[beks]

Ok so i have a 13 month old Lab/mix, He is a very needed dog, he does not know how to entertain him self, and obvously he is VERY full of energy, we take him for at least one walk a day usually 2, one walk where he can run free the the whole time to burn energy and the other one is more around town, plus alot of time in the yard as well. but he can not entertain him self, he needs my boyfriend or i to play with him all day long, ovcourse we can't do this all day everyday so he whines alot. We try to Ignor the whining when we can't play ( we do play alot through out the day).

We have also noticed in other dogs (like our friends dogs) they can entertain them selves and keep them selves busy.

I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions to help us with this situation, i want to try and make him more indepentent where he can entertain him self when we cannot play.
Any Advice will do

[beks]

Thanks for the sugestions i'm glad to hear my dog is not the only one like it!
We have been thinking about getting him a friend for a while but i think we are going to wait till we have a bigger place and yard, there just is nnot enough room for two dogs right now, but one is definitly in the future!

I would like to hear more about the service thing just for curiosity reasons...

[beks]

cool thanks for the info, i'll look and check it out, i don't think i am going to put my dog into anything like that, more just for curiosity. I'm not even sure there is much in the way of trainers in my area, im in a pretty small town and we are limited into what we have....I think my dog right now is a little to energetic to sit and listen to people read, or help calm down elderly... sounds more like a job for an older dog.

[beks]

We Actually do ignor him when we can't play, and eventually he does go and lie down, but as soon as one of us talks or moves he's back up doing it again, we ignor him when we can't play, and play when we can.. he does have alot of energy where he is young, so i don't ignor him everytime, he needs to get his energy out, so we will take him out doors or play indoors with him. its not even really that, i just wanted to know if there are ways to help him play by himself, he really does not know how to entertain him self, if we dont play with him then he will eventually just lay down...but he does try a good majority of the day to get us to play. He is a pretty stubborn doggy

There is a toy out there at Petmart called the Busterball. Here is the description from petsmart:

This intriguing cube gives dogs the mental stimulation, exercise and relief from boredom they need to stay healthy and content. Durable plastic cube is designed to be filled with bite size dry pet food. The food is then released at an adjustable rate as the dog rolls the cube with his nose or paw. You regulate the level of difficulty.

Hope this helps!

[beks]

Thats sounds like somthing that might help, we do have a kong for him and we put treats in it, keeps him busy for a few min but he's pretty good at getting them out, ill have a look and see about the busterball!

[beks]

It's not so much who the "boss" is that we are having a problem with, our dog knows my boyfriend and i are the boss. We play when we can, if he is just laying around we will get him up and play with him, its not just when he is wanting to play, if we can/want to play we will if not, we can't and he is starting to learn that we play when we say its time.
Maybe i was not really clear in some of my past posts,

I was looking more for Idea's on how to help him entertain himself, where he does not need us to play all the time. if we don't play he doesnt play, some dogs will find there toys, and play with them without people, and some (like mine) wont, or cant.

I was unsure if this was normal behavoir or somthing that needed to be corrected but some of you have posted dogs u have had, or known dogs like it too, I think that a friend is the best for this dog, i think that would really help him, unfortunatly with the size of our house/yard that is not really an option right now until we get a bigger place.

Im going to check out some sites and see if there are any game/activity - like things for dogs that might help (like the busterball idea)

Thank you everyone for you're impute and ideas