Creative Dog Entertainment Ideas While at Work

How to Keep Your Dog Entertained While at Work

Keeping a dog entertained while at work is challenging for most modern pet parents. Working dog parents often have busy schedules, meaning their fur babies spend eight or more hours home alone. 

With so much free time, a dog will become bored and destructive, chewing everything in sight, including your favorite pair of shoes. This isn’t something you want to encounter after arriving home from work.

The solution is to keep a dog occupied, so it can have a fun and enjoyable day while you’re at work. Here are some creative ideas on how to keep a puppy entertained while at work!

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Best Ways to Entertain a Dog While at Work

Keeping dogs occupied during the day is hard, let alone keeping a dog busy while you’re at work. Check out these 11 creative dog entertainment ideas to keep your dog occupied during long working days. 

1. Turn on the TV

Are you wondering how to keep your dog entertained while at work? It’s simple, leave the television on before heading out to the office. Keeping the television on is the easiest form of entertainment for dogs. 

Dogs are capable of recognizing the images they see on television. To ensure your pup is having fun while you’re at work, let them watch Animal Planet. There are even TV channels for dogs, like DogTV, that use scientifically-developed content to improve the lives of dogs.

Leaving the TV on can be a great form of entertainment for home-alone dogs if your pooch loves watching doggy television or other shows. 

2. Leave a Stuffed Kong Toy

A stuffed Kong is one of the best toys to keep a dog busy while at work. Kong rubber toys are designed to fulfill a dog’s instinctual chewing needs while providing mental stimulation. Most dogs love playing with Kong toys, and licking the delicious stuffing will keep your pooch occupied for at least half an hour.

Stuffing a Kong is easy, and you can use anything from peanut butter, canned dog food, cottage cheese, cooked ground meat, or store-bought Kong stuffing. Freezing the stuffed Kong toy overnight is a great way to keep the dog busy while at work.

Read next >> 10 Durable Toys for dogs that chew.

3. Let Your Dog Look Out A Window

While some dogs are fans of doggy TV, others prefer live entertainment. Leaving the curtains open is a great form of dog entertainment while at work because it will allow your pup to watch what’s happening outside, on the street. Set up a comfy dog bed near the window and let your dog watch other dogs and people in the neighborhood. 

4. Give Your Dog a Puzzle Toy

One of the best ways to keep a dog entertained while at work is to let it play with puzzle toys. Dog puzzle toys are interactive toys designed to prevent boredom, provide mental stimulation, and keep a dog busy while its owner is away. 

If you’re looking for a way to entertain your dog for hours, give Nina Ottoson Treat Dispensing Puzzle Toy a try. This advanced-level puzzle toy is designed for dogs who get bored quickly and need an engaging activity to stay mentally stimulated. If you’re looking for a way to keep a border collie busy while at work, this puzzle toy won’t disappoint. 

5. Get an Interactive Pet Camera

There are many different types of pet cameras on the market. Consider getting an interactive pet camera a with treat dispenser, like the Wopet Smart Pet Camera, for keeping dogs entertained when home alone. 

Wopet Pet Camera features a microphone and speaker that allow you to listen, talk, and play with your pooch while at work. This pet cam also works as a treat dispenser, allowing you to toss a treat and play catch with your dog. 

6. Distract Your Dog with a Lick Mat

Lick mats are great for dogs that eat quickly and for keeping a puppy entertained. There are many different types of lick mats, but all feature little patterned nubs that support longer feeding. 

Try Lickimat Classic Dog Slow Feeders to prevent boredom and anxiety, and encourage slow feeding. Likimats provide dog stimulation while you are away and work with all manner of treats and foods, including peanut butter, yogurt, canned food, treats, and cooked minced meat. Spice things up and serve different foods each day to keep a puppy busy while at work.

7. Plan a Scavenger Hunt

Planning a scavenger hunt is another great way to entertain a puppy while at work. Hide soft treats, kibble, puzzle toys, or stuffed Kong toys around your home to keep your dog occupied while you’re away. 

Hide a couple of handfuls of dry kibble or treats in areas where your dog likes to spend time during the day. This will encourage your pooch to have fun hunting for tasty goodies while you aren’t around. Hide puzzle toys to entertain dogs while at work and keep them mentally stimulated throughout the day. 

