Let It Snow: Winter Stimulation for Your Dog - a podcast by Ty Brown

As I write this, it’s cloudy and windy and chilly outside, and that means that soon we’ll start getting a certain type of call from some of our clients.


Oftentimes, we train a dog in the spring or summer and have some great results in fixing aggression or house training. But sure enough, come the first cold spell, clients will call us with complaints like these: “My dog hasn’t gone to the bathroom inside in six months, but he just did!” “My dog’s starting to get mean again—what do I do?”


What’s happening here? Well, because it’s cold, dogs are getting less exercise and meaningful stimulation. They might spend more time with their owners because they’re inside, but that’s not all a dog needs. So it’s important to understand some of the things you can do to help your dog.


This is an informal list of things that will help to reign in a dog’s mind and body. I often say that you’ll tire a dog out much more quickly by exercising his brain than you ever will with his body. You can gain a lot of leverage by getting your dog’s mind working.


The first thing you can do is use the treadmill, which we train many dogs for. For some of my clients, it’s imperative to have excess energy burned, especially those that have anxiety issues. I was recently working with a client whose dog really needed a treadmill. So I pulled up Facebook Marketplace—it’s a little button you can click on that shows what people are selling in your neighborhood—and typed in “treadmill.” Sure enough, within 30 miles there were about a hundred treadmills, solid quality, and under $200. There was even a free one near their house! You may not be able to find a treadmill that easily, but I can guarantee that by using your local classifieds, Craigslist, Marketplace, or any of the other new garage sale apps out now, you can find a treadmill. Teach your dog to run on one. It’s cheap, but it can make the difference between good behavior and aggression or destruction for some dogs.

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