Help! My Yorkie is very bored.
 

Hi

My little Yorkie is nearly eleven years old now and is wanting to eat simply out of boredom. She is putting on weight as a result. If I refuse to give her food she cries, whines and eventually starts barking. I cannot leave her to bark as the people in the flat upstairs get disturbed. I need to find something to entertain her during the day and stop her thinking of food. I wondered if anyone could help.

I am disabled and my husband has severe arthritis, so we are limited in what we can do, in order to play with her. I throw a ball for her, but she soon tires of this (after about 4 throws.) What she really likes is someone to chase her, when she has the ball in her mouth,:aimeeyork and pretend to try and get it from her. She loves this, but we cannot do it. She also likes someone to run with her on the beach. I sit on the bed and play 'tug' with her and she enjoys this for a while. The vet says she should be having three walks a day!! We can only manage one. Also, she does not enjoy walking much and tends to sit down after a short while (15 min.) She does have stage one luxating patella and it sometimes flares up, so I am reluctant to try and encourage her to walk in case it is painful.

I have bought the Kong toy with treats in it for her to find, but she wasn't interested. I also got the toy where you put balls in the square soft box and retrieve them from this box, but she is not interested in doing this either!! She loves to go out in the car and she is taken whenever possible. I bought a clockwork mouse for her to chase, but, once again, she wasn't that interested in it. She looks at me and whines and I know she is 'saying' "I want to DO something, please." It upsets me, but I just cannot think of what to do to entertain her and stop her wanting to eat out of boredom. I wish I could run along the beach with her everyday and/or chase her with her ball, but someone else has to do this for us. We are very careful about who we allow to take her out, as Yorkies are frequently attacked in our area, so we have to be sure that they will take good care of her.

Any ideas would be most gratefully received.

:aimeeyork

Amazon.com : Our Pets Smarter Interactive IQ... Try a treat ball , mine love it.

You can adjust how easy the treats come out and they love rolling it around.
Comes in 3 or 5 inch....

Or braid some fleece strips into a rope and fling it around ....
Or I have a long piece of waistband elastic i tied a toy to she loves to pull on and shake....I have hanging from the staircase banister ...but her favorite thing to do is fetch her small squeaky balls ...

Get an an exersize pen and sit outside with her ....they entertain themselves with outside stimulation...

Maybe you can get someone to walk her and play with her like a doggies day care or a kid from the neighborhood

So sorry you are not physically able to walk your dog. I agree, your Yorkie needs to be exercised. I agree with your concern about who does that for you. There are good people who love dogs out there. Your job will be to figure that out which would work best for your dog.
1. Reliable high school kids needing volunteer work for scholarships.
2. Ask neighbors that walk their own dogs to take yours with them.
3. Local pet store, call and ask if they can help or know of an organization that does.
4. Do you have relatives, friends, church...many people would love to help-if they knew it was needed.
5. Get a small treadmill and teach him to walk on it.
6. You go girl!!!
PS: my dog will not play with any Kong toys or any I buy her. She steals anything she can and runs like a crazy woman to be chased. She is any action girl also, happiest when engaged in play.

Here is a great article on our blog site. 26 ways to relieve dog boredom
Quick Ways To Relieve Dog Boredom - Crafty Petz Blog

It has some ways that do not require any physical activity on your part. For example hiding treats around the house or making a flirt pole.

Check it out. I've use some these on my dog. There's plenty of tips you can try. Hopefully several of them will work for your little one.

New thing I sort of thought of for my 5.5 lbs Zoey... Put a piece of jerky treat in a sock and tie it bit loosely. She smells the jerky through the fabric and tries to get it out. Keeps her busy for a bit. Or perhaps play hide/seek with her favorite treat/toy? I hide them somewhere in the livingroom and let them go search. They absolutely love that game.

Wow, thank you SO much for all these helpful suggestions!! There are so many of them I could try, I am so grateful.

Luckily today she was given a run along the beach by someone and a hike up the cliff path, which is quite steep, and she loved it all. She came home so happy. I was amazed, as I thought her knee would have caused her discomfort, but they say she really enjoyed it. It is bedtime for us now (its nearly 11.00 pm over here) but she is ready for a ball game!!!? My husband says I will have to stop all the vitamins I give her, LOL!!

Thanks again for all the help. God bless.

:animal37

I can't wait to read that dog blog link up there! Glad she got a good walk today- mine could use a few more of those too I'm sure. My girl is not usually very food motivated but I was pleasantly surprised when I got her one of those dog puzzles where you put the treat or perhaps in your girls case the food into the different compartments and the dog has to figure out how to get them out. Mental stimulation and fun play- might be just the thing!

