# Tips and tricks to tire a puppy out in time for bed!



## Saures (Jul 9, 2011)

So, just thought it would be a good idea to share stories and tips and tricks of how to tire out a very energetic puppy before bed time, there must be more then just playing tug of war and loads of walks!

I can't take my puppy out for walks for another two weeks, and I'm losing patience with our little "elephantie" game, I gave him a cuddly toy elephant and he loves it, and somewhere along the line I called it elephantie....


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## Charis (Jul 12, 2009)

Puzzles? There are interactive dog toy puzzles that you can put food in and they have to figure out how to get it out. I'm not sure if he is old enough for them (has enough focus yet) but they may be something to consider. Something to chase? I have a homemade flirt pole that she (Misty) will chase and chase and chase and catch and chase again. Different kongs or food stuffed toys? Everlasting treatballs are very popular with my dogs. I don't know if his teeth are strong enough for those yet but maybe.


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## Saures (Jul 9, 2011)

We've got about three different bones, a kong wubba puppy toy, we bought him a rubber chicken leg, a treat ball, different hide treats, I have given him several different soft toys to play with, we do training quite often too, and he gets so bored! I admit, I might spoil him, half the toys have gone missing, or our older dog has taken over them, meaning he'll never find them, or when he will find them, they'll be in the mouth of a pretty greedy poodle 

I wish he was older enough to have the attention span of something a bit more than a fish, but it'll come in time!  
But I'll check out the interactive puzzles, might be a good christmas present


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## kathylcsw (Jul 4, 2011)

I have a 3 month old JRT with many, many new toys that she basically ignores! She burns off lots of energy playing with the cat though. So far she has been very good about sleeping all night. Yah!


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## Zoopie (Feb 22, 2010)

Usually, Dexter knows it's time for bed once we get back from our evening walk. When he doesn't, we have this awesome "chase me through the hallways" game. Requires minimal mouvements for me, makes him run like crazy. If the house wasn't so dirty and the dog so wet, I'd videotape that hah


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## winniec777 (Apr 20, 2008)

When our dog was a puppy, she was go-go-go all night. She got several walks, training, social time with neighbor dogs, and lots of game play. After a day that started with her at 5 am, a full day of work, and another 4-5 hours with her after work, I was ready to call it a night but she would still be going strong. 

So I started coming up with things that expended a lot of energy in big bursts that would tire her out...

- Sit facing the stairs and toss a tennis ball up them for her to fetch. She got the extra exercise from going up and down the stairs. I got to sit on my butt and relax because the ball always made it's way back to me, either in her mouth or just gravity at work. 

- Soccer - face the dog with a ball on the floor in front of you. Try to kick the ball past the dog. My dog loves playing this with anything - balls, ice in the winter, toys. Doesn't matter as long as she gets to try to stop & catch the thing. We call this "who's faster?"

- Another version of who's faster involves running up and down stairs - it's good exercise for both and tires us out. She has to wait at the bottom so that I get a 3-4 step head start. Then I take off and say "Who's faster?" and try to make it to the top first. Extra points if I can make it all the way on the bed before her. Somehow, I never get those points. 

10-15 minutes of these kinds of games seemed to take the last bit of starch out of her so that she would finally go to sleep. Over time, I learned how to teach her to be calmer and more relaxed, and that she got nice things when she did that. Getting her to sleep was easier once she learned how to settle. She had to mature a little for that to work - kicked in at about 4-6 months.


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