Occupy your dog while he is away – the chewing trick
Going on vacation with your dog is simply great! Take long walks with your dog, naps, joyful swimming... It's an opportunity to share magical moments of complicity. If at EmmèneTonChien.com, we do everything so that you can share a maximum of activities with your dog, doggie will not be able to accompany you everywhere.
He will not be able to accompany you for a visit to an artisanal cheese dairy, for your rafting descent, during a hike in a protected nature reserve, for your aquagym sessions at the campsite swimming pool, during your sunbathing session at 35° C on the beach….
So how do you keep your dog busy while you're away, on vacation or on a daily basis? What are some good tips and tricks to keep your dog busy and prevent him from doing silly things when he can't accompany you for an activity? I'm going to tell you about a magic trick: chewing! An activity that releases endorphins galore, the happiness hormone.
And since the news is on lockdown, re-lockdown, deconfinement... I'll also talk to you about tips for keeping your dog busy at home.
Chewing: a natural activity for happy dogs
Here you are on vacation with your dog but you have planned an activity where he cannot accompany you? What to do with your dog during this absence?
As soon as you turn on your heels, your dog is very imaginative when it comes to nonsense? Trash turned over, sofa nibbled on, wolf howls for hours, door scraped… To avoid damage, to operate your insurance and leave your deposit there, opt for a petsitter or a dog boarding house at your vacation spot.
If your dog is able to be left alone for a few hours, first make sure that you have permission to leave him alone in the accommodation you have rented. And to occupy it during this time of absence, I suggest chewing. An activity he will love!
As our chewing expert told us, Cani Gourmand, chewing in dogs is a natural and important activity throughout its life. It is a source of mental and physical stimulation essential for its well-being. And it's a great activity to occupy him healthily. In a “natural” diet, dogs gnaw on bones for hours. But if your dog eats kibble or other pâté, he never chews.
I don't give Musher bones because I hate the smell of fresh meat that stays on my dog after hours of chewing on that. And then, thank the carnage at home when she chews her fresh bone on the tiled floor. It's selfish, I admit it, but to overcome that, I found other tips and I regularly offer him treats to chew. PS: NEVER give cooked bones to your dog. Cooking alters the composition of the bone and it can burst into pieces creating splinters in your dog's stomach, sources of perforation.
Chewing is great for your dog's oral hygiene and it's a great activity for your dog. Rather than eating the table in your mobile home, nibbling on the sofa in your rental or simply being bored to death during your afternoon on the beach, he will be busy chewing. For your dog, chewing can limit destruction, manage the stress of loneliness, release tensions and emotions and it stimulates him while releasing some endorphins along the way.
Chewing, yes, but not just anything!
If on vacation with your dog, you have to leave him alone for a few hours because of non-dog-friendly activity, you will have understood that you will have to stock up on treats to chew on to keep him healthy.
It's time to introduce you to Cani Gourmand, our specialist partner in natural dog treats, without additives, without preservatives and without cereals. Aurélie, founder of Cani Gourmand, developed this business in collaboration with her grandfather, a butcher by profession. He had always treated his dogs to natural treats. While she was rewarding Enjie like “a duck” until her dog got indigestion. By looking at the composition labels of the industrial treats that she bought from him in the pet store, she realized that they were made up of 80% cereals. Perfect for a duck but terrible for dogs!
Suddenly, after several trials with her grandfather, she selected suppliers and took the plunge to set up on her own by creating Cani Gourmand. Today Aurélie offers you a whole range of treats to chew on for both small and large dogs and a complete range of snacks and natural rewards.
You can find on the Cani Gourmand online store : ox muzzles, ox skin, boar skin, deer antlers, ostrich bones, calf hooves…. Be careful, you should not choose any treat for any dog! Depending on their hardness or size, you can let your dog taste them alone or the tasting must be done under supervision to avoid the risk of gobbling, for example.
Musher has tested deer antlers for you! OMG, she's crazy about this stuff. She spends hours chewing it to exhaustion. You know how greedy Labradors are, Musher is no exception to the rule. So I only offer her antler when I have to be away from home for a few errands, at the office during a meeting or on vacation when I can't take her with me. Also, my absence goes unnoticed. She's far too busy chewing antler while releasing happy endorphins. The total foot!
A few weeks before Christmas, I advise you to take a look at Aurélie's online store. The first product to order is of course the advent calendar! The calendar has about 200 treats for the first 25 days of December. Something to delight your dog with 100% natural treats. Is your dog a foodie? He will love the gifts from the Cani Gourmand boutique. It's time to order. As a bonus, find a promo code exclusively reserved for Wouafer's in our Good Deals page.
PS: I always talk to you about dogs but I know that many of you also have a cat. You can also find a whole range of treats for your kitty on his shop!
Taking care of your dog: tips and advice
Before discovering Cani Gourmand's deer antlers, I already had some tips for keeping my dog busy at home while I'm away or even when I'm there but not available to play with it because I'm working or tidying up my house.
COVID obliges, we have all experienced confinement or periods of partial unemployment where we were therefore stuck at home all together.
Some doggies, too happy to finally have us all to themselves, solicit us all day long: they ask for cuddles, cry to attract attention, bring us their leash hoping to go for a walk, bring us their favorite toy hoping that we'll throw it and follow us around the house hoping to get our attention.
If at first it's cute, then it hits the system…. Your dog is bored and makes you understand. How to occupy it?
For a long time, I have adopted several games of occupation and mental stimulation for my dog:
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the mystery box: I put aside each cardboard package I receive and when I have to be away, I hide a treat in a box and give it to him. As soon as I take a box out of my stash, she knows it's for her and she's celebrating! When I return the cardboard is in confetti but not my furniture!
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the stuffed Kong: I stuck a carrot or an apple in a Kong toy and she spent hours chewing it to loosen them.
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the candy hunt: I hide little candies in the four corners of my house that she will look for during my absence. As a result, she has become very good at this little game and finds them in a few minutes. Be careful not to slip a treat into an inaccessible place. If you have a greedy dog, he won't hesitate to scratch until he gets the treat. And there, you can only blame yourself!
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the digging mat: another gourmet tip at the top. And besides, you can find a search mat in the Canigourmand online store. 😉
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special dog TV shows: I've never tried this before but why not?
In short, on vacation or at home, you will understand, to occupy your dog, nothing like chewing. It is a 100% natural activity for your dog and will bring him a lot of well-being. Rather than chewing plastic, a piece of wood or your furniture, which can be extremely dangerous for them, opt for Aurélie's 100% natural range.
With that, I leave you, I'm going to go play a little with Musher! See you soon Wouafer's.