Hey Dog Lovers, check out these great ideas on how to keep busy during a pandemic.
Please reach out if are you feeling trapped, bored, lonely or depressed? It’s perfectly natural.
Staying at home all day without seeing friends or going to work can be very tough to adapt to. Plus there is the added stress of loss of income and health risks for many. It’s important we all get enough mental as well as physical exercise in difficult circumstances. Hopefully these ideas will help you make the most of your time and improve your mood.
This post may have Amazon Affiliate links.
If you don’t have a dog, consider fostering one.
With the social distancing and lock downs, apparently many of the shelters and rescues are in urgent need of fosters. I have several friends who work very long hours normally but are at home now and have time so they are loving looking after puppies and dogs during this crisis (I started by fostering Kilo the Pug over 5 years ago).
Here are 13 Helpful Questions to Ask Before Fostering a Dog under normal Circumstances.
If you do have a dog:
Cuddle your Dog – Often
Dogs are not known to have spread Corona Virus so far, so Kilo the Pug is the house therapy pet. He is so affectionate so he is relishing the lock down here with the whole family working from home. He just moves from lap to lap and snack to snack.
He gives the best stress-buster cuddles and “pug hugs”.
Play Games with your Dog Indoors
Kilo sometimes gets bored of just cuddling or snoozing and loves playing games with me. He needs mental and physical stimulation like me.
See this post of Top 10 awesome indoor games to play with your dog for inspiration.
You can also check out this post on Ways to Get Active Indoors With Your Dog
Our favorite games Games include Tug, Go Find, Hide and Seek, Chase, Tummy Tickles, Under the Cup and Football with a Toy or old Plastic Water Bottle.
Treat balls are a great way to keep your dog entertained and mentally stimulated as they work for their treats.
Kongs are also great for stuffing. I often have them in the freezer for Kilo.
Train your Dog Obedience
At least twice a day, we do some rather fun but possibly futile obedience training. Kilo will sit, lie down and wait. But now we are working on long term fails like Drop It! and Recall. Check out our YouTube Channel Training Playlist for some great training videos.
Our friends like Sara Carson and Renee at All About Dogs may offer online training. Sara also has a training app called Puppr and there are some great books you can order online.
Teach your Dog Tricks
We also reinforce some fun tricks Kilo knows and try one or two new ones every week.
I like Larry Kay’s big book of tricks for the best dog ever – see review here.
We are currently working on roll over, take a bow, play dead, look shy, boing boing, weaving, dancing and a few others. We do 5 minutes at a time.
Buy the Book – “The Big Book of Tricks for the Best Dog Ever“.
You can buy the book through my Amazon Affiliate Link here:
The Big Book of Tricks for the Best Dog Ever: A Step-by-Step Guide to 118 Amazing Tricks and Stunts
Do Doga, Dance and other exercises with your Dog
I tried doing Yoga (or Doga) and workouts with Kilo but I am terrible at it and he found it a great game to jump on me and distract me. I do watch various videos and will persist.
We do enjoy dancing together.
I taught Kilo to roll out a yoga mat by hiding kibble pieces. He finds it a very rewarding game. Trouble is he now unrolls any mat he sees in search of snacks so my daughter has to remember to put hers away.
Cook with your dog
Kilo loves it when people are cooking and hangs around the kitchen waiting for snacks to fall. I make easy no bake pumpkin treats sometimes – yummy and healthy. See recipe here.
He also loves his job as official taste-tester for treat recipes and dog-friendly dinners.
Here are some fun Dog-friendly recipes we make together on our YouTube Play List
Do DIY and Crafts with your Dog
Kilo is the face of Kids’ Pet Club as the DIY Dog. He likes anything we include him in if there are treats and if it does not involve wearing outfits for long (he doesn’t mind bow ties).
Do Dog Puzzles
Kilo loves doing puzzles and so does my daughter.
Kilo has several puzzles plus he loves his BUSTER ActivityMat By Kruuse that comes with 3 levels of difficulty to keep your dog challenged (we received it as a gift at Global Pet Expo- See The Full Review HERE.)
My daughter ordered a human puzzle on Amazon. You can purchase one through my affiliate link:
Enjoy Colouring Books
I do not love colouring books anymore but I know some people find them relaxing and most kids love them. I make pages of Kilo and Fishstick the Pug at Kids’ Pet Club Events and also like ones from my friends at Paw Patrol and Incredibul Stella.
Watch Dog videos
I watch videos much of the day for work and pleasure on YouTube. My favorites are uplifting dog videos or puppies. They can really lift my mood and make me laugh or cry. We have a lot on our YouTube Channel so pop over and subscribe for free.
I particularly like ones about Service and Therapy Dogs making a difference like NSD Chester and Max
or ones about Rescue Success Stories like Blue, Linzy, Fishstick, Tilley, Smiley, Sunny, Stella and so many more.
Who doesn’t love a happy ending these days #RescuesRock.
Watch Dog movies
I am a sucker for RomComs, Holiday Movies and anything with a dog.
Here is a post we did with our top 20 dog movies.
Is yours on the list? Please add any more in comments.
Read Dog Books
Here are some posts we did with some recommendations.
Top Dog Books for Adults- fiction
Top Dog Books for Adults – non-fiction
Please add any more suggestions in comments.
Listen To Dog Songs
I am biased but I LOVE our three original dogs songs including the cheery, upbeat tune My Dog, the award-winning anti-discrimination song Love Like a Dog and tribute love song Forever. Please subscribe like and share. Then here are 20 of our favorite other Dog Songs listed.
Please add any more suggestions in comments.
Write About Your Dog or Take Photos of your Dog or Make Your Own Videos
You can get creative, bond with your dog and express yourself, create fun memories or practise a craft and relieve stress. If you haven’t already, maybe you even start a blog or a YouTube Channel or an Instagram Account or a Pinterest Account for your dog or yourself.
I am doing an online script writing course, plus a 30 Day Challenge with Tim Schmoyer on YouTube and always learning about Blogging and SEO and best practises on social media from my Groups and friends.
Here are some tips on how to take a great photo of your dog.
Walk your Dog..carefully where and if allowed.
We live in a suburban low density area but do not really have a garden, just a deck, so I take Kilo the Pug out for about 4 to 5 short walks every day. We avoid others, even in normal times, as Kilo does not trust strangers. Now we scan the street and check it’s empty before we head out. It is our responsibility to stay at least 6 ft minimum from others but we stay more. He gets to check his peemail and does his business and we both get a few steps and a look at greenery.
So please share your best ideas on how to keep busy during a pandemic in the comments.
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