don’t have much time or money, search online for dog training videos, purchase a dog training book, or take a book or video series out from the library and create your own custom training curriculum. Flip through the videos or books and select a few new things you’d like to teach your dog. By Thanksgiving everyone will be amazed at how much your dog has learned!
TRICKS TRAINING
If your dog has already thoroughly aced all the basic obedience commands and you just want to have some fun together, try tricks training. With a tricks training class, book, or video you can teach your dog to do some really cool tricks like Play Dead, Where’s My Dog?, Are You Sorry? and much more. By the time the holidays roll around, you’ll be able to wow your family and guests with the show-stopping tricks you’ve learned!
PUZZLE TOYS
If your dog hasn’t had one of these fun, mentally stimulating puzzle toys yet give one a try! If you’re worried your dog will quickly tire of the toy you just paid good money for, hook up with some friends to rotate and share your puzzle toys. That way you each buy just one puzzle toy but your dog gets to play with several, changing them up every few weeks to keep them fresh.
If you’re looking for something that gets you and your dog outside more, set up some training activities out in the yard. Several companies make home agility or obedience rally courses you can set up right in the yard. These activities help re-enforce many basic commands and will increase the bond you and your dog have as you work together through the courses.
Your dog will be the envy of every canine on the block as she heads Back To School this Fall! Find more tips on how to ease the Back To School transition for your dog here.
How do you get your dog ready for Back To School in the Fall? Please leave us a comment and share, we LOVE to hear from you!
14 comments:
Great ideas!
Those are awesome ideas! Great post!
Doggy school is fun!
That is the cutest trick ever! BOL! Phoebe looks very studious in her glasses. ♥
Great ideas. Dog training well of course I'm all for that BOL. Subscribed to your youtube channel too. I think it's a great idea that we all connect there also.
How is Isis doing by the way, hope tummy is all better.
You are so right! It really does affect the dogs as well!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Training is so important for happy coexistence and bonding. We prefer training at home
- any classes are too far for us to drive to regularly
- the class I took with JD was so boring I barely survived. Only the last class was actually awesome and fun - no idea why all of them couldn't be like that.
Those are some great ideas! I love the idea of sending the dog back to school too with training classes. It has to be hard being a pet when all of the humans in the home are so busy.
- Purrs from your friends at www.PlayfulKitty.net
Mr. N is competing(?) for his first trick title next month!
#Finndawg loves his training... it's not the same 1:1 in our yard, he loves the group vibe! Lucky dawg!
WeK from www.WherePetsAreFound.com
p.s. we shared on Pinterest, G+, Twitter & Facebook ;)
I love the idea of an agility course set up in the back yard -- I've been thinking about that for the GSD, to keep her mental faculties engaged. It can be pretty boring for a 2 year old just hanging out in the yard. She's just started playdates twice a week, and she happier for it, which makes me happy! Thanks for the idea-filled post =)
My dogs love puzzle toys. It also helps them learn to wait their turn. Kind of like Kindergarten. :-D
--Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats
I never really thought about dogs getting anxiety during back to school time because I don't have kids and none of my friends do either! I can definitely see how it'd be stressful to dogs since they get used to having everyone home during the summer.
Back to school no longer affects Kilo but we do do daily training. Wish he could do groups.
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