• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Profiles
    • Athletes
    • Cuties
    • Entertainers
    • Fashionistas
    • Heroes
    • Tricksters
    • Working dogs
  • Listings
  • Privacy Statement
  • Website Terms Of Use
  • Work With Us
  • Contact Us
Talent Hounds
Join Talent Hounds
Training tips, videos, photos, news and more for dog lovers.
  • News
    • Latest Buzz News
    • Feature Stories
    • Wordless Wednesday Wisdom
    • Inspiration
    • Gallery
      • Athletes
      • Cuties
      • Entertainers
      • Fashionistas
      • Funny
      • Heroes
      • Rescues
      • Service Dogs
      • Trailer
      • Tricksters
      • Working Dogs
      • Promos
  • Fun
  • Training
    • Training Tuesday
    • Dog Training Tips
    • Trainer Profiles
    • Puppies
  • Dog Health
    • Fit Dog Friday
    • Dog Health Tips
  • Rescues
    • Rescue Rock
  • Contests
  • About
    • About Talent Hounds TV
    • Behind the Scenes
    • Hop To It Productions
      • Susan Nation
      • Carrie Cutforth
      • Nina Beveridge
      • Paul Hart
  • Product Reviews
  • Recipes & DIYs
  • Pugs

How to Get ACTIVE Indoors with your Dog!

January 21, 2016 by angela casullo 22 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet

January is always a challenge as I plan to get fit with Kilo the Pug, especially when it gets down to minus 30 with the windchill. Some dogs stay warmer than others in very cold temperatures and love the snow,  but we both hate the cold. Kilo refuses to wear boots or coats and does not like going outside at all.

Fishstick the Rescue Pug's diet starts Monday, plus great ideas to get active indoors in winter.

Get Active Indoors on this snowy day with Dog Tricks, Dog Games, and More!

Community member Marcy shared her tips for keeping all of her talented fur babies Sweetie, Lulu and Shivers entertained and active during the winter season.

Tips to Keep Active and Warm in Winter With Your Dog

Play Indoor Games

Tug-of-War

“Playing tug with your dog can provide a wonderful outlet for her natural canine urges to grab and pull on things with her mouth. You can also use this game to exercise your dog and teach her important lessons.” -ASPCA (Read more HERE)

Jack Russell Terrier loves playing Tug

Make sure you have an appropriate toy,  something that is soft and comfortable to hold in your dogs mouth. Try a soft rope that’s one to three feet long!

A game of Tug can be a great way to work on some basic training and mental exercise for your dog in a fun way.  Use key phrases like “Drop it” or “Give,” while playing, and throw in a “Sit”, and “Stay” before letting your dog have the toy to work on self-control.

Kilo really loves playing Tug. He is not so keen on Drop It yet but we are working on it.

 

Tanum the Rescue Boxer plays Tug

Tanun, one of our Rescues Rock! cuties loves to play a good game of Tug! For any high energy dog this can be a great way to engage their natural prey drive and burn some energy by jumping and tugging on the toy.

Hide and Seek

Have your dog stay while you go hide, then yell for your dog to come find you. This is a lot of fun for your dog as it plays on their natural instinct to track, plus they love it when they find you!

Or hide a toy or treat while your dogs stays elsewhere then call them to search- dogs like retrievers and Gussy the Goldendoodle love this game. I often throw or hide treats for Kilo to “go find”.

Lazer Toy Chase!

Lazer toys aren’t just for the felines anymore!  Let your dog burn off energy by chasing that little red dot that just seems to be impossible to catch! Easy to do even in small spaces and so much fun.

Go for a Swim!

Marcy showed us another great idea for small dogs – a swim in the bathtub. This can be perfect to burn off energy, get in shape and get clean all at once!

The benefits of swimming include strengthening heart and lungs,  providing an aerobic workout in just a few minutes.  and building muscle without stressing joints and ligaments. This is a safe, effective complement to exercise on dry land. Water’s buoyancy makes it easy on joints, tendons and ligaments – allowing dogs to increase mobility, burn fat and build stamina.

You can even put your dog in a life jacket or a harness for safety before he goes for a dip and holds him up allowing him to paddle and rewarding him.  For all dogs, constant supervision is a must!

Fill up your tub so that your dog can’t touch the bottom and let the fun begin. Make sure the water is at a comfortable warm temperature but not too hot.

For larger dogs, check out a local Doggy Swim Class like Fit Dogs Training Centres in Toronto HERE!

Work on New Tricks

“It’s never to late to teach an old dog a new trick!”

Use your time inside to master some new tricks! We are constantly amazed to see the cool new tricks that our Talent Hound Community Members share on the site. They inspire me with Kilo the Pug and he loves learning (or at least the rewards LOL).

So with some extra time spent indoors this season why not work on some cool new tricks to wow the entire dog park with.

Here are Sweetie and Lulu showing off some cool tricks. Give them a try and share photos of your Talent Hound mastering new tricks! I have been teaching Kilo to ride his rocking horse too.

vD5RITRgeBi0YCfZQVVPxWrvIbuEWVE_-bQMfBDqu3A

Rocking Horse

duRzyF_6NXpnYYSdDTbaLFGi6_0_dhpAwvDBe_iad28

Play Piano

rxSvcjls-CiOLYOq-TqmYBYcbXq9V1ttK1EFpNgsFA8

 

Of course Hero the Super Collie is never bored or boring. Sara is always adding fabulous new tricks

Here’s talented Sheby Star showing off some  tricks

Ranger doing a Paw Stand which you can practice indoors.

