Rainy days. Injured owners. Stubborn pets. For whatever reason, you may find yourself confined to the indoors with your beloved four-legged friend, you can always find a few fun games to play with dogs that'll make you and them a little less bored.
Which is why we’ve put together our list of the best dog games you can play indoors without needed to buy extra toys, using the things that you have laying around.
- Make your dog work for their food
- Teach your dog to clear up
- Help your pup learn their toy’s names
- Set up a mini endurance test
- Play dress up
Why playing is good for your dog
Playing is fun, and it’s not just kids and adults that like to have some fun but so do animals like cats, birds, and our beloved pet pooches.
So, if for whatever reason you can’t get outside to take your dog for their daily walk or exercise, this prolonged period of inactivity could risk your dog:
- Gaining Weight
- Having heightened aggression
- Becoming withdrawn and anxious
- Hyperactivity
- Stiffness
- Lack of endurance
- Excessive barking and whining
Staying still isn’t just dangerous for dogs, either. A sedentary lifestyle leads us to weight gain, lost muscle strength, lower metabolism, poor circulation, hormonal imbalances and even a weakened immune system.
That’s not accounting for mental activity either. Humans who do not keep their brains sharp risk diseases like Alzheimer’s, while dogs can develop Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. We love nothing more than to snuggle up and cuddle or nap with our dogs. That’s just one of the ways we can show them our love. We can also make indoor time playtime – there’s no need to run around outside to strengthen that pet and owner bond.
To alleviate boredom for you and your pooch, check out this tried and tested list of fun games to play with dogs inside.
Related: Best Indoor Exercise for Dogs
1. Make pup work for his food!
This one is a regular in terms of training games for dogs. Not only does it satisfy your dog’s desire for a treat, it also gives its olfactory senses a workout and offers rewards for physical exercise.
Look out for “treat balls” online. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from standard spherical balls to dumbbell shapes, beehive shapes and much more.
A great example of these are the well-known KONG series of toys, which offer a variety of shapes and sizes for small and large dogs to enjoy.
The dog simply has to navigate his snout around the ball to unleash the treats. The round shape makes the toy fall over time and again, making this a fun challenge and hilarious to watch!
If you don’t have any treats around you can always use some dry dog food as they come in handy bite sizes that also tend to fit with the toys.
Top Tip: Don’t have any dog treat toys in the house, try using a plastic bottle with treat size holes cut into it and let them go to town trying to unleash the dog food within.
2. Teach your dog to clear up after himself
Sadly, we’re not talking about toilet trips. But there is a way you can get pooch to clean up around the house.
If you’ve showered your dog with dog toys, then encourage him to put them away once he’s done playing with them. This is a great test in obedience and maintains levels of physical activity.
You’ll need a suitable toy container that your dog can access. Teach your dog commands like “drop it” and “pick it up”, using positive reinforcement with treats.
Point to the toy box and instruct your pup to walk over to the box with the toy in his mouth, then instruct him to drop it.
After a while, this series of actions should become one solid command, like “tidy up”. Your dog will learn faster if you give him little rewards.
3. Help your pup learn his toy’s names
This is another great one for cognitive development in dogs. Made famous by Chaser the Border Collie, who can remember over 1,000 words, this little name-learning trick encourages obedience and association.
Keep it simple. Start with one toy and one toy only. Play with that toy and continue referring to it by its name. If you need to, encourage positive reinforcement with treats. Then comes the test. Line your chosen toy up among all your other dog toys.
Ask your dog to find you the specific toy and see if pooch can pick it out. If he can, he wins a treat! Continue the practice until you’ve named all your toys.
Failing that there’s a few other useful dog tricks that can help keep your dog mentally active.
4. Set up your own mini endurance test
This is one of the most fun indoor games for dogs. You don’t need to have a whole gymkhana set to create your own little Crufts!
Instead, create an obstacle course using household objects that can be found easily.
Have your pup whirl his way around chair legs. Make him jump up onto higher levels with chairs and tables. Line up books for him to walk his way around. Set him a timer and encourage him to practise until he gets faster and faster.
Not only will you break a sweat laying the course, you’ll also have a great time watching!
Bonus Tip: Film the action and share with your family and friends on social media.
5. Play dress up
Okay, this one is a little more for the owners than the dogs, but it’s still a whole lot of fun. Dogs are a source of endless amusement, and doggy costumes takes this one step further.
You can go super authentic by ordering dog coats, neck ties, bow ties, hats and other accessories online.
These are more likely to fit based on your dog’s individual breed. Or you can just dig out the old dressing up box and see what looks best on your pup.
For example, try draping an old black blazer around him with a bow tie for a “black tie” look.
Then you can get involved. They say dogs always look like their owners, but you can take this one step further if you’re both dressed up! Give yourselves themes, for example movie characters, superheroes or uniforms. Take snaps and share them on your favourite social networking sites, or start a scrapbooking project and stick them on the fridge.
Remember – play nice. Don’t force your dog into wearing anything uncomfortable. A quick gentle placement of a baseball cap is ideal for a hilarious snapshot.
Related: Find out how to build your dogs’ fitness levels
What are the benefits of playing with my dog?
It might sound like extra work creating all this fun when you could go for a walk. But anything could stop you from venturing out, from looking after young children to a personal injury, or just an unexpected downpour.
Taking playtime inside has myriad benefits beyond the fresh air and social interaction of playing outside. For example:
Indoor play can relieve stress in dogs
Many dogs may have separation anxiety, particularly if you have to go out to work for long hours. As a result, they may associate the indoors with bad feelings. By playing with your dog regularly indoors, you’ll teach him that home is just as safe as outdoors, and that you’re always here for him.
Indoor play helps teach young children
They say having a pet is one of the best ways to encourage a sense of responsibility in little ones. By teaching your child to interact with a dog from a young age, they’ll learn values like empathy and social boundaries, while they’ll also gain a new best friend.
All play is training
Not all obedience training has to be boring for pup! In fact, whenever you interact with your dog, if you’re issuing basic commands and encouraging actions, you’re actually training him all the time. This will encourage better behaviour and keep your dog’s mind active.
It can relieve your stress
How many times have you come home from work after the most stressful day ever, only to be greeted by your excitable pup? Having a dog around the house is an instant mood enhancer. They’re fiercely loyal and will do anything to protect their owners and show them they love them.
These social interactions encourage our natural levels of stress hormone cortisol to decline. Whether it’s scratching their belly, rolling around on the floor or playing a gentle game of tug of war, you’ll feel instantly better and your stresses will melt away.
So, if you’re stuck for ideas on keeping you and your dog entertained, don’t panic if you can’t get outdoors. There’s plenty to do right inside your home.
