# How do I keep my pup busy?



## Ozzie's Mama (Jul 16, 2006)

Hi!
Since Ozzie is my first pup, and so many of you have much experience, I pose this question... How do you keep your puppy busy?

The only thing 6 month Ozzie is interested in during "quiet time" in the evenings is a rawhide bone. We know that too much rawhide is very unhealthy, and the only reason we even introduced him to rawhide was because nothing else interests him (other than peanut butter, chewing on our toes, the cat, and the furniture).

Every morning we take a long walk and then train for a few minutes before breakfast. He is crated while my husband and I are at work. Then, in the afternoons and evenings he plays fetch, trains, scampers around in the yard, and goes on another walk if time permits. Everything is great, until we want to sit down and work or relax and watch television. He is uninterested in his toys (unless they're smeared with peanut butter), and gets into trouble if he doesn't have a rawhide in his mouth. 

He is such a chewer that he can go through a whole large size rawhide bone in two or three evenings, and then he has TERRIBLE gas! Whew! We have tried many of the pet store toys and other odds and ends we think he might be interested in, but nothing has captured his interest. 

Any ideas would be very welcomed!!!
Thank you!


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## Baileysmom (Aug 5, 2006)

I, too, have resorted to rawhides in the evenings sometimes. One thing I have discovered is a "Kong". I fill it with peanut butter and freeze it or get Kong stuffers and he works for a while to get whatever is in there out......


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## Kindell (Feb 7, 2006)

We were often resorting to rawhide for Maple as a chewie during the evenings - but after getting so much flack & negative feedback from petstore owners (my big question - if the stuff is such crap why the heck are you selling it??? Anyway...) I bought her a pig's HOOF! I know... it's disgusting... but she's had it for over a month now and has barely worn it down at all and it is her absolute favorite chewie. I will sometimes also buy the real bones... pig femurs, etc. and I find them quite hardy and Maple loves them too. They can make a mess of the carpet initially, because all of the meaty stuff is still on it... so we have Maple start them outside on the deck, or on a towel on the ceramic floors. There is definitely alot of alternatives to rawhide - We occasionally use the Kong as well. Another fun game I do with Maple is I hide treats all over the living room/basement, wherever we're sitting... and she'll be occupied for about 15 minutes before she finds them all. It's always fun to watch her seek them out.


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## marshab1 (Aug 28, 2006)

Tinkerbell at 5 1/2 months is also very active in the evenings. And she is a chewer. I also buy the large bones at the store. She loves the knuckle bones. I put one of her blankets near where i am sitting and she lays on it with her bone. I occasionally give her the rawhide retriever rolls. Those last quite a while because of how tightly rolled they are. We have also found some toys are better than others at keeping her attention. She likes stuffed animals that have long legs and arms that way when she shakes her head the limbs swing and hit her. I swear she thinks it is playing with her.


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## Dilly70 (Oct 9, 2006)

I'm sure you've tried this, but what about the nylabone? Chumley (who is 10 weeks) LOVES it! They have a few different flavors, liver, chicken, and chocolate (can you believe it?). There is also an edible one, which is bacon flavored. This is my first pup too, so I'm feeling my way around also. Good luck!


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## greg bell (May 24, 2005)

you are at the teething age..so they are going to chew on somthing.. and at 6 months he is old enough to learn some manners.. so teach him not to bother you when you want to sit down.. he will soon get the picture of leaving you alone at times..


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## jeffreyzone (Feb 8, 2006)

I know exactly where you are coming from in regard to the rawhide. Dottie is a voracious chewer, and she came to us as a young adult. It soon became obvious that she was mowing thorugh the rawhides too quickly, so we switched to Nylabone products. The "durable" labeled bones in the "souper" size have worked very well; she and Barrington destroy those, too, but it takes considerably longer for them to do so, and we don't have to worry about digestive-tract problems.

Give the durable Nylabones a try with Ozzie. Go ahead and give him the hardest, biggest (souper) ones they make. He can handle it. Just make sure that he doesn't have rawhide as an option.

If you want to give him a really crazy chewing challenge, give him a Galileo; it's made by the Nylabone people, and it is tough as nails.


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## Goldndust (Jul 30, 2005)

Sounds like he's getting the zoomies to me, mine always done that at night too! At least it tired them out.

You could try a little more exercise before sitting down, that may help a little with this. I've given rawhides to mine when pups also, as well as a bunch of ice cubes in a sock, carrots or apples cut up in a kong. The more training he gets as he grows, the better he will become.


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## Chloe Baby (Oct 3, 2006)

Chloe loves her bubbles! The kind kids play with with the wand inside. I can sit and blow bubbles while she wears herself out chasing them.


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## LaurJen (Aug 10, 2006)

Augie loves chasing the beam from a flashlight! He has so much fun.


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## Ozzie's Mama (Jul 16, 2006)

Thank you all for your suggestions! We are headed out for an evening walk to the pet store to buy a couple new chew toys.


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## Ninde'Gold (Oct 21, 2006)

Show him his tail...Tucker will run in circles trying to catch his lol.


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## Princess Bella (Oct 17, 2006)

*same issues*

sounds like my dog  I have the same issues... and she's only 3 months old

Maybe another golden will help...


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## Ozzie's Mama (Jul 16, 2006)

We've found it!!! 

For those of you with the non-existing quiet time issue: 

We bought a Kong brand rubber bone that is hollow at both ends. We jammed 4 small cookies into the hollows, and Ozzie was busy for 45 minutes! He even went back to the bone this morning, though it wasn't full of treats! Yes!!!


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