Boredom and Your Pet (Or: I was going to give you a pig, but I didn't want to boar you...)

~By: Lisa Horne, RAHT

            I just got back from a wild and crazy weekend.  My best friend’s bachelorette party included (among other things) dancing, a late night, and 3 hours at the gun range.  I had a ridiculous amount of fun, but I’m not 19 anymore, and my mind and body can’t bounce back from a lack of sleep and all that punishment like it used to.  As a result, I arrived back home on the Coast extremely tired, and extremely sore, with a whole bunch of laundry to do.  All I wanted to do was to curl up on the couch with some heating pads on my arms and legs, have an eight hour “nap”, wake up, eat, then go to bed for the night.  Lemon, my 10 month old puppy, had other ideas.  She was so excited that we were home, and that it was a beautiful day out, because that usually means a hike, swimming in the ocean, or at the very least, a quick game of fetch at the park.  After all, we hadn’t done much in the last week because I was running around doing some last minute shopping and planning for the party.  She kept bringing toy after toy to the couch, and I couldn’t even throw them for her because my arms were so sore.  Then she decided that jumping on me to start a wrestling match was a good idea, but that didn’t work because I just got angry (mostly because I couldn’t even defend myself at the time).  She looked at me with exasperation in her eyes, heaved a dramatic sigh of frustration, then ran off to chase the cat, to get smacked around by the rabbit, and to grab a few of my socks because that is guaranteed to get me up and chasing her. 

                Now most people would be kicking her outside by this point, but the truth is, I felt bad for her.  After all, I have books, movies, and TV to keep me occupied when I’m in need of a lazy day, but no matter how many toys Lemon has, they are just not entertaining for her unless I’m playing too.  She’s an excellent puppy, but even excellent puppies start to go a little crazy when they’re bored, and after 3 or 4 days of little interaction with me, and even less activity, I really couldn’t blame her for acting out a little. 

Try this experiment: Ask a toddler to lie very still in a room by himself for 8 hours with no games, no books, no TV, and no human interaction.  When you get home, tell the child that he can walk outside for 10 minutes, but then it’s back inside for the night.  Sounds ridiculous, right?  Not only would most people classify that as negligent parenting, but that kid would be bat-crap crazy.  Yet this is often exactly what we ask of our pets, and the resulting boredom can cause emotional stress, as well as both behavioural and health issues in many dogs and cats.      

                How many times have you come home to find that your dog has destroyed a piece of your furniture, a wall, or your clothing?  How many times have you come home to have your cat pounce at you from behind a door to shred your ankles?  Have you come home to a dug up yard, or had a neighbor march over to complain about that damn dog barking all the time?  Maybe your pet is just bored.  When dogs chew and dig, and when cats scratch, we are quick to label those activities as “destructive behaviors”, whereas in reality, they are natural, boredom-alleviating behaviours for our four-legged family members.  Maybe Fido has been chewing on the same Kong for weeks, and has decided that he needs to chew on something else to add a little variety to his life, so he chooses that fun looking chair leg.  Maybe Fluffy has itch to stalk, chase, and kill something, and the only opportunity she gets is when you come home, and those moving legs and feet yours are just too tempting to resist. 

The point is, next time your pet does something damaging, take a step back and think about why that may have happened.  The vast majority of pets are not vindictive creatures; they do not do these things for revenge, or to get back at you for putting one less kibble in the bowl than usual, or for being 5 minutes late to clean the litter box.  Idle time is huge source of mental and emotional stress, and that may result in them doing whatever they can to alleviate that feeling of boredom.   Even if your pets are the best behaved things on the planet, boredom can still affect their health.  Many pets, especially cats, overeat when they are bored, simply because it’s something to do. Obesity is a major problem among our pets, as well as ourselves, and can cause other diseases like diabetes and osteoarthritis.

So what can you do to keep your pets entertained?  If you have a dog, you’ve probably been told that they need at least two 20 minute walks per day, and while that is certainly true, that shouldn’t be the only thing you do with your pooch.  When I come home from a long day at work, and I just don’t feel like walking, I take Lemon to the park and throw the ball for her for 15 minutes; she still gets the exercise she needs, and it’s less work for me when I’m feeling tired.  Learning a new trick or game is another way to keep your buddy entertained; the mental stimulation and the chance to interact with you more is an excellent way to keep Fido feeling sharp.  Don’t have time for more walks or to teach new tricks? Try toys like Puzzle Cubes; these toys enable you to put food or treats in different compartments, and your dog has to figure out how to get them out.  It’s analogous to when we sit down to do a crossword or put a puzzle together; it’s not physically active, but it keeps our minds occupied, and the Puzzle Cubes do the same for your pooch.  “Hang on a second,” you say, “My Frufru has at least 20 toys and she doesn’t play with ANY of them!”  Just like children, dogs can get overwhelmed and overstimulated by having too many toys at once.  Instead of just leaving them all out and letting Frufru pick which one she feels like playing with, put them all away, and take out one or two different ones every day.  If you keep rotating through the toys, it’s like Frufru's getting a “new” one every single day, and that’s more likely to keep her occupied.

All this is well and good for dogs, but what about cats?  I’m a huge advocate for keeping cats indoors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t teach it tricks, use puzzle cubes, or take them for walks.  You most certainly can leash train a cat, although I wouldn’t advise walking it around the block or anything, just in case you run into some dogs that are not cat friendly.  Instead, walk it around your backyard or up and down your driveway; this gets your indoor kitty some much needed exercise, and gives it a chance to explore.  I often put my cat on leash for a jaunt around the yard, and she enjoys it immensely, although usually she elects not to walk, and instead just lays down in a cushy patch of grass and sun; you may not think that laying around outside is any different than laying around inside, but the different surroundings provide her with some mental stimulation and a change of scenery can do wonders (anyone who takes a vacation to somewhere nice will tell you the exact same thing).  Cat toys are an endless source of amusement for both you and your cat; toys like cat dancers, laser pointers, and even wadded up newspaper, tap into your feline’s natural predatory instincts, and if you teach them to play-hunt those toys instead of you, you will both be much happier creatures.  When you are at work, you can still keep your cat’s mental faculties stimulated by spraying catnip on the scratching post every once in a while, and by leaving boxes out so your cat can play hide n’ seek n’ stalk n’ hunt while you are away.  Also, similar to the dogs, puzzle cube toys and toy rotations keep the boredom at bay.  Many people even make a screened outdoor play area on their porch so that their indoor-only kitty, can still go outside and get some fresh air and new scenery whenever they feel like it.

Even if you do every single thing I’ve listed here, there is one toy (for both cats and dogs) that they simply should not go a day without: You.  At the end of the day, no matter how many toys, boxes, puzzle cubes, outdoor areas, or walks they have, the time they have to interact with you directly is precious.  Remember that when you leave your home, you get to interact with co-workers, customers, friends, and family; your pet has nothing and no one to interact with, except perhaps other pets.   I cannot stress the importance of “Play” for both you and your pet; it is relaxing, fun, and increases the bond between you and your beast.  Even if you are bone-tired, you can still sit on the floor and throw a ball, wrestle, or click on the laser pointer and watch your pet’s eyes light up.  For most pets, even the Puzzle Cubes, with their splendiferous reward of food, is nothing compared to playing with their loved ones.

As for Lemon, my housemate was kind enough to take her for a long run; she came back exhausted, and happy.  I should note that I did feel a twinge of guilt.  I was so tired and sore that I just couldn’t find it in me to play with her, even a little bit, but even though she was just as tired as I was after her run, she still brought me her favourite toy and made the effort to play with me before she passed out for the night.