Elina Halonen

Blanket ball snuffle game

Wrapping treats in a towel is a common enrichment idea but for many dogs that quickly becomes too easy – especially if you do a lot of enrichment games and the dogs learn strategies to solve puzzles faster! A level up could include a large blanket or bedspread – these are our sofa covers forContinueContinue reading “Blanket ball snuffle game”

How to remix Buster ActivityMat tasks

Buster ActivityMat is quite simply the best canine enrichment toy/game on the market anywhere – so many levels of difficulty give you an ability to build the games as the dog’s skills grow which gives it longevity. The initial investment is pretty high, which probably scares off many people – can it really be worthContinueContinue reading “How to remix Buster ActivityMat tasks”

When things get rough, don’t lose faith & keep working

I read this post just now and it made me think of a couple of things – skip to end for the message of hope! https://www.instagram.com/p/CEeby-FJ3os/?igshid=q9560vguopej I would definitely say 2 females has not been the easiest of rides but now that Grace has reached adulthood things seem to be easing up. The worst timeContinueContinue reading “When things get rough, don’t lose faith & keep working”

A roundup of food enrichment ideas

I’ve found myself talking about food enrichment to friends a lot recently, so I thought I’d write up some of the things that I regularly do to keep our busy doggies chilled out and entertained. First up, some toys and then I’ll walk through what I do with them… We have a lot of foodContinueContinue reading “A roundup of food enrichment ideas”

Why you shouldn’t buy a dog online

Here’s an important reason why it’s a really bad idea to get a dog from an online market place: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-55356211 The story is from the UK where the situation is probably much worse than in the Netherlands, but the underlying problem is the same that puppy mills use fertility hormones to get bitches to produceContinueContinue reading “Why you shouldn’t buy a dog online”

DIY toys: snuffle box!

Sniff mats are way too easy for them so they needed a more 3D puzzle… SNUFFLE BOX! Ingredients: storage box, 2 small fleece blankets, scissors and one episode of The Crown to do the work. It’s been a huge hit!

Reads: Breed specific guides pt. 1

I’ve just come across this UK website with a really cool dog book selection. A couple of breed specific ones stood out and I thought they might be good for lots of people here. Many breeds have specific behavioural traits that were developed for a purpose but can be problematic in today’s world – I’veContinueContinue reading “Reads: Breed specific guides pt. 1”

Reads: Why someone might return their puppy

This popped up on my Medium recommendations and I thought it was an interesting perspective on why someone might choose not to adopt, or why someone might choose to rehome their dog and not invest huge amounts of training to make things work – both of these choices regularly receive judgment on dog owner groups,ContinueContinue reading “Reads: Why someone might return their puppy”

When puppies don’t have a great start in life

This is a really good review on what issues might arise with puppies who have not had a great start in life – the focus is on pet stores (which are common in the US) but you could substitute it with a puppy mill or a puppy/dog that has been rescued off the street orContinueContinue reading “When puppies don’t have a great start in life”

Reads: How we react to dog injuries

This was an interesting article – obviously from a Canadian perspective, so there might be a cultural difference in people’s reactions to dog injuries. Click image to go to article Of course, there are dogs that are aggressive and need the help of a trainer – but more often than not, especially when a dogContinueContinue reading “Reads: How we react to dog injuries”