senior dogs and mental stimulation

Wow! I see I haven't posted since February. And I know why.. It has been so hot that Penny has been less willing to go for a walk.

She has spent most of the time each day snoozing, and we had put that down to her age. Our vet agrees that perhaps she doesn't deal so well with hot weather these days, so we have let her set the pace on walks and if she didn't want to go we'd let her lie. However, we do manage a walk of some sort most days.

Lately, though, it has become cooler, and we're wondering if her sleepiness might be as much due to boredom as to her senior status. So, we're trying to play a few games each evening, and use some of the lovely Nina Ottosson games when feeding her. ( A bit tricky, given that these days we only feed raw meat, with some additions of vegetables and vitamins.)

Also, today I took her for a swim in the warm water of the indoor pool at Kepala.

Afterwards, I asked in the office whether it would be okay for us to pop into the agility area to see how Penny would cope with it. As soon as we stepped through the gate, she headed for the tyre and the tunnel!

Before I even had time to give the 'begin' signal, she was through. I hurried to catch up so she wouldn't jump over the higher items (because of her arthritis.)

She managed the little seesaw like a pro.

And what was that in the distance? A set of weave poles...

Yes, she sort of still remembers how to do them. Hooray! So, next time, after a warm swim to get her muscles loosened, I think we might try this again.

keeping dogs intellectually stimulated

It was a pity Penny had to endure such a boring week while her cut paw healed, but it was also a timely reminder for us that walks can't be the only stimulation a dog has. It reminded us to include some other activities during the day.

This evening we fed Penny dry food (kibble), which we rarely do, so that she could work hard to get the food out of her puzzle toys - our walks are still quite short, not the hour-long rambles Penny is used to.

 We were trying out Biopet Organic dog food. I wouldn't want to feed this constantly, because it does have grains in it, but as a standby I think it seems good. We bought the food at SuperFruit, a nearby organic store.

 I wouldn't have dared to use these toys a couple of days ago, because Penny used her front paws to claw at the sections of the puzzles, but she seemed to be okay after using them this evening.

 First we tried the Nina Ottosson Dog Brick, which is an old favorite. Then Penny used the Dog Tornado. Even though it hasn't been out of the cupboard for months, she remembered how to get the treats.


 

When she had given the toy a thorough sniffing, and decided there was definitely no more food in it, she waited for more.

So we tried the Seek-A-Treat, which has been put away for almost two years! 

And she succeeded with it, which surprised me, because she didn't quite work it out at that time. 

Having noticed that the Seek-a-Treat is manufactured by 'Ethical Products', I looked at their website, and I must say I did like what they said about themselves:

We will continue to provide pet owners and their pets with the absolute best consumer value and customer service in the pet industry while never losing sight of quality, innovation, safety, honesty and humanity.