i find that a lot (a lot) of adolescent dogs (6-24 months) are missing one or more of my 5(+1) activities. if we make just a teensy effort to provide them more regularly, suddenly adolescence gets so much easier.
physical activity. theeee most likely to actually be present. this is literally just burning calories. treadmill/slatmill, leash walks, etc.
mental activity. training (5 targeted minutes of which will help many other problems), food puzzles, adding 'rules' to your life so the dog is thinking more often, etc.
MOVE your BODY. this one i stumbled into raising a puppy without a fenced yard. she NEEDS some off leash, unrestrained activity multiple times a week or she turns into a monster. this is not just physical activity--this is full body movement, ideally in nature, often At Speed. this can also be ace freework, body conditioning/fitness work, etc, things which get the dog in tune with her body.
novelty. this CAN be going new places and giving him new toys, but it can also just be rotating the walk routes so he periodically gets to go down a road he hasn't seen in a week. but also give him new toys, he deserves them.
destruction. this is another one that is reliably shortchanged. chewing (HARD, on things that TASTE GOOD), shredding, dissecting, etc. boxes of cardboard to shred, toys gotten for the purpose of killing them, regular provision of new chews, etc etc etc. even just a paper bag with a ball shoved in it, or putting breakfast in an empty cereal box.
these don't need to be every single day, but they do need to be part of the routine. so for example, K'seil:
gets a 40 min leash walk daily plus MOVE your BODY 2-3 times a week.
gets 5 minutes of training and dinner in a slow feeder daily. weekly has at least one class, twice a week now comes to work with me and is a demo dog.
BARE MINIMUM of one good off leash woods run once a week. it is noticeable when that's missed. usually 1-2 other off leash runs (at work) a week, plus tug and some full body play inside.
this dog gets so much novelty.
some mornings her breakfast comes in a cereal box; a frozen kong daily; new chews every other week; a cardboard box with packing paper in it that she pulls out to shred; when she's particularly nuts we have a holee-roller stuffed with fleece strips and a tennis ball.
if i told you her primary exercise was a 40 min leash walk, and that she was normal otherwise, you'd think i'm insane. which is fair. because i meet all her other needs, and so she really does just need a 40 min leash walk in the mornings.
secret bonus +1: relaxation. if the dog cannot stop moving when she's tired, that's the most important thing to learn. at some life stages, it's normal to have non-optional naps or otherwise need to coax the dog into actually sleeping. this stops being normal after about 3 yrs (depending on breed), and it's a high priority of mine to teach to any puppy.
your dog should not be Go Go Go 24/7, they should be napping and resting throughout the day. K'seil slept solid today from 10:30 am to 4 pm and we didn't do anything particularly cool this morning.
so there you go, today's life hack for incessantly needy dogs
