Indoor entertainment

After a few hours run round Cuerden Valley Park this afternoon the dog refused to settle down and entered "random barking" mode. His unruly behaviour might have had something to do with the fact he was denied the roast beef dinner enjoyed by Dogs Dad, but it did inspire this post listing 10 ways of getting some in-door entertainment.

1. Filled Beef Bones

Filled beef bones can keep him entertained for a good hour or so. It's not necessarily a quiet activity though as getting the filling out can involve the bone being tossed across the floor, and it's certainly one restricted to tiled floor or the garden rather than the carpet!

2. Raw Hide Chews

Highlife Chews are a favourite and give a good 30 minutes of calm. He gets bored of larger bone type Hide chews and remnants are left to be pawed around the floor before being binned at a later date.

3. Kong

The standard Kong has been the only dog toy that has stood the test of time. Filled with a little cream cheese or a few small biscuit treats it keeps him entertained for 15 minutes or so. It's not necessarily a quiet activity though as the standard way of getting at the treats is to pick it up and toss it across the room in an effort to get the treats to fall out.

4. Nylabone

The Nylabone comes in several flavours. Whilst I don't see the attraction of chewing flavoured synthetic material myself he seems to enjoy it for 10 minutes or so before realising the label's promise of real "bacon" flavour just doesn't compare to the real thing!

5. Tissue paper

Ten seconds of pure heaven for the dog. Ten minutes of clean up operation for us.

6. Soft toys

The dog loves all soft toys. Most last about 5 minutes before we're faced with wildly excited barking as the stuffing spills out. Any manufacturer claiming that their "soft" toy is tough is lying!

7. Rope toys

Even the toughest sounding rope toy is no match for our dog. After 30 minutes we can guarantee that the rope will have been shredded and the remnants either littering the floor or relegated to the bin. Supervised "tug" play is the only way to enjoy a rope toy safely.

8. Orka Jack Dog Toy

The Orka Jack has a great puppy toy, giving hours of chewing pleasure. Unfortunately the grown up version of our bundle of joy manages to chew through the ends in half an hour or so.

9. Twist n Treat

The Twist n Treat is a great toy. Two halves screw together meaning you can fill with a few treats to keep the dogs interest for 15 minutes or so, but it doesn't roll underneath furniture whilst being pushed around the room. It's pretty much indestructible.

10. Scrunchies

Any colour will do. Ones left on bedside cabinets taste best. Given a chance he'll even give them a tug whilst being worn!

If you do manage to get ten minutes peace don't forget this is the last week for voting for your top dog walk of 2008 at visitpreston.com or http://www.21topdogwalks.co.uk/. We're rooting for any of our local walks, including Cureden Valley Park, Preston Junction Nature Reserve or the Millenium Ribble Link.