GUEST PUP PROFILE
Teddy The Shichon
High Energy Pup!
5 years old
FAVORITE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES
SwiftPaws
Red Soccer Ball
FAVORITE INDOOR ACTIVITIES
SwiftPaws
Hide and Seek
MEET JOANNE
HIGHLIGHTS
- Don’t feel like you need to buy anything and try not to overthink it
- Pups need to be both mentally and physically active
- 15 minutes of quality engagement is all that it takes
- Mix up the activities but keep it on a schedule
There is nothing not to love about Teddy. He’s a sweet, happy dog. He’s very high energy but he’s very loving and cuddly and he just loves to spend time with his family. He’s quiet, he’s not a barker – he’s just a sweet little boy.
In most cases with most dogs, if they’re not physically or mentally stimulated they’ll keep looking for something to keep themselves busy. If you just leave Teddy alone with his toy box, that’s going to get really old really fast. Teddy may look for something to do, he may chew on something and — like most high energy dogs — he will get into trouble if he’s not active, engaged, and involved each day.
We learned pretty quickly that he has a lot of energy and we would need to get creative and learn how to communicate with him and meet his needs! Pups don’t necessarily need to have a toy or game to get the stimulation they need to be happy.
We’ve been learning from Teddy for the past five years! He’s taught us that it doesn’t have to be difficult, you don’t need to overthink it, and sometimes a 15-minute play session is enough.
Here are the secrets to strengthening the relationship with your high energy pup:
#1 KEEP A SCHEDULE
#2 MIX IT UP
#3 IT’S NOT ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF TIME, IT’S ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE ACTIVITY
It’s really the quality of the activity vs the amount of time that they’re engaged in that activity. Keeping them engaged is what’s most important as long as the dog is being mentally challenged or stimulated then they’ll be satisfied.
As a final note…yes! Teddy does sometimes still get bored! Obviously, we can’t keep him active every moment that he’d like to be and we believe he understands that as well we can’t be on all the time for him! The schedule, the creativity and diversity of activities are everything to him.
Looking for more doggo tips and tricks? Check out activities in our Facebook Community Group today! April is the launch of our Facebook Community and you’re invited to celebrate Canine Fitness Awareness Month by taking part in our Canine Cabin Fever Summit! Don’t miss out on your chance to go dog wild with like-minded pups around the world.
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES THAT WILL MAKE THEM GO DOG WILD:
- A great activity is just to have your pup sit or stay while he watches us hide treats around the room and leave them to sniff out the treats.
- A snuffle mat is what a lot of Teddy’s friends use. It’s where you hide treats in a mat and the dog keeps sniffing up the treat and get their reward
- Try out a treat tower. It has different separators and levels. Teddy loves that he has to pull out the separators to make the treats drop down the tower for him to get a reward.
- Teddy loves the shell game. It takes three cups upside down and one treat. You show your pup the treat, shuffle the cups around and then your dog has to point out which cup the treat is under – you do that a few times and that’s enough.
- I’ll take teddy for a ride around the neighborhood and he’s happy with that!
- We actually set up the swift paws more in our house than we do outside and I think people are surprised to hear that. You don’t need a big yard to give your dog a stimulating game of chase!
- You also don’t need to clear out all the furnishings from your room you can set up the course around your furniture – your pup already knows the way around the house so it’s not like he’s going to bang into anything.
HOW TO TELL WHEN YOUR PUP IS COMMUNICATING THEIR NEEDS:
- He’ll run from us to the front door to let us know he wants to go for a walk.
- If he wants a snack he’ll paw at his treat door for us to get him a snack
- If he wants more than a snack, he has a treat tower and paw at that because he wants to do an activity and get a reward
- He may want a swim in the pool but we’ll give him another activity to do in place of that to keep him occupied.
- He will get a toy and keep himself occupied when he knows we’re not available for him