Indoor Activities to do With Your Puppy
You will have a few weeks before you can walk your little pup and let it burn off some steam. And let me tell you – Labrador Retriever puppies have A LOT of energy. Toys can keep them entertained for long periods of time but eventually, they come running to you for some playtime. Here are some ideas of indoor activities to do with your puppy…
1. Play a Game of Find The Treats
You can bet that they love this game! It gives their nose and legs a good workout as they run around the house discovering treats. Guide your puppy around the house, to the hotspot of treats! And don’t forget to praise them every time they use their sniffing skills to find one. If they’re finding it easy, step it up a little bit and hide them in more difficult places.
2. Teach your puppy to clean up their toys
You may be thinking this sounds like a very difficult task but it can actually be super simple. Especially if you start teaching them from a young age. Not only is it a lot of fun teaching them but it also saves you time in the future cleaning up the toys. Naturally, this needs to be taught after ”sit” and ”drop”. You’re probably thinking, how? guide your dog to his toy container and ask him to ”drop”. Keep repeating this until the toy falls into the container. When it does praise them the most enthusiastically you ever have (and get a treat of course). If you keep repeating this, they’ll soon get the message.
3. Purchase a Stuffed Kong
They retail at about $22.99 – $31.99 on Amazon and you’ll definitely be able to find them easily in your local pet store too! They are truly are life-saver if you’ve just got a Labrador Retriever puppy. The Kongs are super simple to prepare, all you have to do is stuff them with some of your puppies favourite foods. Popular choices include peanut butter (one without artificial sweetener xylitol), wet dog food, canned fish or meat, meat Pâtés, apple sauce, cream cheese and more! Once prepared, chuck it to your busy and watch him stay occupied for a long time whilst he’s busy licking out the treats.
4. A good old fashioned game of tug of war
Your puppy will love a game of tug of war. It provides them with great mental and physical exercise, it’s a win-win. Playing games that involve both of you will help you bond with the puppy too. It allows them to connect with their predatory nature and have some human-canine fun. You also don’t need that much room, so it’s a great game for indoors! Don’t forget to let your puppy win sometimes too, it gives them a great confidence boost whilst encouraging them to play again.
5. Teach them new tricks
What better way to spend time with your dog and keep them entertained than teaching it tricks. Teaching your dog new tricks are beneficial to you and them. Start with the basics. The most popular first tricks to teach your puppy include, sit, lie down, come, drop, leave, heel, roll over and fetch. But let yourself get creative! Labrador Retrievers are naturally very intelligent and people pleasers so they love learning new things. Teaching them basic obedience young will avoid behavioural problems in future and give you more time to progress onto more complicated tricks.