Kyjen Paw Flapper Puzzle Dog Toy

This is not the one we have but very similar. Also, perhaps your gal would like a ball better I it had a squeaker in it? Those ones are lilah's favorites- she really just can't get enough of them!

This isn't exersize
 

But it sure breaks boredom an d keeps them stimulated! Lol
You'd be surprised what they like to watch on tv!
My husband made this "chair" for her to get up close when she watches Dog TV.

She also likes football...

I had a little baby boy that was the love of my life....Bumper. He used to LOVE watching "Cops" on TV, and he had a wonderful experience watching "Cops" when they did a K-9 search!!! He clearly wanted to be part of the police department and be a member of the K-9 unit!! My best friend did him two vests...one had "K-9 UNIT" sewn on it....the second vest said "OFFICER BUMPER, CANINE PATROL"!!!! He also loved to watch football on TV and he had a TEXAN vest!

As far as toys to keep them involved and stimulated, I have tons of things, lots of $$$$ invested....but the best thing I ever presented them with was a small plastic Gator-Aid bottle with a couple of favorite treats in it....a piece of cheese, or a piece of Vienna sausage, or a piece of liver....anything they love and smells good....drop a couple into the bottle and leave the plastic bottle uncapped and put it on the floor. Mine spend a VERY long time, rolling the bottle around, getting a piece of treat that falls out occasionally, and it does not cost you a ton of money, and they get a reward for their efforts!

Another vote for the treat ball!

Cat toys
 

Cat tunnel has a ball hanging in middle she loves to pull on and drag

Baby toys
 

Like a baby piano or those toys that fasten to car seats I fasten to the bottom of a chair...

Here is the baby piano
 

So much fun

I love it! I want one for Callie :D

Here's the mobile
 

She tells me when she wants to do tricks for treats with this one . The piano talks of playing a lot so she plays with that when she wants to tell me "let's play,"

Another "perch"
 

She watches the birds and whatever else decides to cross her path:)

Here are two more
 

"Chairs" in 2 other locations to watch out the window

Do you have a banister or
 

Someplace like a solid chair that wouldn't tip over to attach a piece of elastic to a toy? Zoey loved this as a puppy and still does to this day. We had to keep the thing hanging for her , she goes spastic on it now and our new baby grabbed a hold of it the other day to give it a pull...

Wow Zoey! Your baby won't ever be bored with all that! Cute pics too.

Thanks for your suggestion. I think a puzzle toy would be a great idea and I I think she would like a ball puzzle a bit more than anything else. (Strangely, she does not seem to like squeakers! If she chews a toy/ball and it squeaks, she leaps up and stares at it, looking very guilty, as if she has hurt it! She is a sensitive soul. LOL!) Yavnay sent me a link yesterday (thanks so much Yavnay - it is such a good site and has given me lots of ideas) and it suggests using a cupcake baking pan and balls to make a puzzle. It is so easy to do and I feel she would enjoy this game. You may like to have a look at that site yourself as it is really good and has lots of ideas.

Thanks again for your reply.

Hi Zoey Zandaya - what a star you are to think of all these excellent ways of entertaining your baby! I feel like a neglectful mommy! I am certainly going to try them all. I had never thought of using baby toys - what a great idea. I am going to do the bottle with the treat in it tomorrow, for sure. I love the tunnel and I am going to look out for one like it. Your baby is so very cute looking out of the window!! Adorable.

Thanks SO much for all your ideas - you have helped me a lot.

OMG -- this one is adorable!

Yayyy
 

Thanks...
So glad to help..... And Petsmart carrys those tunnels ...they are a blast.
I got her a baby's rocking horse for Christmas , it's about as big as a 12 " ball....all she has to do is tap it and it rocks and kids voices come out of it .....and she looooves kids voices. Lol

Lol
 

Doesn't miss a thing out the backside window .....when we hear he neighbors 2 lab dogs barking when they let them out to play ...I'll usually hear them first ..I say "whooooo let the dogs out?!" And she'll go running to the window "bow wow ..bow wow"!! Lol
That's this picture

When we leave she will lay in the front till we get home! Lol

That's adorable! How funny mine love to kill the squeakers! And even after they don't squeak, they still like to make them do that popping noise.

Love it! And you don't spoil your doggie at all... ;)

Mine LOVE the Nina Ottesson puzzles. We feed meals in them. So twice a day their minds get exercised. Helps tire them out!!

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