How To Keep Your Dog Physical Fit While Staying At Home

Being a dog owner is a long-term commitment because when you have one, you’ll have to consistently look after its wellness to ensure their happiness and health. You’ve to keep your dog physically active even when staying indoors, so they remain protected from illnesses and diseases. But do you know how to do it?

Keeping your dog healthy when staying at home can be tough, especially if your daily routine includes playing fetch with your dog outdoors or strolling around the neighborhood before or after work. Aside from the issue of having limited space, you’ll likely run out of ideas when exercising with your dog at home. 

If you’re currently going through this problem, let this article help. Here’s how you can keep your dog physically fit while staying at home:

1. Let Your Dog Climb Stairs

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to invest in a lot of things in order to keep your dog healthy indoors. Often, you can easily attain this goal by making use of items that you’ve around your home. 

One simple way of keeping your dog physically fit is to climb up and down the stairs. Depending on the age of your dog, you can utilize this time to teach them how to conquer steps on the stairs or let them follow you as you use the stairs. This is a fun activity that can also help you sweat out indoors! 

2. Set Up Obstacles Courses

As mentioned, you don’t need to buy brand new items to let your dog exercise at home. With a little creativity and resourcefulness, you can teach your dog tricks and encourage them to exercise. 

If your house is spacious enough, set up obstacle courses for your furry friend. You can use chairs, tables, and even pillows and have your dog go through all these obstacles. Setting up an obstacle course is also one way to get rid of your dog’s excess energy, strengthen their muscles, and improve their coordination. 

When setting up obstacle courses, don’t forget to consider the age and size of your dog. An obstacle course that’s too little or too big for your dog can result in accidents and injuries.  

3. Hide and Seek Their Favorite Treats

One of the greatest abilities possessed by the dogs is their heightened sense of smell – dogs can smell objects of people as far as 20 kilometers away! You can enhance their sense of smell while letting them exercise, hide some of their favorite treats around your home. It’s a classic game that trains both their minds and bodies. 

Make sure to let your dog sniff the treat first before hiding it. The scent will give them the idea of what to look for and where it must be found.  

4. Play Hide and Seek Together

If you also want to sweat indoors, opt to play hide and seek with them. You can do this alone with your dog or invite your family to join. This game is quite simple – you’ll instruct your dog to sit in one room while you and other players will hide. Once everyone is hidden, you must call your dog and ask them to look for you. 

Unlike when played with humans, playing hide and seek with your dog isn’t about winning – it’s about having fun with your dog and keep them busy for hours 

5. Tug of War

If you’ve two or more dogs, letting them exercise at the same time can be tough. If you want to keep both dogs entertained, you usually are required to drop whatever you’re doing and focus your attention on them. Fortunately, this won’t be your only option as you can let them play tug of war.

Tug of war can be an excellent indoor exercise for both of your dogs. If you only have one furry friend but would still want them to play this game, tie a toy or piece to a doorknob or other sturdy structure around your home and let your dog play alone. 

Although a very effective exercise, tug of war can make your dog very competitive and aggressive. So, make sure to check on them from time to time. If you notice that your dog gets too invested in the game, lighten the mood by diverting their attention or removing the toy or rope. 

Consistency Is Key 

Although challenging at first, tweaking your lifestyle just so your dog can have more exercise indoors may eventually get easy and benefitting in the long run. If you’re genuinely concerned about your dog’s wellness, adapting to these changes will gradually become a piece of cake for you!