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Originally Posted by erasmusdane  I have been trying to get stuff for her to do while i am working. She never had much interest in any toys i got her but maybe i should just take her along to a pet store and see if she finds something she likes. I have been taking her on walks, which she really enjoys, i go out of my way to chase birds with her and she really is happy when we do. I just need to find the right thing for her to do i guess. I never had to deal with only having one dog so i'm also a bit new to this. I will try maybe getting a toy with treats i don't think i have tried tgat one before. Thank you for your help, i know she isn't really naughty, but sometimes i feel a bit overwhelmed with her needy behavior |
Buying her a plain old new toy will not likely work. Few adult Yorkies really play with plain old dog toys or any thing that doesn't involve chewing without
our involvement. Many companion-type dogs don't love toys, they love the interaction with their human! So plain old toys, unless you interact with her in playing with them, are likely not going to really help her except very rarely. Find her some interactive toys, toys that she has to work to get to the food reward inside such as the kong toy that you can load with food she must lick out. It takes work as the kong rolls funny and must be pursued to keep licking from it. Tibbe bounces his up in the air to dislodge his packed in kibble! He loves it. There are many toys with trap door, things the dog has to open, slide, move to get the treat out. Now those type of toys challenge dogs and motivate them with food rewards, and of course, your hardy praise once she's gotten the reward from each compartment!
Google the terms 'interactive dog toys' and ' foraging or slow-eating food bowls' and find a interactive toys she'll learn to love to play with for the challenge involved and bowls she has to take time and effort to get her food out of. I promise you if she's a terrier, she will LOVE the challenge! It invigorates a dog to 'work' for his food, using his intellect, memory and scent instincts to seek and find it!
Spending time training her to develop her scenting instincts in seeking out hidden treats or scented toys, teaching her to obey commands of tricks or obedience training engages her intellect and her body - her mind and requires her to try to understand what you want and allows her to feel great pride in herself when she gets the idea and actually does the trick, sees your pride in praising her and gets her food/treat reward. Dogs will literally bend over backward to learn how to please you so if she's a dog and she's got a mind, she'll love just simple 'sit, stay, come, stop, shake, lie down' training if you make it fun and rewarding. Teach her to jump over a stick 2" off the ground - just anything that engages her mind and body in training her and rewards her and makes her feel good about herself when she does it.
And the making her feel good when she achieves even small things starts with you - how enthusiastically you praise and shower her with affection for getting it right. She'll grow addicted to that rush of oxytocin she gets from that highly positively rewarding interaction and begin to push you to work rather than just moping around, feeling sad. Plus I find Tibbe finds more things to do on his own because he lives an enriched life.