Dogs. Winter. Frigid temps. Cabin fever. As much as my three English Setters love passing time lying in front of the warm fire, being cooped up due to below 0 temperatures causes boredom to set in, even with the best-behaved of the bunch.
Annie took to chewing up a pencil that had dropped to the floor during a meeting at the house. I had heard her crunching away on what I thought was her bone… !!! Lily helped herself to an entire head of broccoli placed way, way back on the kitchen counter (I had left the room for no more than 5 minutes and she had it totally consumed!). And, sweet, sweet King simply thought that my glasses – that I had taken off while napping on the couch and had fallen to the floor – were a toy for him to chew on! (Actually, he did me a favor… I really wanted a new pair of glasses and needed a good excuse for getting new ones).
These three most certainly don’t resort to doing this type of inappropriate behavior without reason. It’s just way too cold for them to stay out for more than 10 minutes. Annie often ventures to the back of the field and by then her paws have turned ice-cold. I see her trying to walk, first lifting one paw, then another, trying with great difficulty to work her way back to the door. King and Lily usually stay close to the door, do business, run around a bit and scoot right back in. Our favorite pastime of taking walks on the road is out. The ice is so bad.
One answer to all of this is to bring out the Kongs. First, I stuff them with peanut butter-treats-more peanut butter-more treats. Excitement builds while the three watch me prepare their source of entertainment. There, I say, one for each of you. That’s when it gets interesting. Lily is certain that Annie’s Kong is better than hers. King leaves his Kong for Lily’s abandoned one. Annie looks around, and takes King’s. And, so it goes until the last morsel of goodies have been extracted from the inner depths of the Kong. A good diversion – for about 45 minutes. Then, there’s the added benefit all that chewing has on their teeth.
Winter is a good time for Kongs. And, I keep it to that. If overused, I find that their interest wanes after about 15 minutes. Who wouldn’t rather go after a bird or other woodland creature when the weather is good!