Rainy days can put a damper on your outdoor plans with your furry friend, but don't let the weather ruin the fun! There are plenty of entertaining activities you and your dog can enjoy indoors while staying dry and cosy. From mental stimulation games to DIY projects and indoor activities way from the home. 

1. Treat hide and seek! Hide treats around your house while keeping your dog in a wait, and then release them to sniff out their favourite treats. Start in a small area first while they get the hang of things, and then you can progress all around the house! Just don't forget where you left them or if your dog doesn't find one, you might end up finding a stinky treat somewhere strange weeks later!

2. Teach your dog a new trick! Learning new tricks can mentally fulfil and tire out your dog a lot, it's also a really fun bonding activity for you and your dog! Have a look at our blog post about how to teach some fun and simple tricks for ideas! 

3. Visit a cafe or a garden centre! Did you know most dogs don't need a lot of exercise every day, and novel experiences such as visiting a cafe, garden centre or any other dog-friendly indoor spaces with lots of people around can both tire out your dog's brain as well as aiding in important socialisation. We advise taking a settle mat out with you for your dog to be able to have their own space to relax under a table while you're drinking your hot chocolate. If your dog isn't trained on a settle mat - starting to train this is another great rainy day activity!

4. Food enrichment! Food enrichment is a brilliant tool to help mentally stimulate and enrich your dog on a day you won't be going out for a walk (it's brilliant on days you are going out too!). There are lots of options for food enrichment, you can use our recycled rubber ZigZoom™ by popping some small treats into each end, or smearing some peanut butter in the ends. Other alternatives are lick mats, which encourage your dog to lick which is a calming behaviour or feeding your dogs meal in a Paws In Earnest Rylo

5. Indoor Physical Play! If you have the space, fetch and active games don't need to be restricted to outdoors! Play catch inside with stuffed toys (watch any fragile items though!) or play "treat fetch" where you throw a treat in alternating directions so you can get some physical energy out without leaving the house. You could even play actual hide and seek, hiding behind doors and in different rooms in the house for your dog to come and find you!

6. Have a rest day! This is breed and your specific dog but some dogs will be more than happy to take a day off and chill on the sofa watching movies with you all day. If you want to make it extra special, you can put "dog TV" on YouTube for them!

BONUS

Just take them out as normal!! The majority of dogs do not care about getting a bit wet, (and even if they do, they usually change their mind once you've got their harness and lead on with ball in hand!!) Wrap up warm, and let your dog roll in the muddy puddles, get soaked in rain and live their best outdoor life!

And don't forget, if you want to make sure all the mud and rain doesn't make your favourite harnesses turn black, you can always invest in a Petrichor set which is black/dark grey/dark green and hides alllll the stains from rain and mud!