She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?

[eeeefarm]

@mrscastro said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

Have you considered lure coursing? When my pack was young (we have one left-age 15), Hubby would put a white plastic grocery bag (with a light weight so nobody got hurt) on a small fishing pole and pitch it around the yard. They went nuts. Literally played until Hubby couldn't play any longer. All slept very well afterward.

We also took them to a lure coursing center. They loved that too.

You remind me of the way cats will chase the end of a lunge whip when you are trying to work your horse! Always worrying that the cat will get run over. I can see a fishing rod with plastic bag working well for this. My Perry's thing was chasing crows in the hayfield. My avatar is a frame of a video when he was doing that...

[DonC]

@fernrn1 said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

@tanza I would be very afraid to let her off leash, I do not know that she would come to me if I called her. From what everyone has said, I am leaning towards obedience training, as a first step. But have also read that you cannot have just any trainer as the besenji is a little more difficult of a bread?

Following up on what Tanza mentioned about training, there is a book called "When Pigs Fly". It addresses training with more "independent" aka "bratty" dog breeds. You might want to take a look at that.

Nothing is more dispiriting than when you know your dog knows what they should do and they just choose to do something else. LOL However, recall is more serious. You definitely need to work on that. Never know when you might need it.

[DonC]

@zande said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

In fact I cheated today ! Hush.... two walks !!!

I took them out this morning to fields and this afternoon we 'socially distanced' with a Border Collie across fields and through bluebell woods. The Collie is getting used to the puppy's antics and Mku is learning to treat his elders with respect. Something very necessary for when lockdown is lifted. The old lady just explores on her own and ignores the others.

Glad to hear you are getting out. No doubt that lifts the spirits. The joke here is that some people are upset because the coyotes aren't wearing masks. LOL

Have you listened to the new song by The Rolling Stones? It's called "Living in a Ghost Town". I think they may have their first hit in, um, forty years.

[elbrant]

@zande said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

I'm confused by the '3 miles' ethos.

I think the difference is that you are able to let your dogs run through country woods. So they get to explore and chase things and use all of their senses, covering far more ground than you do. I find myself wishing I could give doodle the same, but sigh that's not an option right now.

Instead we are leaving the front door, crossing the railroad tracks, passing the bunny trails to see if they've been about, across a busy road, alongside the edge of a lake to check out the heron and geese, up a path and past a little park (where doodle sometimes gets to play with pals), across an even busier roadway, past the house I want to move into, then around the corner and down the road to a clear water creek (where we often stop to dip hot toes and get a cool sip of water), around and around until we pass the spanish church and cross another road before we get back to our door. whew! Leashed, the entire way, which she tolerates well. I have tried to make the journey interesting for her, but 3 miles (for me) is about as far as I can go and still move afterwards

[Zande]

@elbrant I think, given those conditions, you are doing well to complete three miles !

[Zande]

@donc said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

there is a book called "When Pigs Fly". It addresses training with more "independent" aka "bratty" dog breeds.

There is also a book by a Canadian, I think, Jean Donaldson.
ISBN 1-888047 -05-4
I have lent my copy out so often and had to buy it again and now it is chained to the bookshelf. . . called 'The Culture Clash.'
Published by James & Kenneth and available on Amazon.

It might have been written with Basenjis in mind !

I should have thought of it earlier - but better late than. . .

[Zande]

@donc said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

The joke here is that some people are upset because the coyotes aren't wearing masks

I have in front of me the latest edition of 'Basenji Buschtrommel' (Basenji Jungle Drums) - the monthly newsletter put out by the Basenji Club of Germany.

The front cover of this superb publication features three Basenjis seated on a grooming table, wearing hoods, apparently hooked over their ears and looking like hospital-scrub-blue halos, face masks, and with stethoscopes round their necks and hanging across their chests.

The photo is by Janneke de Graaf of Holland - of her three Champions.

And yes, DonC, it is wonderful to be able to get out. I am so very lucky.

[DonC]

@zande said in She is so bored. How do you keep them entertained?:

There is also a book by a Canadian, I think, Jean Donaldson.
ISBN 1-888047 -05-4
I have lent my copy out so often and had to buy it again and now it is chained to the bookshelf. . . called 'The Culture Clash.'
Published by James & Kenneth and available on Amazon.

Thanks. I just bought it and finished the first couple of pages. Looks like it will be good. Plus it was ON SALE! Under $10. Even a single insight is worth that, especially if it saves the sofa (which was her first example)! LOL

[Zande]

It's not a book to read from cover to cover at a sitting. But to dip into and return to, over and over again with each new puppy !

It will help as Mku grows up.

[violaparkinson]

You can play with him and take him to travel outside the home.

[MnBadger]

My 7 month B is kinda the same way. Especially strong hunting instinct and bored easily. I’ve found a laser pointer does wonders for the hunting and boredom! Even the next morning he goes into his play room and spend several minutes trying to find the red dot.

I’ve also found his favorite toy is always ones other dogs/humans have so I lock his toys inside his crate with him out of it. Then I also play with them myself. Only after a few days does he get one of the toys. He then ends up hiding it so I can’t lock it up.