But.. what if we told you that the amount of time you spent with your dog was less important than what you do during that time?

While a certain proportion of time needs to be spent in training and exercise, paying attention to the types of training or exercise your dog likes will be more beneficial than simply throwing a ball or practicing heelwork.

Your dog will feel more satisfied and content (with more positive associations with you) if they’re enjoying and actively engaged in training that uses positive reinforcement techniques. Long and sniffy walks in new areas can sometimes be more valuable to a dog than playing fetch non-stop, or walking the same lap of the block every day.

When we spend time with our dog it’s important we do things that they enjoy too! Every dog is different, but some of these things might be:

• Play tug or chasey with them (games can go for as long as you want and can be interspersed every minute or two with some training like ‘sit’ or ‘settle’)
• Try playing chasey (where they chase you) if you always play tug or visa versa
• Help them find the food you scattered – be a part of the hunting process and be excited with them when they find a new piece!
• Let them off lead* to roll in mud or a creek (take a towel for the car) if it’s safe
• Let them stop and smell the roses on walks
• Pat them the way they want to be patted (pat an area for 5 seconds and stop – if they try to get your attention again, then you know they wanted it!)
• Try massage on their back or neck while you watch TV
• Take them to a new tree for them to leave their pee-mail
• Enjoy, and even partake, in their nightly zoomy / mad moment routines
• Be encouraging while they’re chasing a ball (we can’t generally keep up, but we can be part of the fun verbally)
• Rotate toys around every week so there’s always something ‘new’ and delight in sharing it with them
• Train behaviours with fun. Tricks are great fun to teach, and generally easier and more fun for them to learn, because they tend to be less serious. Celebrate basic manners training achievements in the same way – clap, jump up and down and/ or reinforce heavily if your dog can walk by your side for 10m or come back when you call them. While they are serious, important behaviours, you might find progress happens quicker if you don’t train them with a serious approach.

If the time you spend with them is full of things that don’t let them be dogs (ie. Don’t dig, jump, chase, chew, tug) then they’ll spend their lives thinking we’re the fun police. Dogs are absolutely capable of learning to have fun and be a dog when given a ‘be free’ cue, as opposed to needing to settle at the café or when friends are over in such a different context. In situations where it’s safe, and controlled, compromise a little and give them some time to be themselves. Better yet – join them in any way you can, even if it’s just verbal encouragement.

*Ensure this is done in off lead spaces only while respecting other users of the space