How to play with puppy?

[OurFirstPup]

Hello,

This may be a silly question to some, but I'm a first-time dog owner and a worried mommy My boxer girl is 11 weeks old, loves to play outside, i.e., runs around, chews sticks, runs after "toy on a stick" (a toy tied to a stick by a string, sort of like fish on a line). However, she also likes to play inside, but gets bored with her toys quickly. I feel bad because I don't know what to do, and she's too young to wrestle, plus, at this age, all she does is bite. Any tips? She does not fetch (I wish!!).

 

[ikonxone]

the first time my wife and i had a puppy about 2 years ago we didn't have enough toys for our shih tzu. our boxer is 13 weeks old and we have a big collection of toys that he can go play with. one thing we do when he gets bored is a follow the leader kind of thing. we start running around our yard and let him chase us and when gets bored again we have squeaky balls and kongs to keep him going. one thing you can do is start leash training him in your yard.

 

[OurFirstPup]

ikonxone,

We have no worries with her outside game time, it's the indoor play that I'm concerned with. She still likes to run around the house, but prefers to play with us (me in particular) more than her toys. It's been raining the last couple of days, too, and I wish I knew what indoor games to play with her. Any tips for indoor playtime?

 

[Sir Bentley]

Chasing Balls

My pups love to kick tennis balls around the house. Even before they new how to fetch I would roll a ball around on the floor and they would chase it and pounce on the ball. When I would get tired of rolling the ball around for them, they would just kick it around with their feet.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I'd get a Kong, stuff it and freeze it and let her work on getting out whatever's inside of it. There's also raw meaty bones and bully sticks to occupy her. Non edible Nylabones, tire biters, Hurley bones, Dental Dinosaurs (by Nylabone), Cuz, just to name a few.

Good luck.

 

[jgasparas]

Doubt they are too young to start some training and can make games out of it im sure. I started teaching mine to sit at about 9 weeks. Make her sit whenever we come to a door and wait to be invited in. We're working on leash training also. We have a modest selection of toys mabe 5-7 to play with. We wrestle around a lil with her now and she loves it. I also take her over to play with my parents 2 yr old boxer and they have a hay day together. We're working on lay and stay also. Good luck with your new puppy!

 

[whiskers]

One thing recommended to me is to play hide-and-seek with them. Apparently puppies love it, and it's a good way to start building her recall.

 

[OurFirstPup]

I thought mine to sit at 9 weeks also, it was super easy. She always sits in front of doors, etc., and now I don't have to give her voice command - she sits when I look at her a certain way or give her a hand command. She's a smart cookie
She gets a stuffed Kong only when she's crated, I want it to be a special treat for her. She does kick a ball around somewhat, but not too long. I guess my Penny is not easily entertained! I wonder if hide-and-seek will work for her, if I have treats and give her one every time she "finds" me, that would make a great recall training!
She's getting her second set of shots tomorrow, hopefully, after that, we'll be able to take her to meet more dogs!

 

[SweetCody]

My two have always loved ropes. We have about 5 of them around the house and Cody just loved it when he was the only pup and Aniah and Cody play tug all the time together. Aniah as well loves to play with them by herself. They also love anything that squeaks. These tend to keep them occupied better than anything. The cuz is great. Or anything made by that company JW. These are some of the most durable toys I have ever encounterd. And my two are toy serial killers.
Also teach bite inhibition, there are tons of threads on that here, just run a search. Then you can have a big wrestlemania with her and wear her out that way. Laser pointers are always a lot of fun as well. Good luck.

 

[BoxerMoments]

We just got one of those red laser light things the other day for Dakota and figured we'd try it out and see if he liked it and it is sooooo funny to watch him run around the house chasing it. I ended up stopping because my thumb was starting to hurt from holding the button down but he didn't seem to get bored with it yet. Too funny!