We know a lot of devoted dog owners will be worried about the potential impact of COVID-19 restrictions on their furry friends. You may be concerned your dog will get less of the long walks they love, or less interactions with other dogs and people that tire them out and leave them happy and snoozing the afternoon away on their cosy beds! We fully understand this concern and know that for some owners the idea of skipping those long walks might be horrifying, as lots of excess energy in our pups can sometimes lead to one unhappy pooch!

But did you know that mental stimulation and enrichment can tire your dog out just as much as a long country walk? A huge part of caring for our dogs in our Jerry Green Dog Rescue centres is keeping their brains as busy as their paws, learning new skills, playing fun games with the team, and novel toys that get their minds working, such as snuffle mats and stuffed Kongs. Self-isolation will be a challenging time for everyone in the house, including your dog, but using it as an opportunity to learn new skills, work on any training issues you may be experiencing, and having some quality bonding time with your dog, is one way to make the time go faster, and keep everyone happier and healthier during this adversity. Below you will find enrichment games to try with your dog, we will be adding new ideas every couple of days, with handy advice on how to execute these activities properly. Please note, your pet should be supervised during enrichment activities with food.

You can also head over to our Trick Training page, where we will be adding new trick training tutorials for you and your dog to master, starting with teaching your dog to Spin! Learning new skills can tire dogs out like nothing else, and is great fun both for them and for you! 

All of these resources are offered completely free of charge, in the hope they will help you and your dogs through this difficult time, and we will keep adding new material as we go along. If you do find them useful, we hope you will consider making a small donation to support us and our dogs through this trying period. Thank you.

To donate £1, text JERRY to 70201
To donate £3, text JERRY to 70331
To donate £5, text JERRY to 70970
To donate £10, text JERRY to 70191

Enrichment Tips!

Make your own Boredom Box for your dog - using our how-to guide! 

Play our 'Carrot on a String' enrichment game with your dog, find a handy how to guide here. 

The Muffin Tin Game, get your dogs working for their dinner with our how to guide here.

Find a useful video with a few tips and tricks from our Notts' Trainer, Rachel, here. 

Teach your dog to Spin!