12 Best Ways to Add Joy to Your Dog’s Life

Dogs are undoubtedly the best companions to humans. They are always ready to accompany, love, entertain you, and do whatever makes you happy.

But what your dog gets in response from you? Some regular food and treats, exercise, and a small amount of time? Well, that is what every dog needs but a dog’s life is not just about food and exercise, they need much more than that because they are also family.

How to add more joy to your dog’s life? You can literally find dozens of different ways to entertain your dog and you’ll find the best of them in this article. Using these ways, you can let your dogs live their lives to their fullest.

So, let’s explore.

How to Add Joy to Your Dog’s Life

Exercise your dog

Dogs need exercise to burn their excess energy or they may develop destructive behavior such as excessive barking, destructive chewing, or separation anxiety. Different dog breeds have different exercise needs but at least 30 minutes of daily exercise is recommended for every dog.

What is the best exercise for them? Daily walks, enrichment activities, indoor or outdoor games, and swimming are some of the best ways to tire your dog and improve its mental and physical health.

Fun fact: In Turin, Italy, if you do not exercise your dog thrice a day, you may be penalized.

Belly, shoulder, and ear rubs

If you have a dog you must have an idea how much your dog loves being rubbed on various points of his body. Although every dog may have a different body part which it loves to be rubbed, most of them like to have their neck, chest, ears, and belly rubbed gently. You can try different body parts to get a clear idea.

Rubbing calms them and in fact, you’ll feel that they have gone high while rubbing them. Other than regular rubbing, if your dog is tensed or stressed, rub its belly or ears that help it to release its tension.

Let them chew

dog-chewing

Image credit: ishane via Flickr

Dogs love chewing. Chewing is important for puppies during the development of their teeth and it’s natural for them. So if you provide them with some wonderful chew toys or organic items such as beef kneecaps, bison ribs, and beef hooves, they are gonna love them more than any other thing.

Moreover, you can add some soft treats and food to their chew toys. Such as, filling the beef hooves or rubber chews with treats and freezing them. Your dog will spend hours eating them.

Sit on the Sofa together and Watch the TV

Just imagine sitting on the couch along with your dog, watching your favorite show, and eating popcorn. Yes, dogs love your attention and when you do your daily routine works with your fur baby around, they love it.

Go Swimming

dog-swimming

Image credit: miki.chen via Flickr

The dogs are among the best swimmers and it is the best exercise for them. It helps them release their boredom, stress, and energy and helps them improve their mental and physical health. Along with that, it helps them get a peaceful sleep.

As swimming is one of the most wonderful activities for a dog, so, if your dog can’t swim, you should get a life jacket for your pup so he can join other dogs in swimming. And yes, do not forget to take necessary precautions before letting him into deep waters.

Certain retriever breeds love swimming and playing in water so setting up a pool in your backyard this summer would be an excellent idea.

Know Your Dog and his likes/dislikes

Well, before getting a puppy, do some research on your desired breed, its pros, and cons, health-related issues, behavior, temperament, etc, so you already know much about your future pet dog. If you already have a dog, keep an eye on his likes and dislikes, and try to avoid the things he doesn’t like.

Moreover, try to read your dog’s mind and his body language while it is stressed or uncomfortable, it will help you understand them and keep them happy.

Play games with them

Certain dog breeds have so much energy that they can spend hours playing and exercising. They love having fun and you’ll see them happy more than ever during their playtime. Plus, it improves their mood and overall health.

You can play several games with them such as Tug-of-war, Hide-and-seek, and lots of other activities.

Get them a playmate

You can consider having your dog a playmate too. As dogs are naturally attracted to small animals like lizards, we know that they can learn commands easily too. If you have a pet lizard, it shouldn’t be that difficult to help your dog share the home environment with them. You may visit online resources on reptiles to know that your dog can learn how to co-exist with a lizard safely.

Give them different foods

Do a little research about safe foods for your dog and feed them with a variety of items. Avoid harmful food items such as chocolate, onion, caffeine, etc. Learn more about safe and unsafe human food for your dogs.

Now, if you are wondering how you can add variety to their food, it’s not a big deal. You may add cooked rice, eggs, boiled chicken and turkey, plain peanut butter, yogurt, and several other items to their regular food. Make sure they are not allergic to a specific item and try the new food items in smaller amounts.

Let them Sniff

While you are on a walk along with your dog, you may have noted that it sniffs everything whether it’s familiar or non-familiar. You shouldn’t be afraid if your dog sniffs other dogs, humans, trees, and even other dogs’ asses.

So, you can try walking on different treks and paths to let your dog sniff new fragrances that make them happy and improve their health.

Take your dog to a pet bakery

dog-bakery

Image credit: Lottie’s pets & stuff via Flickr

  • Visit a pet bakery along with your dog
  • Let it sniff and choose his favorites
  • Unlimited cuddles
  • A wagging tail
  • And lots of un-conditioned love

What else do you need?

Let them splash through a muddy puddle

Well, I know it sounds weird to you but it’s really fun and entertaining for them. Let your dog splash through a muddy puddle once in a couple of months and you must know that a mucky pooch is the happiest pooch.

The best idea to do this is the day when you already have a plan to bathe your dog and it will save a lot of your time.

Final words:

So, these were the 11 easy ways to add more joy and fun to your dog’s life. Before trying any of these wonderful ways, make sure your dog is not allergic to them such as a dog may be allergic to bakery items or is afraid of water, so you may skip them.

Do you have any other way or technique to add to this list? Feel free to email us at woof @ thedogsjournal.com and we’d love to add them to this list.

Credits: Some of these ways were shared by the members of petforums.co.uk
Image credit: Baerlinerschnauze

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  1. Avatar for Scotty Bruce Scotty Bruce June 2, 2019
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