It’s vital to give dogs mental stimulation

As dog owners, we tend to dwell on physical stimulation, taking our dogs on walks that they enjoy, but overlooking mental stimulation which is just as important.

We all do a little training: sit, down and fetch etc but can easily forget to provide the equivalent of a set of crayons and crayoning book when we leave them.

Dogs do sleep more hours than we do, on average about 16 hours a day, but during their waking hours they need to be provided with things to do, more so if they are bred to do a busy job hunting, digging or pulling.

The KONG toy, right, is an ideal start to giving your dog something to do in your absence. Why not give it a try, fill a Kong with your favourite recipe or this one provided?

Kong recipe

Soak dried dog food in gravy until soft and mix to a very stiff paste.

Smear entire interior of KONG with something spreadable such as peanut butter.

Place the tastiest thing you can at the small-end hole of KONG.

Continue to stuff KONG with layers of dried food soaked in gravy interspersed with small treats until you get to the top.

Plug large hole of KONG with two medium-size milk or gravy bones, making sure their ends are firmly stuck into the soaked dried food. Freeze hard and give to dog. Enjoy your hours of freedom while dog destuffs. As this is does not contain the dog’s normal staple diet, this should be a