For a child their dog is the best kind of best friend. Dogs don’t judge and they’re always there to provide comfort and distraction if school gets stressful, they argue with friends (or their parents) or life gets hard. That kind of relationship can take time to build, but there are some really great activities that can help them build it. Or, if your child and dog are already best friends, might give them a way to connect that’s not just creating chaos together…

Tug is my favourite game to play with my dog (and her favourite game to play too). But unfortunately it’s kinda developed a bad reputation, with a lot of people worrying that playing tug will make their dog aggressive. If that’s you, don’t worry. There’s absolutely no association between playing tug and dogs developing aggressive behaviours.

Just like people, dogs get bored. If your dog spends most of their day at home with nothing to do, it’s not gonna be a surprise when they’re begging for your attention, destroying your furniture and bouncing off the walls. Walks are great for physical exercise and to give your dog a chance to sniff and explore beyond your four walls. But for most dogs, their walks are less than 2 hours a day. And that’s not everyday. Sometimes you or your dog are injured, the weather’s too bad to walk them or you’ve got a super busy day and they’ll have to have a shorter walk.

Trick training is an amazing way to keep your dog’s brain active, entertain them when you can’t walk them and build your bond with your dog. And as a bonus you can show off how cute and clever your dog is to all your friends. There are an almost endless list of tricks you could teach your dog so you’ll always find a trick that suits you and your dog’s skills and personalities.

Most dogs will have an operation at some point in their lives. Whether that’s being neutered, recovering from an accident or being treated for an illness or joint issue. And you’ll usually have to restrict your dog’s exercise after the surgery to allow them to heal properly. How long that will last and how much you’ll have to restrict their exercise will depend on the operation. Small operations like neutering are usually on-lead walks for 1-2 weeks but if your dog’s broken a bone or needs orthopedic surgery they might be confined to a crate for months.

It might not get hot often in Britain, but when it’s hot it’s HOT. And that can make looking after your dog pretty difficult. You can’t walk them in case they get heat stroke or their paws burn on the pavement. But if you don’t walk them they go stir crazy and bounce off your walls. Which leaves you worrying they’ll overheat anyway…

Puppies chew on everything. Their toys, your cushions, your shoes, your table and chair legs, your hands and feet… Living with a puppy often feels like living with a chaotic landshark intent on destroying everything for absolutely no reason at all. But there’s always a reason, there’s actually 5 different reasons puppies bite. And understanding why your puppy is biting is the key to reducing their biting and enjoying their puppyhood.

Getting to finally take your puppy out for walks is super exciting. It’s also super confusing. Your puppy needs walks to keep them fit, socialise them and stop them getting bored. But your puppy is also growing rapidly and it’s important not to over-exercise them. So how much exercise is too much?

You’ve come home after another long walk with your teenage dog hoping this time you’ve finally tired them out enough that they’ll sleep. But instead they seem even more hyper than they did before the walk and instead of relaxing they’re doing laps of the house and literally bouncing off the walls. They might not be tired but you are - you’re exhausted from walking your dog for longer and longer every day and spending hours chucking balls for them to fetch.

When people hear about enrichment for dogs their response is often ‘wait, I have to do MORE with my dog, but I don’t have enough time’. We all have busy lives and our dogs are supposed to reduce our stress, not add to it and make us feel guilty that we’re not doing enough. And if you look up how you’re supposed to give your dog enrichment you’ll probably find an honestly ridiculous number of, often expensive, products to buy.