Exercise Ideas for Your Dog That Don’t Involve Walking
Jul 18, 2023
On some days, walking your dog might not be possible; perhaps you’re not feeling well yourself, or the weather is too hot or very wet. For these occasions, it's great to know some exercises that can tire your dog out and give them stimulation without you needing to walk them. Dogs should always do a variety of exercises, and walking should be one of them, but for the occasions that walking isn’t an option, you can use these ideas instead.
Foraging for food
Dogs love to forage for food, and it can wear them out much more than simply eating the food out of a bowl. Scatter their food outside on the grass or around your house, and let them find everything for themselves. You can do this with their regular biscuits if your dog is very food motivated. If not, you may need to use treats or something that’s more appealing to your dog. Using this method of feeding can also stop your dog from eating too quickly and then being sick soon afterwards.
Hide and seek
Hide and seek is a fun game that many dogs enjoy; depending on how well your dog is trained, you may need one or two people for this activity. If your dog will sit and stay when you leave the room, you can do it with one person. Simply ask them to sit and stay, then go and hide. Give them the release command and watch them come and find you, make sure it's not too challenging at first and always ensure your dog is safe. If there are two of you, one person can hold your dog on the lead and release them once you’ve hidden. This can be more fun as your dog won’t have any clues as to where you are because you can remain silent. Dogs love this activity, and it will teach them several different skills; once your dog finds you, giving them a treat as a reward is a good idea. You can repeat this activity several times to tire out your dog. If you’re training your dog to use a dog whistle, you can hide further away and use the whistle to help your dog to find you. A dog whistle lanyard around your neck will make this game easier and prevent the whistle from becoming lost.
Get your dog to find their favourite toy
A good way to get your dog to do more exercise is to hide some of their toys and get them to find them. To do this, you’ll need to train your dog to understand the game; start by teaching them commands like “get ready” and “find it”. Make sure you hide their toys or treats in easy locations to start with where they can quickly find them. Once they get good at finding them quickly, you can move them further away to other rooms and locations to make it more challenging.
Indoor agility
If you have the space, you can make an obstacle course in your house as a way to exercise your dog. You can use many things as obstacles, from brooms and mops as jumps to wellies standing up as weaving objects. Setting this up can take some time and creativity, but your dog will enjoy the challenge of taking on each obstacle. Make sure once everything is set up; you take the time to show your dog how to use each obstacle whilst on the lead before expecting them to complete it off the lead. Once they’ve mastered the obstacle course, you can time their performance, adding time for any mistakes made along the way. This way, you can see if your dog improves over time; if they love this activity, you could consider taking them to agility lessons.
These are just some easy examples of ways you can entertain your dog without needing to go on a long walk. It's great to have these things in your back pocket for days when you don’t feel well, or walking isn’t possible. Remember, if you can’t walk for extended periods, you should ask a friend or employ a dog walker to ensure your dog still gets the interaction and stimulation they need.