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Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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5 Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

January 27, 2014 2 Comments

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

I’ve got a couple of great dogs. They are loving, smart, middle-aged mutts who are usually pretty good. Even the best dogs, like mine ;), get cabin fever when it’s polar vortexing outside. You take them on a walk and they start limping and crying from getting ice and salt in the pads of their feet, or they get straight up too cold, even after they’ve been wrestled into sweaters and booties.

So what do you do to fight against doggie ennui? Here are my top 5 strategies for keeping the pups happy during the coldest weeks of the year.

1. Play tug. Don’t have a tug toy already? Grab some spare polar fleece or a shelled out towel and play tug of war with them. My dogs just need to see a waving piece of fabric, and they can entertain each other for a good half hour.

2. Give them a puzzle toy. My dogs are all about their Kongs, which are toys that can be stuffed with treats that are hard to get out of, but there are many more puzzle dog toys to keep them busy for hours.

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

3. A little bit of outside time. Taking your dogs outside for even 10 or 15 minutes can do wonders, in my experience. You can throw snowballs or toys around, chase them in circles, anything to get them up and around! Just take them out in the hottest (possible) part of the day & keep an eye on their paws and ears :).

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

4. Siesta fiesta. Sometimes I watch a movie, work on a DIY project or take a nap on the couch with my dogs when I think they’re not getting enough stimulation. Even a half hour of individual attention does wonders for my pups!

5. Find it! Both Woodrow & Storm are terrier mixes, so they like to find things. My family’s favorite way to entertain the dogs inside is something we call Find It. One human and the dogs will hang out in a room with the door closed while the other human hides some dog treats around the house. Then, we let them out, prompting them to “find it!” When we first tried this game, we’d also show them our empty hands to let them know we weren’t holding any treats. Now, they’re fully aware of what’s happening when we say, “Find it!”

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

Woodrow wasn’t always awesome at Find It, but he’s gotten better over time. Storm has always been intensely competitive and awesome at Find It. She follows her nose and it takes her a long time to give up on looking for treats after all of them have been found.

On an unrelated note, Find It is also a great way to figure out just how far your dogs are physically able to reach! Storm tends to get into cooling cookies, and she had a big trash-tipping problem. Find It solved that mystery. 

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

In the end, giving your dogs a daily activity or two in a cold snap is good for their health and will keep them from getting into mischief. Whether it’s a walk, puzzle, physical game, quick outing, or something else, there are a lot of easy ways to keep your dogs safe from cabin fever.

5 Easy Ways to Combat Dog Cabin Fever

Filed Under: How-to, Pet Projects Tagged With: cabin fever, dog toys, dog treats, dogs, find it, games, tips, tug, winter

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Jesse Freidin

    January 27, 2014 at 8:37 pm

    Love these dog ideas! They’re all spot-on. Also, your pups are quite handsome!

    Reply
  2. Lael

    January 30, 2014 at 11:17 am

    Great ideas! the boys look like they are doing well even in this weather. Be well! Lael

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
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knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
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#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
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#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
Work continues this evening on my absurd punch nee Work continues this evening on my absurd punch needle pro wrestling inspired championship belt project. I’ve finished most of the front pretty quickly thanks to the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky yarn I’m using. For now, I’ve got a couple more weeks until Wrestlemania, & I’m on track to finish this in time! 
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The biggest question I have is what to do with the “plates” - the open circles in the picture. Should I try to closely replicate the Universal Championship belt or go rogue and make it wool themed? Please advise in the comments. ☺️🧶🙏🏻🐑 
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Pictured: The front of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool with navy yarn running through it rests on top of the work. 
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#kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #punchneedle #rugmaking #primarycolors #punchneedlerughooking #punchneedlelove #wool #wip #yarncraft #yarn #yarnaddict
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