We understand that dog owners may be concerned about how to look after their dogs following the announcement that you need to stay within two kilometres of your home when exercising your dog or if you need to cocoon or self-isolate.

If you are ill, please try to make alternative arrangements for someone to look after your dog until you feel better, so your dog can continue with their normal exercise routine. If that’s not possible, there are lots of ways to keep your dog happy and healthy within the comfort of your own home! 

From activities involving their favourite treats, to building doggy dens and treasure hunts, there are ample ways you can keep your dog active, without stepping outside your front door. 

Top tips 

Have a treasure hunt– hide some of your dog’s favourite treats in different rooms around the house and see how quickly they manage to locate them.

Play their favourite game– Catch? Fetch? Tug of war? They’re all great fun to your dog! Show them some love by spending time playing their favourite game with them.

Make them their very own Snuffle Mat! - A snuffle mat is an enrichment toy that encourages your dog to sniff and search out hidden treats amongst the mat.

Simple newspaper enrichment- Newspaper is very handy and most people have it readily available. You can make treat parcels by making newspaper envelopes. You can also scrunch it up/rip it and add it to a box, add some dog treats or some of your dog’s food and watch them sniff it out.

Teach your dog a new trick! With our easy to follow Dog School videos

While it is not proven that COVID-19 can be transmitted between humans and dogs, we would recommend washing your hands before and after interacting with your pet, but we will continue to monitor this and take guidance from the World Health Organisation.

For more information, please refer to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association guidance.

Ensuring your dog retains some independence:

Although many dog owners will be spending a lot more time at home over the coming weeks, we must keep in mind that our dogs may be upset when we return to our normal routines and miss us terribly. We have a few tips that will help to avoid this happening:

• Try to keep your dog’s routine (walking and feeding times etc.) as consistent as possible during this time of change
• Encourage your dog to not be too reliant on your attention when you are at home, so that he or she can cope better when you are not there
• Allow your dog to spend a period of time without being in your company*, even if this is just being in another room or you are upstairs, and they are downstairs for example
• Give your dog plenty of activities such as those listed above to keep them occupied without the need for human interaction 

*Always supervise children around dogs, click HERE for more information.