Although dogs are known as social creatures, in reality we spend a lot of time at home. Dogs are often told to stay home, while their humans go out to play. Well now is our chance to show our families that staying home can be fun! So as we all begin another weekend of social distancing, Asa and I would like to share a few ideas on how to keep your humans entertained at home.

After being home all week your humans are probably bored with your old toys. We suggest using everyday household objects to invent new games to play! For example, I’ve always wanted to try doing agility with my Mom and Dad. So this weekend I plan to set up my own version of a course using plungers as weave poles, a hula hoop as the place to do stay, and some scrap PVC pipes to make a small jump. Is it an ideal course? No! Not even close! But it is a fun and silly way to get your humans out in the fresh air and moving on a sunny day. If the weather isn’t cooperating, how about that Nose Work game I told you about this winter? Encourage your humans to make it more challenging so you can show off your powerful nose! However, whatever new game you choose to invent with things found around your home, don’t touch the toilet paper! Humans seem to be really possessive about that lately.

This is also a great opportunity to spend the weekend teaching your human some new tricks! If you head on over to YouTube and google, “dog tricks,” you will find many useful and entertaining videos on how to make you and your human the life of the party once we can resume having parties again. Although in light of recent events, you may want to skip the old standby trick of shake paws. Maybe you can think of tricks to teach your family to help them remember the new recommendations on how to greet fellow humans?

Speaking of the polite greeting of people, now is not a time to be judgmental, but perhaps your human isn’t as well trained as you would prefer. This downtime at home is the perfect opportunity to brush up on those old skills, and even teach them some new ones! Contact local dog trainers to see if they are offering online classes. Many new options have sprung up these past few days on Zoom, Udemy, and other social media platforms. It’s a great way to support a local business while staying at home. Or head to YouTube to see what online videos you can find to help guide you. This way once it is safe to return to the parks and beaches you can have peace of mind that your human will properly behave.

So far all my recommendations have included a lot of exercise, and I’m sure you’re getting tired. It’s ok to slow down and cuddle! This is a very stressful time for our humans. Simply cuddling on the couch while they read to you a good book, re-watch that favorite old movie they’re always quoting, or binge watch the latest must see TV show, are all good ways to keep them entertained and at home. This is also a great opportunity for your humans to finally organize all the photos they have of you on their phone. Let’s face it, not all of them are worth keeping. However, with the ones that are they can make a digital photo album or share the best ones on social media to brighten someone’s scrolling.

Just like you, humans are social creatures. But unlike you, humans can’t just go for a walk to catch up on the local pee mail by sniffing what their friends are up to these days. Encourage them to reach out to friends and family through phone calls or video chats so that they don’t feel so isolated. Asa and I frequently video chat with our cousin Mushu in The Netherlands. Ok, so in reality it’s Mom and Dad trying to chat with relatives, but Mushu and Asa inevitably become the center of attention. If your human is running out of things to chat about, have them set up a video chat with your grandparents so they can watch you playing. We call it virtual fetch, and our Grandpa use to love watching us play this way when we couldn’t visit. Or simply take a nap while the humans chat. Although you are their entertainment director, it doesn’t have to be a 24/7 job!

This is a rare opportunity to have your family together without any obligations to be anywhere. Don’t waste it! This is our chance to use the skills we’ve learned to pass the time to be good role models for our families who are not use to being told to stay home. We all need to do our part to keep our families home and away from other humans if we want to flatten the curve. So have fun! Be creative! But please whatever you do, stay home!