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Are you looking for tips on how to exercise your dog indoors?

Recently, a friend asked me how I exercise my pup in bad weather.

My friend was thinking about an exercise wheel, but he wanted to know what other options he had.

If you’re in the same boat, then it’s your lucky day.

I’m going to talk about games and exercise you can do with your pooch inside the house.

9 Ways to Exercise Your Dog Indoors

Sometimes, getting your furbaby out of the house might not be an option.

I’m talking about the times when it’s raining cats and dogs, or you don’t have the time and energy to go out.

However, dogs do need to burn off their energy, or they are going to make a mess in the house.

So, how could you exercise your dog in bad weather or winter? Or how can you exercise your dog in an apartment?

Well, I’ve got a couple of suggestions just for you.

#1 Run up the stairs

Do you need to get your pooch tired fast? Then one of the best ways to exercise your dog in an apartment or a house is to make Fido run up and down the stairs.

Here’s how to do it:

• Get on top of the stairs.
• Throw Fido’s favorite toy on the ground below.
• Call your dog to bring the toy back to you.
• Repeat several times, but be careful not to overtire your dog.

Climbing stairs has its benefits for your dog because it engages different muscles than those your dog uses when walking or running.

In addition to this, getting to the top of the stairs requires more effort than walking, and it gets a dog tired quicker.

#2 Set obstacles around the house

Another way to exercise your dog indoors is to fashion Fido an obstacle course. It’s not as difficult as it sounds.

Just look around your house. I’m sure that you’ll find plenty of things to use as obstacles that your dog has to overcome.

For example, you can use some hula hoops and make your dog jump through them. Or get an old shower rod that your dog can jump over.

In addition to this, you can encourage your dog to crawl under the table, use pillows and blankets to create a tunnel, or make Fido circle chairs and columns.

Check out the video below for more ideas.

#3 Hide and seek

Are you wondering how to exercise your dog in winter without using any toys? Why not play hide and seek? It’s simple.

You just hide somewhere in the house and call your furbaby to come and find you.

Fido will happily follow your scent and hunt for you around the house. Just remember to give him a lot of praise and treats when he finally finds your hiding spot.

Furthermore, you can have somebody take the dog outside the house while you hide treats around the room.

Then you let your dog come back inside and leave him to track the delicious rewards.

However, make sure that you don’t accidentally overfeed your dog on treats, or this indoor exercise will be useless.

That’s why I recommend you to break up the treat in small pieces.

#4 Play fetch

Fetch is a favorite activity for many dogs, and it’s an excellent way to tire any dog.

While fetch works best outside where you can throw the ball as far as you can, this game can also be suitable for large indoor spaces. For example, big living rooms or long halls.

Start by cleaning the area and putting everything breakable away. Then toss the ball/toy to your dog and watch as Rover springs to retrieve it. Make the dog bring the ball/toy back to you and start over.

To make things interesting and fun for your dog, you can place obstacles on the ground so that Fido will have to jump or navigate around them.

#5 Get a treadmill

Are you wondering how to exercise your dog in an apartment? Then you can get a dog treadmill if you don’t have enough space for playing fetch or running up and down the stairs.

Treadmills are an excellent choice because they give your dog a better cardio workout than your average leisure walk.

In addition to this, treadmills keep your dog focus on the task and allow you to control your dog’s speed.

While some pets can use your treadmill, I would advise that you get a dog treadmill since they are designed for a dog’s body.

#6 Give your dog a job

Most dog breeds were created to help humans in their everyday tasks – guard the house, herd the cattle, or pull the sleds. So, dogs love it when they have something “important” to do.

That’s why when you’re wondering how to exercise your dog in bad weather, give Rover a job to do. For example, teach your pooch to carry you your slippers, retriever clothes from the floor, or bring those keys you can never find.

In addition to this, you can teach your dog to put his toys away so that you don’t have to do it yourself. Handy, right?

#7 Organize a play date

No matter how funny or interesting you try to be sometimes dogs prefer the company of their species. It’s nothing personal, so don’t be offended.

So, when you’re looking for ways to exercise your dog in the house, you can organize a play date with another pooch.

In this way, the two of them can interact with one another and will quickly find ways to entertain themselves.

No tutorial for this one, but I couldn’t resist adding this cute video:

#8 Try new toys

When you’re scratching your head for ways to exercise your dog inside the house, you could try some new toys.

Nowadays, companies come up with more and more interesting and interactive toys to keep our pets happy and content.

For example, you can get food puzzles and fill them with delicious treats. Then you lie back and watch as your dog tries to figure out how to get out the food.

#9 Teach new tricks

Last, but not least, you can use obedience training to exercise your dog indoors.

Obedience training is an important part of being a dog owner. Not only obedience training strengthens the bond between a human and a dog, but it also stimulates your pooch’s mind and body.

And it will help you do the other activities we talked about and make things more challenging and interesting for your dog.

Start with the basic commands like “Sit,” “Stay,” “Down,” and “Come.” In time, you’ll work your way up to more complicated tasks such as “Roll over,” “Play dead,” and “Turn on/off the light.”

As you can see, there are many games and tricks you can use to exercise a dog inside.

However, keep in mind that some breeds are high-energy dogs and require more exercise than others.

If that’s the case, you may want to consider heading to an indoor dog park or agility course.

What do you think about these seven ways to exercise your dog indoors? What do you do when you have to exercise your dog in bad weather or winter? Tell us in the comments.

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