Summer days can be as much fun for your dog as they are for you. Indoors and outdoors, you and your dog can enjoy each other’s company in a huge variety of ways. As a bonus, the indoor activities can be done all year long.
If you want to share summertime with your dog outdoors, do remember that dogs can easily overheat in the summer, so use the cooler mornings and evenings for outdoor fun, and offer your dog plenty of water and rest times.
Outdoor Activities with Your Dog
- The simple change of walking a new route can be fun for you and your dog. Try a location that does not have a hot walking surface, such as a grassy park. With your dog on a leash, visit a farmer’s market for new sights and sounds.
- Most dogs love to play in the water, so try a sprinkler, hose, or kiddie pool to give your dog cool relief. While you water your lawn and flowers, you can spray your dog at the same time. In the kiddie pool, try floating one of the dog’s toys or even a dog treat for your dog to dive in and retrieve.
- Take your dog on a hike combined with a picnic. Take a blanket, a lunch for yourself, and special treats for your dog. Bring along a Frisbee or ball for playtime.
- Plan a treasure hunt outdoors for your dog to hunt for wrapped snacks and doggie chews.
- Use a bubble maker or a bubble wand to create pet-safe bubbles for your dog to chase in the yard. Recipes for pet-safe bubbles are available online. Here’s one that’s especially safe and makes good bubbles: Combine ½ cup natural, biodegradable dish detergent such as Seventh Generation Free and Clear, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon glycerin, and 1 teaspoon bone broth for dogs. Let the mixture stand overnight for the best bubbles.
- Invite your dog to dinner at a pet-friendly restaurant with a well-shaded outdoor patio. While you enjoy your dinner, give your dog a handful of special treats. Make sure your dog is comfortable with other dogs in the vicinity.
- Take your dog along for geocaching, using the Geocaching app on your phone to follow GPS coordinates and find hidden containers. The app provides latitude and longitude coordinates to give you an idea of where to look for the cache. Your dog will enjoy the hunt, especially if the cache includes dog treats. You can also set up a cache for your dog to locate.
Indoor Activities with Your Dog
- Almost everyone loves ice cream in the summer, and dogs are no exception. Making homemade dog-friendly ice cream with your dog as a co-chef is fun for both of you. One recipe calls for mixing together a very ripe banana, natural peanut butter, and plain, unsweetened yogurt (using Greek yogurt is best because it contains less lactose). You can find other recipes online. Be sure the ingredients do not include xylitol, which is extremely toxic to dogs. Give your dog small amounts of this cold treat so that their digestive system won’t be upset.
- Let your dog munch on cold fruit that will help keep body temperatures lower. Fruits that dogs can eat safely include bananas, blueberries, watermelon, strawberries, apples, peaches, and mangos, all of which are full of vitamins and fun to eat.
- Set up a muffin tin game for your dog. Use a six-cup or 12-cup muffin tin and place a treat in each muffin cup. Then place a tennis ball on top of the treat. Encourage your dog to check out this contraption and let him sniff for treats and displace the tennis balls to get the goodies underneath. After your dog has mastered the muffin tin, you can increase the challenge by placing each tennis ball back in the tin after the dog has found the treat.
- Learn TTouch (Tellington Touch) and give your dog a relaxing, stress-relieving massage. YouTube has numerous videos demonstrating TTouch, which involves making light, circular touches and strokes on your dog to relax muscle tension and to allow heart rate and blood pressure to slow.
- Help your dog improve her scenting skill by playing “Which Hand.” Put a smelly treat in one hand and show your dog both fists. Give your dog the treat when they show interest in the correct hand. If your dog chooses the wrong fist, open your hand to show that it’s empty.
- After your dog masters “Which Hand,” you can play hide and seek with scented treats. Start out by letting your dog see where you hide the treat. Then hide a treat in another room and let your dog search for it.
- Introduce your dog to stairway catch as you toss a favorite toy down a flight of stairs and then up again. This activity can be strenuous for your dog, so plan to do it for a fairly short time.
- Make a pile of old blankets and towels and let your dog “dig” through them to find a hidden toy or treat.
- Attach a favorite toy to a long string tied to a stick, and flip the toy around the room or the house for your dog to chase.
- Teach your dog the names of their toys. Start by picking up a favorite toy and calling it by a specific name, such as “ball.” Praise your dog every time they accept that toy. Then put a couple of other toys down beside the ball. When your dog picks up the ball, praise them. You can slowly add a second toy and name, and praise your dog when they choose that toy. When your dog is reliably choosing the toy you name, you can add a third toy into the mix.
August 7, 2023