Keeping Your Fur Baby Happy and Healthy - Part 1

If you've heard it before, it's worth repeating. If you've never heard it, take note: A tired dog is a happy dog. Not enough exercise - be it mental or physical - is at the root of most behavioral (and many health) problems.

Fortunately, there are a variety of ways in which to keep your pet's body and brain in shape. The key is to find something you both enjoy, whether that means training classes, hiking the local foothills, scavenger hunts around the house, or hearty walks around the neighborhood.

Your dog is a thinking, breathing being — and deserves to be treated as one. Keep her mentally challenged and physically active, and she'll likely stay happy and healthy. Not to mention, you'll stave off many unwanted behaviors.

This will be a mini-series of different ideas, recipes, and games to help you stimulate your dogs mind and body, all while strengthening your bond together and making one tired fur baby at the end of the day :).

Read on, dear readers, and let me know if you have some ideas or recipes that you would like me to add to this series in the comments section. Please note that this mini-series focuses mostly on dogs, as I plan to have another mini-series focusing on our feline friends at a later date.

The "Ball Hound" as I like to call them can be described as one (or all) of the following:

• Adores fetching and gnawing on chew toys
• Is prone to play biting or nipping
• Comes from a breed that works mostly with his mouth, such as a retriever.

If your dog falls into one of these categories, please read on, as these ideas will hopefully help create enthusiasm in your fur baby.

Athletic, mouthy dogs love a good game of frisbee. You can even take it to the competition level with Disc Dog or just have a game at your local dog park! Buy a frisbee with padded edges because it's gentler on his mouth. My "ball hound," Millie, really enjoys the booda soft bite floppy disc, but be warned: these don't last long if your dog has a tendency to tear apart her toys.

Flyball is a timed relay race that involves jumping hurdles and retrieving a ball--nirvana for high-energy, ball-obsessed dogs. Learn more and get local club listings from the North American Flyball Association.

You can also take your pet to a body of water since most "ball hounds" love to swim. I would suggest doing this ONLY when the weather is nice and warm enough. But you can buy fetch toys that would enable you to throw long distances into the water without getting wet yourself (until your dog happily greets you and shakes water all over the place - including you.)

But we all know that it's hard to play "fetch" or any variation of the game if the weather is poor. So there are indoor alternatives to this as well. While you might not want your 90 lb. dog barreling down the hallway towards an antique umbrella stand, try setting up a toy box somewhere near your fur babies most comfortable "spot." This box will enable your dog to pick and choose her toys as she pleases, and she can carry them around in her mouth, thus satisfying her basic instinct to chew or retrieve. You can even work with your dog to train her on how to place her toys back in the toy box (but I will have a separate post dedicated to this.)

As you can see, there are many ways to keep your dog healthy and active - whether you are indoors or out. If I've left out anything that you have found helpful with your ball hound, please let me know and I can make changes while giving you credit as well.

Next time we'll look at another group of dogs, affectionately called the "smart cookie."