When there is a pack of house dogs combined with lousy weather, "I'm bored" (the dogs, not me!) is always looming in the background.
The rainy weather we've been having (again) means that the trails are extremely muddy/swampish and ice in places. Not good for a sighted dog and certainly not suitable for blind ones.
So, once again, time to come up with something to keep the pack amused indoors. Yes, they do go out in the yard but not for long. Yesterday's post was our backyard and as you could see, lots of ice and water. It now looks like this - still lots of water but now we have mud instead of ice.
Hiker thought she wanted out.
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| "I think I might go out for a wander around the yard." |
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| "I'm not going out there. It's still raining." |
Time for some long lasting treats. The type of treat that they only get once or twice a year.
Yes, that's right. Real bones. One for each of them. (I always look for smallish ones at the grocery store and store them in the freezer until there is one for everybody)
To avoid any problems with someone wanting the one that somebody else had, everybody except Hiker and Callie were crated. Callie had hers in "her room" behind the gate. Hiker went upstairs as she always does with something she's not willing to share.
Breeze made lots of soft grumbly sounds while gnawing on her bone. Not real growls and she didn't appear to be agitated. Here she is just before I shut the door of her crate.
When they were all done with stripping the bones, a big load of laundry and fresh crate bedding for everyone.
Now that all the good stuff is gone from the inside and the outside of the bones, they will be shared and gnawed on for months. It does look a bit odd to have seven chunks of bone laying around the living room!
My guys love to have things to gnaw on, especially the young ones. There is a lot of "stealing" when they are given bones/hooves/antlers though. But they are all pretty good natured about it. Ryder is the one to suffer the worst of the thievery. He'll then come to me, to cry about it, until I go rescue his chewie. :)
ReplyDeleteFor the most part there isn't too much fuss about sharing but with something of high value like a new marrow bone, there is the potential for a fight, so better safe than sorry! Ryder is a smart boy asking for help from The Mom.
DeleteAh, that's a good idea! I walked Beamer last night after class and he came home SO muddy. It's cold today and I'm debating on whether or not I want to brave the Canadian winter before class.
ReplyDeleteOh come on now - we Canadians are tough! You can do it!!
DeleteYou're Canadian too? Which part of Canada? We're from Toronto :)
DeleteI played with Beamer in the backyard for a little bit. Good enough!
We're a few hours west of you.
DeleteHaving a backyard is great for the lousy weather days and for us having playmates is good too!
What kind of bone is that? I've thought of giving bones to Blueberry, but I worry about her eating the actual bone.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question - the harness is because on those occasions when B loses her mind when she sees a bunny - she pulls on the leash and I am worried about her injuring her neck. As someone with a jacked up neck - I am sensitive to the injuries that can occur and just feel a harness is the smarter choice. Your thoughts on that?
I just get the raw marrow bones from the grocery store, they are often labelled as soup bones. We've never had any problems with the bones breaking or splintering, they just seem to wear down. One thing to watch for is the size of the inside where the marrow is. It is possible for a dog to get the bone stuck on their jaw if the center of the bone is big enough. This happened to a friend's German Shepherd and they had to take her to the vet to get it off! So I always look for smallish ones with not too big of a center.
DeleteAs for the harness, I was just curious that's all. With the exception of when Hiker first arrived, I've never used a harness. Hiker used one on rough trails so she'd be safer but I quickly realized that she didn't need the assistance and somehow (I am still amazed every time) she navigates rough trails without any difficulty. I do know that some dogs have injured their neck/throat from collars.
Having just suffered through a day of bored blind dog, I can SO relate. I used to give Ray the frozen marrow bones to keep him occupied, but at some point he decided that he liked the rawhides better. But everything is cyclical so I might try them again with him. Those bones used to keep him busy for HOURS and I considered them God's Gift to Blind Dog Owners.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine seven bored dogs. I was thinking if he had another dog to keep him busy he wouldn't get bored but it looks like that isn't exactly the case. Thanks for the info. Now I don't feel as bad knowing that he can't have another dog.
All of the pack would like rawhide but since blind Brook has a more sensitive tummy, it's usually only Callie who gets the occasional rawhide since she is crated when the "wild ones" are playing.
DeleteMy apologies to Ray...you DO need a permanent playmate, your Mom misunderstood! It's not that the pack gets bored, I try and be proactive and prevent the boredom. That's what I meant. Oh well, just think of it this way Ray, you don't have to share!
Lucky dogs! My pups love the raw bones too though I don't get them as often as I should. They tend to swap several times while chewing:) I've always thought the first thing I would get if I was a super rich person was an indoor dog park...or maybe a retractable roof for the yard...something like that!
ReplyDeleteI think that some of my pack would swap with no problem but with three blind and one deaf, sometimes there are misunderstandings!
DeleteWhen the weather is really lousy, I just keep reminding myself that when we move we'll have the barn to play in, which could be like an indoor dog park since it's so big (and empty).