Anyone else feel like a horrible dog owner right now?

[JustBecauseYouCanBarry]

Not the biggest of problems right now I know!

My poor boy is such a ball of energy. He loves getting out multiple times a day. I'm feeling awful keeping him couped up inside!

Anyone else feeling horrible? I wish I could explain to him!

Any suggestions on keeping him entertained indoors would be welcome

I'd love to relate but I have two little puddings that love being cuddled up on the sofa so are the opposite!

We do sometimes play fetch down the corridor, or hide treats for them to find and that seems to keep their brains going. Or even training some new tricks?

Luckily it's very sunny here and dpuppy has discovered sunbathing!
Will be walking all ddogs later on. Its a ghost town here - been so for a couple of weeks.

I'm in bed ill just now and my normally ridiculously energetic boy has seamlessly transitioned to the role of emotional support dog.

Yep, we are spending half an hour in the garden with the ball and doing some training. Hiding her kibble and using her sniffle mat.

Taking her out for an hour, just coordinating with other walkers in the area so we don't meet up!

Feed them less. Food = energy so bring it down a bit. Don't starve them, obviously, but make gradual adjustments.

Mental stimulation. Teach new tricks, play games with them.

Would tiring out his brain help - feeder puzzles, scatter feeding, training, finding ect?

Pestypup has been helping deliver food to the sheltered. The most unflattering photo ever

We've just been out for a 90 minute walk, saw one other dog walker and stayed well away from them. My reckoning is one good long walk instead of 2 shorter ones like usual. Thankfully we live fairly rurally and don't often meet others when out anyway.

I'm going to reduce their protein intake and thankfully we've got a big garden that they can play ball in.

Pestypup is gorgeous!! Our new dpuppy is getting some 'tatty' bits!

My ddog wont toilet in the garden, even when we take her for a walk she does it quite far from home and distances herself from us and cowers away when she's done her poo, I'm presuming she was scolded for pooping at some point in her life

Google scent work, this will stimulate the dogs brain in a way that walking does but can be done at home or in the garden. 10 mins of scent work can as stimulating as a 1hr walk. Also look into things like lick mats or treat puzzles. Lots of fetch in the garden.

Yes, I felt bad, but she's just had her one walk of the day which was double her normal walk and delayed till late morning. Toilet stops are in our tiny garden or just outside the back gate.
Dogs are such creatures of routine that I think they'll adapt quickly as long as we're allowed to go out for one longish walk.

Mine is coping admirably, though by now she’s had a long walk already and knows a second one is coming so she looks a bit fed up now.
It might have something to do with being drip fed bits of buttered toast, digestives and ritz crackers courtesy of my three rioting children.
We will take her out for a walk later for an hour and a half it’s eerily quiet but this morning I woke up to the sound of beautiful birdsong. The first time in as long as I can remember that it wasn’t a car I could hear.

Mine are loving that I’m home so much and enjoying the sunshine. I’m still walking them once a day and they’re lucky w have our own fields (although one is allergic to grass so can’t go on them!)

It must be very difficult with a very high energy dog, just need to find thing for them to do indoors. There's lots online apparently if you google it.

My dog is nearly nine and gets most indignant if I try to walk her more than once a day, although, we do play a lot during the course of the day.

On rainy days we play fetch in the house, and practice our skills, she's not allowed treats because of stomach issues so I use carrot cut up small.

She has also recently started keeping herself busy by digging up the garden, which is now little more than a patch of mud, as she like to eat the new spring grass shoots.

It's my own fault, I've clearly jinxed it, as on a recent thread about dogs digging I said that she had grown out of it now. And she had for several years.

It does keep her occupied and tires her out a quite a bit though, so highly recommend it if you don't care that your grass is never going to grow again

Mine is having her usual hour or so off lead in the morning and then we are doing brain games and playing. Im working from home so I am running up and down the garden for 5 minutes on the hour so she is joining in.

She also joined in the bootcamp which we did in the garden last night

The hardest thing is she keeps barking at me every 10 minutes to play and I have to work.

I feel very lucky that my dog is 11 and the walk we take in the morning is more to exercise the children than the dog!

I took mine out this morning.. country side and saw one other walker so we waved at a distance.
DS1 is going to do a quick wee/poo walk last thing tonight..there are 4 of us here (well 5 but I'm not sending the type 1 diabetic asthmatic out!) so we figure each can take her for their exercise as needed. She won't 'go' in the garden so even if it's literally 200 yards away to the nearest patch of grass we can manage that between is without breaking the once a day exercise rule.

We are all essential workers here (nurse, TA, carer, driver and supermarket worker) so all walks will be as far away from other humans as possible.

I'm a horrible dog owner. I didn't walk pestypup this morning. DS and DH both gave her a walk this afternoon / evening so she is fine.

I was ranting at DH and he was ranting back (we are both key workers). Pestypup peed on the floor, we are too tired to care for her properly.

I did teach her to retrieve a decoy duck from the pond this morning, she was ace. I'm just hoping she remembers the good hour.

@PestyMachtubernahme Is he a scruffy lurcher?

Here are my Lurchers..
2 smooth and 1 undecided!

She's a scruffy German Pointer, half short-haired half wirehaired

The cow had me up at 5 this morning

@PestyMachtubernahme Ok, I can see it now - the black and white photo made her look very different! 5am is a bit unnecessary isnt it!

@Windyatthebeach A gaggle of legs!!! When did the black one arrive?

My girls look scruffy as not been able to go for 2 weekly grooming session and bath. I am seriously wondering if I ought to take clippers to them and cut their beautiful long fur off. Obviously we brush and comb them at home but nowhere near as good as groomers and they also trim to keep them cute looking.