Anyone who has a dog wants him to be happy, and for that it is not surprising that he ends up buying him many toys. But no matter how many the animal has, it often happens that it "falls in love" with just one. Whether it's because he makes a lot of noise, or because he loves to nibble on it and / or chase it, that ball, teether or frisbee is his favorite and he will go crazy with joy every time he sees you with it. But you have to be careful with this.
If the situation is mishandled sooner or later problems will arise. So, If you are wondering how to prevent my dog from becoming obsessed with toys, here are many tips that will be useful to you to make the game always a fun experience.
Why are they obsessed with toys?
First of all, let's see why they obsess; this way it will be much easier for us to prevent it from happening to our dog. As well. The answer is actually simpler than it may seem at first:
Boredom
Yes, it may surprise you, but it is one of the causes. It is the typical case of the dog that spends time alone (or does not receive adequate attention) who is bought a toy thinking that it will be entertained. The animal spends hours and hours with him. When he wakes up, he is next to him. When he is lonely, he begins to nibble on it. When it does not know what to do, it may with its nose or its paws pull it a little far to go and look for it later.
As days go by, what had to be a hobby becomes an obsession.
We use only one toy
Play sessions, as well as training sessions, need to be fun, as well as didactic. But when we always use the same toy, day after day, the dog will end up obsessing over it to the point that, when we decide to change it, we will not get it to pay attention to us.
What to do to avoid it?
If we want to prevent our furry four-legged friend from becoming obsessed with toys, we have to do the following:
Buy several and save them
Try to avoid making the mistake of thinking that the dog will entertain itself healthily on its own. Getting both his physical and emotional health to be good is not difficult: you just have to buy him several toys and use them when necessary, such as during a training or game session. The rest of the day you can have one at your fingertips, but it should not always be the same and, of course, never your favorite since we have to save it for special occasions (training outside the home, for example).
Reward him with other things
Giving him a toy is not the only way to reward a dog: it is also giving him a treat, petting him, taking him for a walk ... This animal is very grateful: with a simple and small detail you will feel more than awarded. In addition, varying the prizes will help us when we have to reward them for their good behavior and we do not carry a toy or a candy with us, for example.
Teach him to share his toys
This is very important especially if we intend to have another dog or want to take it to the dog park. For this, what you have to do is teach him to release the toy. How? Dedicate several sessions to doing the following:
- First, we call it.
- Afterward, we ask him to sit down and we give him a treat.
- Then we give him a toy and play with him for a little bit.
- When finished, if he has the toy in his mouth we will show him a treat, we will say "Let go" when he is about to release the toy, and we will give him the treat when he has done so.
These steps must be repeated many times, but in the end he will end up understanding what we want and we can use the command »Release" every time we see that the game becomes a bit intense.
Do you need more info? Enters here and discover how to train your dog.