Ranger doing a paw stand against a wall
Talented Ranger

Get inspired by the super smart Chase! Watch his Trick video HERE

Let us know how you keep your dog fit and happy indoors?

Filed Under: Fit Dog FRIDAY Tagged With: Dog games, dog health, dog tricks, keep fit, swimming, tug

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. slimdoggy says

    January 17, 2014 at 11:08 pm

    Great ideas for indoor activities when the weather is bad. A swim in the bathtub for the little guys is GREAT! Thanks for joining the Hop.

    Reply
    • Talent Hounds says

      January 18, 2014 at 12:01 am

      Thanks- Love this Hop and all your inspiration.

      Reply
  2. Golden Woofs: Sugar says

    January 18, 2014 at 1:09 am

    Woof! Woof! to Ranger. I’m doing lots of indoor tricks too. Nowadays, I’m doing lots of yin yoga. Bathtub swimming will be pawsome …. we have to get a bigger tub. Happy FitDogfriday. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

    Reply
  3. Peggy Frezon says

    January 18, 2014 at 4:18 am

    With our frigid New York winters, we don’t get outside for as long as the dogs would like. So indoor activities are important. Fantastic ideas…and, I don’t want to give it all away, but one of them hit upon our first K9Kamp challenge! Check next week and I hope you join in on K9Kamp!

    Reply
  4. Carleen says

    January 29, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    We always get out the treat toys and brain games when the weather get rough. The dogs love it!

    Reply
  5. Tenacious Little Terrier says

    January 29, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    We’re working on the pawstand among other things. Winter isn’t too bad here except for when it pours.

    Reply
  6. FiveSibesMom says

    January 30, 2016 at 12:48 am

    Some great ideas! We do a lot of indoor Fetch and puzzles here!

    Reply
  7. MattieDog says

    January 30, 2016 at 2:05 am

    Wows – I can only dream to be so fabulous!!

    Reply
  8. Spencer the Goldendoodle says

    January 30, 2016 at 2:33 am

    My humans have found a bunch of in door games to keep me busy through this long, cold winter! Great ideas, I will have to share them!

    Reply
  9. Pawesome Cats says

    January 30, 2016 at 3:54 am

    That’s how I feel about dieting too!

    Reply
  10. Robin says

    January 30, 2016 at 5:11 am

    It can be tough to keep active when you have to stay indoors! Cinco and Manna love to chase laser pointers. 🙂 Interesting idea about taking smaller pups for a swim in the bath tub! That is very thoughtful. 🙂

    Reply
  11. M. K. Clinton says

    January 30, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    Those are amazing tricks! Bentley LOVES to play laser light. He also does a mean death scene after being shot with your finger. LOL! LOL!

    Reply
  12. Sadie says

    January 30, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    It was beautiful weather for our walk today. We will try learning some of these tricks, though – they look like so much fun! Thanks.

    Reply
  13. Golden Daily Scoop says

    January 30, 2016 at 11:40 pm

    Those are some great ideas! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  14. Fur Everywhere says

    January 31, 2016 at 4:00 am

    These are great activity ideas. I loved playing tug with my dog as a child. I bet it’s adorable to watch a dog swim in the bathtub!

    Reply
  15. Sweet Purrfections says

    January 31, 2016 at 4:53 am

    My mom’s dog loves to play tug-o-war all year long.

    Reply
  16. Dogvills says

    January 31, 2016 at 6:07 am

    These are awesome tips to keep them active indoors. This is a great roundup. I will check the other posts later when I have the time.

    Reply
  17. Kitty Cat Chronicles says

    January 31, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    These are all great tips. I love the bathtub swimming idea – very fun and cute. I’ve actually done that with one of my cats before MOL!

    Reply
  18. Cathy Armato says

    February 1, 2016 at 4:38 am

    These are great ideas, although my dogs would not like the bath idea, LOL!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

    Reply
  19. Beth | Daily Dog Tag says

    February 1, 2016 at 6:21 am

    Our winters can be pretty long here, so I’m always appreciative of good ideas for helping my dogs stay active. Thanks!

    Reply
  20. Lindsay Pevny says

    February 4, 2016 at 1:27 am

    Got some great new ideas for tricks!

    I love playing hide-and-seek, it reinforces fast, happy recall!

    Reply
  21. Rachel says

    February 11, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    What a fun post and a great reminder!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

newsletter

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on InstagramFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on RSS

ABOUT TALENT HOUNDS

Talent Hounds started as a TV series exploring the changing roles of dogs and how they enrich our lives. We have grown into a Content Hub and Community for Dog Lovers. Our mission: Inspire. Connect. Inform. Entertain. I am Susan Nation - I manage the community. Kilo the cute little Black Rescue Pug is my sidekick and inspiration. Please join our community. Contact us if you have content, tips or resources to share.

dog breed quiz

dog breed library

SPONSORS

bullwrinkles

Bullwrinkles delicious dog treats

influencer group

Badge

Recent Articles

  • Labrador Retriever Dog Breed February 25, 2025
  • Best Dog Breed if You Have Allergies February 1, 2025
  • Favorite things at Canadian Pet Expo 2024 November 21, 2024
  • Tick and Flea Prevention June 2, 2021
  • Border Collie Dog Breed June 1, 2021

© Copyright 2020 Talent Hounds · All Rights Reserved