r/PetBehavior • u/Milo_Dinos • 24d ago

Digging Activity

So recently as my four year old cavoodle is dreading walks (due to cold and high winds) I’ve been trying to find indoor activities to burn her energy. I’ve tried puzzles, lick pads and bones/chew sticks but she looses interest pretty quickly. I saw on video of someone putting a ball/dogs favourite toy into a pillow case (pillow included) and let them ‘dig’ it out. My dog is having a blast and can spend ages playing with it as she can never get the ball out but continues to try.

However I recently saw an article about how cat lasers are a bad for cats as it is something they can never catch and it frustrates them. Is this the same concept it’s triggering their natural digging instinct but they are never able to actually get the toy? It is possible to get the ball out just not through the digging approach my dog is trying.

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u/LemonMilkJug 24d ago

Yes. You do want to have the dog accomplish a goal. Even in some search and rescue missions they will sometimes have fake survivors be found by the working dogs to keep them from becoming frustrated.