Happy, warm pets during winter
Your pets deserve a bit of pampering and to be kept warm as well
During this cold winter season, keeping ourselves and our children warm becomes such a priority that sometimes people forget that their pets have feelings too.Your pets deserve a bit of pampering and to be kept warm as well.
In addition, just like children engage in winter activities, so pets should also have their own activities. Not only will these activities keep them warm and busy, this is also a great platform for them to exercise and stay healthy during the season when all living things tend to be a bit lazier.
With this in mind, the Pet Food Industry Association of Southern Africa (PFI) has some tips for your furry friends:
Change how you feed meals:
Not exceeding your dog’s usual daily intake of food, instead of giving it extra treats, will ensure that your pet maintains a healthy weight.
Scatter feeding:
Do away with the food bowl and rather scatter daily meals on the floor, letting your dog search for them. If you have more than one dog, keep them separate to ensure that each gets their daily requirement and to avoid fighting.
Hidden meals:
Using cups, hide their pellets inside a few of them and keep a few others empty. Mix them up and allow your dog to sniff out and touch the cups with food in them. When they are successful, reward them by giving them the food to eat. When they’ve gotten the hang of this, increase the criteria (slowly) by adding more cups or increasing the distance between the cups.
Introduce more play:
By introducing more play into a daily routine, you’ll not only keep a certain level of physical activity up, but will also stimulate your dog’s brain and strengthen your bond. It’s a win-win situation!
Braided treats:
Braid some treats into material, allowing your dog time to seek the treats out and work out how to get them free.
Got mail:
Save a cardboard box, wrap treats in newspaper, hide the paper in the box, then let them find the snacks and work out how to get to them.
Hide and seek:
Ask for help from the family and have someone keep them busy while you walk away. Call them, with a tasty treat ready to reward them when they get to you. Increase the difficulty by adding more space between you and them and then hiding behind something. Use the game to work on their “STAY”. When they’re staying reliably on command, begin playing the game.
Give your dog something else to do:
Stuffed hooves: Stuff a hoof chew toy with peanut butter or tinned dog food and freeze it overnight, giving it to your dog as a high value reward to empty out.
Frozen cubes / licking blocks: Freeze some tasty treats (biscuits / bits of sausage, etc) in chicken or beef stock, inside an ice cream tub overnight. Let your dog into the yard, giving him time to lick through the block.
A few things to remember:
– Be cautious of feeding or using food in games with more than one dog around, as you don’t want to encourage fighting. If your dog is known to be possessive, rather separate dogs during the food-related activities.
– It’s all about activating and stimulating the brain, while keeping activity up as best you can. Mental stimulation can be just as tiring and gratifying as physical activity! The key is to make it fun for your dog, so that he remains engaged and interested. New games should be introduced slowly and difficulty levels gradually increased – keep it easy while your dog is getting the hang of things.
Break from time to time and listen to their body language.
DID YOU KNOW?
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