I bought these linkable puzzle toys many years ago for Nell because we needed to distract her when we left the house. She managed to solve most of the toys we had bought too quickly (we couldn’t make it out of the house!) so I got one of each to start with. The first timeContinueContinue reading “Toy review: Petsafe Linkables”
Author Archives: Elina Halonen
New winter coats and listening to your dog
Our new Equafleece coats have arrived! With the winter on our doorstep these two waterbeasts are always soggy when they get in the car so for the drive home, I like to make sure they stay warm. Their current jumpers require wrangling font legs into holes and for a while now Nell has been prettyContinueContinue reading “New winter coats and listening to your dog”
Toy review: BusterMat
Dealing with sibling jealousy by training emotional regulation
The biggest challenge we faced when getting a puppy was to ensure the dogs build a positive relationship. This was especially important because they are both females, and I was informed by our behaviourist that fights between two girls can be much worse than one with opposite sexes so you can imagine we were prettyContinueContinue reading “Dealing with sibling jealousy by training emotional regulation”
Toy test: snufflestack
It’s taken me a while to post this but better later than never! Another snuffle toy we bought at the Animal Event was this “snufflestack” (my name for it, because it didn’t have one). Basically, it’s a pile of double layered fleece squares with a hole in the middle, stacked up in a fleece rope.ContinueContinue reading “Toy test: snufflestack”
Toy tip: Starmark Tetraflex as a mealtime toy
Today breakfast was served from Starmark Treat Dispensing Tetraflex – one of my absolute favourite mealtime puzzles. It’s soft plastic so no noise on hard floors; the size and shape allow dogs to pick it up and most importantly, unlike many other treat balls, it has a little funnel inside the opening which reduces theContinueContinue reading “Toy tip: Starmark Tetraflex as a mealtime toy”
Toy tip: frozen Kong Quests for lowering arousal levels
I often give the dogs a chewing or licking activity after an active walk that has raised their arousal levels, like a beach trip is guaranteed to do. Nell took 20min to finish her Kong Quest Star Pods and Grace 80mins her Kong Quest Foragers Flower because it contains more food and Grace is younger.ContinueContinue reading “Toy tip: frozen Kong Quests for lowering arousal levels”
Balance training in nature: sniff game on a tree trunk
I try to make use of the natural environment to get the dogs to practice things like body awareness and balance, and although Grace does her own practice on the edge of our sofa, it never hurts to do some deliberately. Here I’ve sprinkled some treats on top of a wide, mossy trunk which meansContinueContinue reading “Balance training in nature: sniff game on a tree trunk”
Veggie taster board
I came across this silicone muffin mold in the cupboard this morning and I thought I would finally try doing a taster board for the dogs. A taster board is a basic form of mental enrichment where you put various foods on a plate/tray/muffin tin in front of your dog and observe what they doContinueContinue reading “Veggie taster board”
Toy test: MyIntelligentPets Dog Sudoku
I bought the MyIntelligentPets Dog Sudoku a couple of weeks ago at the Animal Event but hadn’t had time to test it yet. Last night the little monkeys were particularly energetic despite a long walk with friends so I thought it was time. My Dog Sudoku is a part of the Travel Box which alsoContinueContinue reading “Toy test: MyIntelligentPets Dog Sudoku”
BusyDoggie 