What do you do in bad weather?

[arby665]

Looking for ideas to keep Miss Karly busy when the weather is too bad to spend much time outside. This morning we went for a very quick walk, maybe 10 minutes. It was so cold and damp neither of us wanted to be out there! We worked on commands and she spent some time chewing on her antler and emptied the food from the Kong. She spent a little time playing in the back yard too. Now, she is still full of energy and I don't know what to do with her. She is confined to the kitchen, which isn't small, in order to let my old dog have peace. She will play with her toys for a bit then start whining. I know she is bored. I taught a new command last night. How often should I add new commands? I don't want to confuse or overwhelm her. Thanks for any replies!

[Packen]

You can teach her Follow the hand, Focus, Sit, Down and Stand in the garage. That's plenty to keep her occupied mentally and physically, after the session is over crate her.

[carmspack]

get wet , get dirty and curse .

no really , the dogs go out no matter what - as working dogs they need to ready and able to perform.

no dogs running for shade and quiting -- no dogs loosing "umph" because it is raining .

[jae]

I like to work on:
Clicker training
Impulse control
Tug

But my favorite for those days is still the long down stay

[Shade]

Our basement is finished but empty so we play fetch, tug, and with the flirt pole down there, it's the only place in the house that's carpet so he has good grip rather then hardwood. Training does help keep the mind busy. All else fails, crating or being leashes to me has helped.

Also stuffed kongs, and fresh marrow and knuckle bones that are frozen

[Zisso]

My two are going stir crazy. With temps in the low teens to single digits I don't do much with them. They are fine witht he cold weather but I can't stay out in it too long. While we are in a bigger house, my brother has it so tore up with multiple remodeling projects we can't do anything indoors. They go out without me frequently during the day, but I am sure they miss having 'mom' to play with. There are not eough bones in the world to keep them entertained, so eventually, somehow, someway, I am going to get my own place so we can t least work on stuff indoors.

[carmspack]

invest in good thermal under wear - the type that skiers use, high tech material , same for outer clothes - Gore-Tex is a fab wind break and breathes when you start to warm up so no wet and clammy. The original Polar-Tec fleece is light weight and very warming.

GSD are not hot house orchids -- or at least should not be.

[arby665]

[QUOTE=carmspack;2669546]get wet , get dirty and curse .

Trust me, I did plenty of that this morning! If the wind wasn't so terrible I would have stayed out longer. I just couldn't take it. When Karly was outside playing by her self she ran out on to the pool. It has a safety cover so no chance of her falling in but she did sink enough to get wet up to her stomach. This is when she was ready to come in. I'm wondering how much of the nasty weather she should be able to stand at 11 weeks? It's only about 30 degrees and the wind is howling out there.
I will look into focus, follow the hand, and impulse control. I just wish I had more experience training dogs. This is my first pup this young and I have been looking at Youtube videos to train her. I have taught her sit, lay down, shake and stand. Can anyone tell me if there is such thing as teaching too many commands too fast? I don't want to screw this up. Thanks!

[TimberGSD2]

Originally Posted by carmspack

invest in good thermal under wear - the type that skiers use, high tech material , same for outer clothes - Gore-Tex is a fab wind break and breathes when you start to warm up so no wet and clammy. The original Polar-Tec fleece is light weight and very warming.

GSD are not hot house orchids -- or at least should not be.

I second this. I layer up (think Ralphy on A Christmas Story) and out we go. We walk 4-5 miles a day regardless of weather. I find that some good under clothes go a long way. Do you have any wooded trails near you? I find in the cold it is not so bad in the woods.

[gaia_bear]

Originally Posted by carmspack

invest in good thermal under wear - the type that skiers use, high tech material , same for outer clothes - Gore-Tex is a fab wind break and breathes when you start to warm up so no wet and clammy. The original Polar-Tec fleece is light weight and very warming.

GSD are not hot house orchids -- or at least should not be.

I went this route, stocked up on good, warm clothing and we battle almost anything Mother Nature decides to throw at us. I'm not looking forward to more mornings like today, it's a lovely -25F here.

Gaia's now almost 10 months old and I'm slowly learning that the more miserable it is outside the more she thinks it's playtime.

Aside from our walks, we do a lot of short training sessions around the house.