How can you tell your dog is bored? What can you do about it?

1. You can tell that your dog is bored if it seems lethargic and lays about. Bored dogs and bored children have similar affects! As the dog gets more bored, he may start finding inappropriate things to entertain himself. Chewing on furniture, wrestling with the throw rugs, whining excessively, digging, and pacing are all things that bored pets might do. If you don't entertain and stimulate them, they will come up with their own, far more destructive, games.

2. Teach your pup new and different commands. Some sources report that dogs in obedience classes that perform the same commands repeatedly can become bored and do not always obey to your satisfaction. The dog may try to be original in their response to the command. Rather than letting this happen, you should mix up the dog's commands with some other new ones or other fun things to do.

3. If your dog has a whole lot of toys, but doesn't seem interested in ANY of them, you can rotate the toys. Pull most of them out of circulation, and play with some others for a while.After a few days to a month, you might notice that look of "Mom, I'm booooored!" again. When the bored-monster strikes, or you know that your dog is now uninterested in the toys, you should put them away and pull out the different batch. Voila, new toys!

Keeping your dog active and engaged will benefit both of you, and you will have a happy dog who is more fun to have around.