Or, “How I Kept My Dogs From Murdering Me in My Sleep While I had Covid”

That subtitle is a joke, obviously. My dogs are total sweetie-pies (and they sleep in their crates, most nights!). But if you’ve ever been unable to exercise your service dog for a few days due to illness, weather, or a “low spoons” day with your disability, you might understand where my hyperbole came in. Given the number of viruses we’ve had circulating lately, along with the weather we’ve had recently in New England — cold, windy, snowy, icy — a lot of people are not getting their dogs out as much as usual.

I have two dogs. One, Kismet, is a healthy, active five-year-old who is capable of withstanding some boredom and change in routine without becoming destructive or diabolically annoying.

And then I have Gromit. He’s two years old. He looks adorable and angelic, doesn’t he? Well, he IS always adorable. He is also A LOT.

Even on a “normal” day, if he does not get enough exercise and stimulation, he will…

• Bark incessantly at me
• Bark incessantly at Kismet
• Bite Kismet’s tail
• Jump and bounce off me like I’m a trampoline
• Jump up and bite my elbow
• Chew or shred things (papers, pens, and if he’s stressed enough, furniture)

On a normal day, he gets a fair amount of enrichment:

• A 45-minute walk
• Playing a game of fetch/tug/chase with me in the house
• Works for all his food via frozen Kongs & Toppls, Likkimats, food-dispensing balls
• Gets intermittent training as a demo-dog for online classes

When I had Covid last week, I wasn’t able to take him on walks and he was also not demoing for classes. Without those walks, he needed a lot of extra enrichment to keep him from tormenting Kismet and me.

Here is what I did, which was overall successful in helping us all survive my down-time.

Foraging

I normally tell Gromit to Sit or Down, then Stay. Then I go hide one of his feeder balls. He searches for it throughout the house, and then rolls it around to get his kibbles. He loves that, and it’s a nice way to double-up on enrichment under normal circumstances. I’m still doing that some of the time. Here’s a video of me hiding the muffin-tin game for my dog, Barnum.

Here’s a video of Kismet searching through the house for his favorite toy.

But I am also sometimes not using a feeder ball. Instead, I leave a few kibbles in every room throughout the house. I try to scatter most of them on the “busiest” rugs (e.g., rugs with a lot of different-colored patterns) or in hidden corners so he has to use his nose (not his eyes) to find every treat. Sniffing is very mentally enriching (and tiring!) for dogs. Upping the nosework ante has helped a LOT to calm him down.

Impulse-Control Training

All rewards-based training is beneficial and enriching for service dogs. But if you have limited energy (or time), and you want maximum enrichment, there are two types of training to focus on. One of these is training on impulse control.

Examples are any form of stay (e.g., sit-stay, down-stay) or “zen” (leave it). A five-minute Zen session, with a really high rate of reinforcement, is not just great for your dog’s training, it really works his brain and leaves him needing a nap! And you can do it from your chair or bed. Here’s a video showing one version of “zen” you can play with your dog.

Shaping

Shaping a new behavior is a great way to challenge your dog and leave them pleasantly pooped. I chose to begin shaping a dumbbell retrieve with both my dogs because it’s a new behavior for both of them and I could do it sitting down. They both loved it. Shaping is also great for bonding and building teamwork, and excellent skill building for the human trainer. I previously wrote a post about the benefits of shaping your service dog.

If you have a chronic illness or mobility impairment, a great thing for you to shape is fetch! Meaning, training your dog, bit-by-bit over time, to bring their toy all the way to you. Many dogs will chase a toy and may even bring it partway back. But most will not deliver it right to your hand or even your feet.

Stupid Pet Tricks

If you’re old enough to remember David Letterman’s late night “stupid pet tricks” gimmick, you know there is actually nothing stupid about pet tricks. Tricks are GREAT. They are fun for the human and dog alike. They exercise your dog’s brain, make you a better trainer and your service dog a better learner, and they bond you as a team because you’re having fun together.

A “stupid” trick is beneficial because you really are not trying to achieve anything with training. When training a service dog, there is so much to train that it might seem pointless to train a trick that you will NOT end up trying to make into a task later. But the very silliness of the trick is what makes it fun — for you and your dog. This is one of the reasons we’re offering a fun, four-week online Tricks & Games class next week. It’s for ANY dog and person who just want to train some tricks. If you and your dog are feeling pent-up this winter, register here. I guarantee your dog will thank you!

I took this class with Kismet a few years ago. One of the tricks he learned — and loved immediately — was putting his front paws up on an object.

Hire Help

Other than that, I continued all my other strategies of kibble feeders, frozen stuffed feeder toys, games when I was able, and snuggling when I wasn’t. I also hired dog walkers or had friends walk my dogs when they were available. That was immensely helpful. If you don’t normally have a dog walker, consider trying to find a couple of people you can call if you ever really need the extra help.

If you have a disability, or the weather keeps you inside sometimes, all of these strategies can make a world of difference on the difficult days. Take care, stay warm, and enjoy!

https://atyourservicedogtraining.com/keep-service-dog-occupied-when-sick/