ways to tire a labrador out inside the house?
Posted: April 6th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: House, inside, Labrador, Tire, Ways | 7 Comments »yes i posted this a couple days ago but am looking for some more options…it just snowed 12 inches!!!
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of course it is december, and where i am it is really cold – too cold to take dogs on 3 mile walks. however, i will be getting a new foster dog in a few days that is a year old lab. any ideas to tire him out inside? we don’t have a fenced in yard b/c we live out in the country. also, it is too cold for me to be outside for more than about 20 minutes max at a time. we do have a large house and once i feel i can trust him off leash outside he will be able to run more (under my supervision of course).
also, the dog was a surrender (they said he got to big and strong) so he comes with a name. it happens to be the same as one of my dogs, jack. would it really confuse him to change his name? i was thinking milo or zeus if his personality fits.
any tips for me??? i wouldn’t be doing it but the shelter is way too full and the manager asked me personally if i could take one.
ADD: as for the name, i recently worked with a dog named jasper and that was totally confusing to both of them being that similar. it would have to be something that definitely sounds different.
ADD: of course i will be doing basic obedience with him and take him out for walks around our property for as long as i can stand it. however, we have two dogs and one doesn’t play at all and the other is older with arthritis so she can only play for a short time. this means that i can’t depend on this to drain his energy.
ADD: and yes, i have had labs before so i have at least some sort of clue what i am getting into. it isn’t my first time working with a lab. i was able to get an unruly 85 lb lab to be the gentlest creature in the world.
ADD: i have been trying to save for a treadmill but right now that is out of the question. i don’t have any income right now b/c of the economy.
You could find i fun indoor toy for him/her. Some toys are quite inexpensive. also, you could look up doing Yoga with the dog, that is becoming very popular. be creative, what i do to tire out my Pit Bull, it i run around the room with her..hope this helps!
Mental exercise is as tiring as physical exercise, so start training him You can give him several 15 – 20 minute training sessions each day. If you have someone else who can hold him for a few minutes, play hide and seek. I use a long down, but I wouldn’t expect that would be possible for a foster. My dogs love that game.
And I would use a variation of Jack so the foster dog would recognize his name. Maybe something like Jack-o or Jackie Pup.
Do you have a basement with cement walls? Take the dogs down there and throw a tennis ball against the wall. It will bounce to the floor and back up. The dogs can jump up and catch it.
Play tug of war with a sock or a dog toy that keeps them pulling backward and using their legs.
If the dogs retrieve, throw a kong a ball or large stick off the porch and have them retrieve it again and again. They run and you stand still for 15 or 20 minutes.
Sometimes two dogs will play tug of war with a sock with each other. No work for you. Just watch and supervise.
That’s all I can think of right now. Good luck.
Way to go,I live in Australia and rescued my first lab!His name,when he came to me was Shadow.We changed it to Jed.Dogs don’t care,it’s all in the tone.2 years on,he doesn’t even flinch if I call Shadow.
While my female is on heat,I have the same problem about excercise,I throw a ball up and down the hallway!
I have found with my 2 labs,they love running and swimming etc,but if you are relaxed in their company..they are very happy to sleep all day!
Good luck
I have the same problem. 29 below tonight. I can’t bring my dog outside, so I try throwing his Kong up and down the stairs lol. Sort of dangerous I suppose, but it’s great exercise for both of us.
I’ve never known a Lab who wasn’t a mad fiend for retrieving. Find out his favorite kind of toy, whether a tennis ball or a plushie or whatever, and sit at the top of a flight of stairs. Call him up, get him to sit next to you. Toss the toy, tell hiim to fetch. Repeat until he gets tired.
He’ll get tired relatively quickly; he’s running upstairs. You’re just sitting.
Footnote; my two mutts (with perfect hips) would do this for hours. My Australian Shepherd had terrible hips, and my first clue was that even as a yearling, when he was exploding with energy, he would only retrieve up the stairs twice. If I threw it a third time, he’d ignore it and walk away; it just hurt to much to bound up the stairs.
But it tires out a dog that can do it wonderfully.
Labs are very playful and energetic…
PLAY with him..
Tug o war
rub him real good all over and let him jump around.. Let his energy come out
Give him some toys to throw around.. get some free stuffed animals and let him go wild!!
God bless!!