How to entertain your dog while you work from home

In recent years, working from home has become a normal part of life. One of the biggest advantages of this way of working is that you can be with your pet all day, but it can have a small downside: your pet can expect your full attention all day. To help you get the job done, we’ve compiled a list of five ways to entertain your dog while at work.

Stagger meal times

Instead of having one meal time in the morning and another in the evening, spread out your puppy’s feedings throughout the day. To save you from having to get up several times a day to feed them, you can use automatic feeders, such as these:

• TRIXIE TX2 automatic feeder: This bowl has two compartments, each with its own timer and ice pack to keep your pet’s favorite Freshpet recipe cool until it’s time to eat.

• PetSafe 5 Meal Feeder: With this bowl, one serving is ready to eat when you prepare it but four additional servings can be programmed to open at different times of the day.

• WOPET 6L Automatic Pet Feeder: This bowl allows you to use your smartphone to program up to 15 meals at a time, so you can program it for several days in a row.

As well as giving your pup small meals throughout the day, you can make those meals even more special by mixing up the recipe you feed each day – check out our full line of Freshpet recipes for dogs here.

Organize a treasure hunt around your house

Interactive toys and games are great for holding your dog’s attention, but often require a lot of time and energy on your part to set up and use. This is what makes a scavenger hunt a great option – you just have to organize it and your pet takes care of the rest!

Just grab a selection of your pup’s favorite toys and a handful of Fresh dog treats and hide them around your house. Make sure to mix up the difficulty level, with some items being easy to find and others quite difficult. This gets your pet up to speed quickly by making easy discoveries early on and keeping them motivated to seek out the harder-to-find rewards. You can set it up multiple times a day, using different hiding places around the house to keep it from getting too repetitive.

Prepare long-lasting frozen treats

In between scavenger hunts, you can also offer your pup toys that will occupy him – independently – for long periods of time. During the hot summer months, we recommend taking the frozen route so your pet gets extra hydration while they play.

• Homemade frozen vegetable and fruit treats: You can use pet-safe silicone trays to create frozen treats in an assortment of flavors. Dice their favorite pet-safe snacks like carrots, green beans, pumpkin, blueberries, peas, or watermelon, spread them evenly in the pan, add water, and put them in the pan. freezer until completely frozen. You can take this to the next level by adding little bits of your pup’s Freshpet recipe too! But please note that if you freeze your puppy’s regular Freshpet recipes, you may notice slight changes in color and texture upon thawing, but this will not change the nutritional value or taste of our meals.

• frozen kong: You can take your Kong game to the next level by simply freezing them. All you have to do is line the inside with peanut butter or a thin layer of their favorite roll, then add a mix of fresh dog treats or some of the pet-safe foods we have. have listed above. Once the Kong is stuffed, you can put it in the freezer and leave it there until your pup needs some entertainment.

Along with these two frozen treats, you’ll want to give them to your pup while he’s sitting on a large blanket or towel to catch the wetness.

Consider fostering or adopting another pet

If you’ve been considering adding a new member to your pack, it can also have the added benefit of keeping your dog entertained during your working hours and beyond! Dogs who have a playmate at home rely less on their parents for entertainment because they have a four-legged friend who is always ready to play with them. If you’re not ready to bring home a new pet for life, consider fostering. It’s a great way to help out pets in need and see if having another pet in the house helps keep your pup busy while you work.

If you choose the foster parenting route, be sure to check out our list of everything you need to know about becoming a foster parent.

Sign up for dog daycare

If you think your dog needs serious 1:1 attention that you can’t provide during your work day, consider enrolling him in a dog daycare. This is a great option because you can focus on work better knowing your pup will have fun running around with other four-legged friends for hours on end. You can even try sharing child care with a neighbor who has a friendly dog. This way you know that every other day you can focus without interruption.

When choosing a dog daycare, ask yourself the same questions you would when looking for a dog sitter so you know you’re choosing a top notch one!

Do you have other ways to entertain your pup while you work? Share them in the comments so other Freshpet parents can try them out!