With September finally underway we can confidently say, WTF summer! Its meant to be cooling down to Autumn.. not still baking!

It is with great confidence that I can say both Sasuke and I are fed up with this infernal heat (Dante had no clue what he was talking about – clearly he had never been to Kyoto). I take refuge in the kitchen working on projects and various other things and Sas has found a new cubby hole to hide in aka the Wardrobe aka Narnia.

Not much has changed in the two weeks since the previous post, yes we do go out for walks although the timing has drastically reduced along with Sasuke’s eating habits and we are lucky to be out for an hour and half tops. As a result we have taken to playing indoors which as come with its own set of challenges and restrictions some of which I will share here.

The first and probably the best of our evening activities requires an old duvet sheet and some smelly treats. What you want to do is put some of these treats into your hand and allow your dog to smell them – Sas goes nuts for this because he knows whats coming next – then have them sit, you pull the duvet sheet mixing it up and hide the treats in the folds of the duvet sheet. Then tell your dog to ‘go find’ then sit back and watch as they dig into the sheet smelling the treats and pulling it apart in order to find them. It’s simple and effective to engage your dogs brain while simultaneously treating for good behavior and an award for completion of task. Watch out that your dog doesn’t become tangled in the sheet or chew the duvet – you cant walk away and let them do this activity by themselves. Good times had by all!

Another activity we do is pull and thank you where I have a toy that I put my hand into and its padded, Sas can then go for it with his teeth and he mimics capturing prey – shaking it around etc. Now this activity is a bit rough and I don’t recommend it for everyone – if Sas gets too rough I do stop the activity by saying ‘thank you’ as a cue for release and we do something less exciting but still engaging – like hugs and belly rubs. Always watch out for doors, floor hazards and objects to trip over not just for your dog but for you too!

We play these games until Sas gets bored or its dinner time – which ever one comes first and then we settle down for the evening. At least he gets some form of exercise and playtime rolled into one – when he’s not in the wardrobe (facepalm).