Dog Boredom Buster Idea: Find the Cheese Game
Since we've been social distancing and spending 100% of our time at home, our family dog has made it clear we are not to alter his daily routine of sleeping all day or disturb him. But when late afternoon hits, he's ready to go! One of the things that we have done with all of our family dogs is play the cheese game. It's kind of like an Easter egg hunt for dogs that you can play any day of the year.
We have always used the basic American cheese because it stick to things, doesn't make a mess, and all dogs seem to love it. The premise is simple. First make the dog go into the bathroom or garage where they can't hear or see you. Then, you tear up a piece of cheese, or lunchmeat up into tiny pieces - or you can buy the tiny treats - and hide them around the house.
First show your dog a piece or two that you've "hidden." They usually pick up on the game quickly and will start sniffing out their treats. Keep watch on your dog because they don't know how many pieces you've hidden and will keep going long after they've found all the treats. Start in one room so your dog can understand the game and you can expand to multiple rooms or even outside. And you can increase the difficulty level of where treats are hidden as they get better at finding the treats.
Our dogs love the cheese game and yours will too!