BusyDoggie

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  • Toy tip: Starmark Tetraflex as a mealtime toy

    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 the… Read more

  • Toy tip: frozen Kong Quests for lowering arousal levels

    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.… Read more

  • Balance training in nature: sniff game on a tree trunk

    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 means… Read more

  • 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 do… Read more

  • 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 also… Read more

  • A weekend of fun at the Animal Event

    This post is a little bit late now but better now than not at all! A couple of weeks ago we bundled the dogs into our car and headed south to Tilburg for the 13th edition of Animal Event. We discovered it last year but too late to sign up for any workshops so this… Read more