8. Let Your Dog Play with Chew Toys

Dogs have a natural urge to chew, and without a toy to nibble on, your dog will chew on anything it finds in your home. Dogs chew for several reasons, including relieving boredom and separation anxiety. Use Nylabone Power Chew Toys to keep a dog occupied while at work and prevent destructive behavior.

When choosing chew toys for your dog, opt for natural rubber or nylon instead of rawhide. Rawhide chew toys can break into smaller pieces and pose a choking hazard to your dog.

9. Enroll Your Dog in Doggy Daycare

Doggy daycares are excellent for busy pet parents with highly energetic dogs. Employees at these pet care facilities are trained to fulfill your dog’s needs and keep it safe, happy, exercised, and entertained.  

If you’re looking for a way to keep a dog active while at work, check out local doggy daycare centers. When you find a program that suits your needs, schedule an appointment to tour the premises and interview the staff. 

10. Get an Automatic Ball Launcher

If your dog likes to play fetch, a self-fetching toy like PetSafe Ball Launcher might be the right fit for you. Suitable for indoor and outdoor use, this ball launcher has multiple sensors to keep you and your dog safe. PetSafe Ball Launcher is preprogrammed to feature a 15-minute rest period after 15 minutes of play. 

An automatic ball launcher can occupy a puppy when you are at work and provide hours of fun. You’ll probably need to train your dog to play with a ball launcher. But, once you do, the ball launcher will become your dog’s favorite toy. 

11. Curb Your Dog’s Boredom with Snuffle Mat

A snuffle mat is a type of puzzle toy that stimulates a dog’s brain by encouraging it to use its sniffing skills to look for treats and food hidden within the mat. If your dog likes to sniff every inch of pavement during walks, it will enjoy having a snuffle mat at home.

Awoof Pet Snuffle Mat for Dogs helps keep your dog occupied by preventing boredom and destructive behavior. Hide dog treats or kibble inside the mat’s fabric strips and let your dog search for them. Snuffle mats keep dogs mentally stimulated and entertained and are a great tool for training a dog to do scent work. 

12. Soothe Anxious Dogs With Calming Jackets

If your dog suffers from separation anxiety or is simply a nervous nelly, there’s hope! Calming jackets are designed to help ease your pup’s anxiety and make them feel more comfortable in stressful situations.

The best part? These jackets work for all kinds of dogs, whether they’re big or small, young or old. And you can find them in a variety of styles that will still allow for movement.

Related read: Best Calming Jackets For Dogs Reviews

So if you’re looking for a way to help your furry friend feel more relaxed while they are left on their own, consider investing in a calming jacket. It just might be the best decision you ever make and it will save you from destructive behavior, often caused when anxious pups are left alone for long periods of time.

13. Hire Someone To Check In On Your Dog

And if all else fails, and your pup needs some human contact, the best way to arrange that is to hire a dog walker or dog sitter. On Rover, you can find pet careers in your neighborhood and even pay for daily check-ins (known as drop-in visits) where someone stops by your house for 30-60 minutes to walk, feed, and play with your beloved pooch.

Rover is the nation’s largest network of dog sitters and dog walkers, and you can use their site to find someone near you who can help out. If you have long working hours, this is the best way to provide some human interaction for your puppy or dog, when all the other creative ideas don’t seem to do the trick.

How to Keep a Dog Entertained While at Work?

Being stuck at home alone all day is disheartening for your dog and leads to boredom. When dogs are bored, they develop destructive behaviors like excessive chewing, barking, and digging. Cleaning up ripped pillows or chewed blankets isn’t something anyone looks forward to after a busy day at work.

Finding things to keep a dog busy while at work is the only way to prevent boredom and destructive behavior. Before leaving for work, make sure your pooch has access to some fun toys. Puzzle toys, chew toys, and a stuffed Kong will keep your dog mentally stimulated and occupied for hours. 

If you work long hours, a pet camera will allow you to interact with your pooch during the workday and dispense treats. When nothing else works, consider hiring a pet walker or enrolling your pooch in doggy daycare, where it will have fun playing with other dogs.

If you have other ideas that do the trick for you – let us know in the comments section and help other pet owners out!

Creative Dog Enrichment Ideas While Left Home Alone