The cold temperatures don’t lie, winter has indeed arrived. Although it’s been a mild one so far! For some, these winter months mean snowmen, snowshoes and snowball fights. Winter joy! For others, it means hibernation. The same goes for our dogs, some love the cold season while others struggle to stick the tip of their muzzle outside. If your dog is in this second category, this post is for you! Here are some ideas for activities to do with your dog to keep him busy and fit during the winter. 

1. Smell Detection: This is a great activity to train your dog to detect certain smells. The equipment is really easy to get and is available in most big box stores. It’s quite simple. You’ll need Q-Tips or cotton swabs, a dog safe essential oil, a few small storage bins and magnetic metal spice jars. The aim of the activity is for the dog to find which container the essential oil is found. Place a few drops of oil on a cotton swab, then in a spice jar. You then allow your dog to smell the jar rewarding your dog for smelling the essential oil. You then add another jar and another! When the dog is good at finding the essential oil you can add even more obstacles, such as putting food in another jar or bin, or simply hiding the spice jar in another room. There are several online courses to teach your dog how to detect odours, the one given by Anne-Marie Giroux on the De Main de Maître platform is very in depth and easy to follow.
2. Rallye-O: There are many canine sports that can be practiced inside your home, Rallye-O is one of them. This is a sport where you must follow an obedience course that contains several stations. A station is a sign marked with an exercise that you have to do. For example, you are walking in a straight line and you come to a sign that tells you to turn left. The next one then asks you to stop, have your dog sit down and walk around your dog once without them moving. Then you move on to the next station and so on. Your dog should follow you in a walking position and perform all the exercises mentioned. Initially, the exercises are easier, but as you progress, the difficulty will increase. There are online courses on the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy platform to get started in this sport. Here’s a little video if you want to see what the first level looks like.
3. Do More With Your Dog: Do More With Your Dog allows you to get fancy titles right from your home! There are several levels (novice, intermediate, advanced, expert and champion) and for each level you will find a list of tricks that can be done. You then teach your dog the trick, make a video of them doing this trick, then submit your video for approval. Once approved, you will be able to order your title and receive a certificate in the mail! Obviously the whole process of filming and ordering the certificates isn’t mandatory, you can just use the trick lists to come up with ideas for what to train. This is a great way to bond with your dog and work on commands and tricks. You will find a lot of information on this Facebook group if you want to embark on this adventure with your dog.

Are you going to take advantage of the winter to try a new activity?