How to occupy a bored dog when we're not around?
I've got a 1.5 year old dog who is getting restless when we're at work which is leading to some destructive chewing. She gets through dog puzzles in no time and frozen kongs within a half hour after her walker leaves them. Any thoughts on ways to challenge and occupy her when we're not around?
She's in a room with an area of 10 x 12 feet (3 x 3.7 m) while we're not home. We take her out for a half an hour walk in the morning, when gets a half an hour with the walker at lunch and then an hour when we get home.
She just loves chewing things, maybe we haven't been good about telling her not to destroy her toys but I'm not sure how.
We used to leave her with an antler but now I worry she'll crack her teeth so need something she can gnaw unattended for a while (thanks for the suggestions @ThomasH ).
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A scheduled robot vacuum can provide some interesting stimulus unless they are terrified of vacuums.
Possibly use a gate to contain some of the damage.
There are a variety of automated and or remotely controlled laser toys you can use to occupy attention as well as burn off excess energy.
I also second the goifetch that Veg mentioned.
I'll suggest a slightly different tangent - that trying to address boredom through distractions is at best a finite-span solution. There's no toy that'll occupy a dog for several hours. The best you will accomplish is distraction for that initial span when separation anxiety is most likely to manifest.
The real solution to dogs who cause trouble is exercise. A tired dog is a happy dog. Unfortunately with some breeds that can mean quite a lot of walkies. But that really is the root of the problem. If you can manage it, try extending morning walks, or otherwise increase amount of activity. More playing, more running, etc.
We've found a local area doggie daycare once or twice a week works wonders. I've also been investigating cycling with the dog (there are ways of doing this safely, but that's out of scope).
But we definitely notice that less than about 90 minute of walking per day (and ideally 120), and she starts causing trouble. (Can have the odd 'day off' when the weather is bad, but the weekly average is about that.)
It really sounds like you need to implement a structured schedule with exercise early in the morning then settling down time while you get ready for work. Crate time or a small room while you are away so the dog knows that is a resting period. You should have only chew appropriate things available in that space so crating is really ideal. Then a long training time that includes both physical and mental activities when you get home. When you have a regular schedule like that your dog will learn to rest while you are away instead of being destructive. For chewing while you are gone butcher bones work well because they last, they clean teeth, and provide calcium.
Adding additional automated things while you are not home can be problematic. You don't want to get your dog more excited and worked up you want to encourage a calm attitude while you are away. Chewing is a calming activity, running around chasing things is not.
Have you tried the find it game? For my dog I often hide food caches (a small collection of kibble, or a medium sized treat) around the apartment for her to find. It's a fun 'puzzle' and since you decide where to hide the rewards, the difficulty level is adjustable. As my dog has gotten better at finding the hidden treats I've had to come up with more advanced places to hide them (inside old shoe boxes, underneath her dog bed...etc.) If you try this technique and your dog is already a bit destructive you might want to be extra mindful of where you hide the treats (so you're not encouraging your dog to destroy or mess up anything else)
For a more high tech solution there are weird robot toys that play with your dog while you're away...something like this: goifetch.com/
I want to add that one of the best ways to make your dog less restless while your away is to tire your dog out while you are around. A tired dog is more likely to want to lie around the house while you're away.
Good luck :)
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