Dog Hacks: 16 Owners Share One Tip To Make Your Life Easier

• 01

  “If your dog destroys pillows and stuffed dog beds, instead of buying new one go to the thrift store and buy an old comforter. The dog can wrestle and nudge and burrow into it, and all you have to do is refold it when you want to tidy up.”

  
  via Today.com
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• 02

  “I fully open two poobags and stuff them in my pocket before leaving on the walk so I don’t fumble later when I need to pick up the poop quickly.”

  
  via The Wire Cutter
• 03

  “Play “hide and seek” with your dog. Put a long lead on it, and when it’s not paying attention to you, go hide behind a nearby tree. Teach it that you are unpredictable, and it will be much more likely to pay attention to where you are!”

  
  via Gazeta
• 04

  Train your dog to stay in the car until you tell them they can jump out. It prevents that moment of panic between opening the door and getting the leash on the dog. Especially if you’re parked near a busy road.”

  
  via Cuddle your dogs
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• 05

  When your dog is a puppy wipe his/her feet every time they come in the door. Every time. Even if it’s summer

  
  via pinterest

  I did this and my dog walker says that my pup is the most patient to have his feet wiped when it's muddy out and he also just stands perfectly still while we apply protector stuff to his feet in the winter!"

• 06

  Maybe this only works with my dogs. A vacuum cleaner placed in a doorway makes a good temporary dog gate.

  
  via flickr
• 07

  “Put a carabiner clip on the handle of your leash, to easily attach your dog to a pole, yourself etc if you need to.”

  
  via Positively
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• 08

  Dog destroys tennis balls? Play fetch with a lemon. Suddenly they become very gentle with their toys.”

  
  via Kim Ballstack
• 09

  Quiet puppy wants out and won’t bark or just whines quietly or scratches, so you don’t hear them when they want out? Train them to ring a bell.

  
  via youtube

  We hung a jingle bell at puppy-height from the doorknob and jingled it every time we took Usagi (Maltese-Yorkie) out. She started ringing it herself within a week, and no scratching the door (She can also be quite insistent with her jingling, too, which is hilarious.)"

• 10

  If you can whistle, always whistle three times before giving your dog each meal or a treat they love. It doesn’t take long at all for them to associate the whistling with food. We use this as our emergency recall.

  
  via Whistle
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• 11

  Exercise pens (the movable wire type) are glorious and underused. They keep dogs from scratching up the windows when they see a cat outside, or block off unsafe parts of rooms.

  
  via Chewy

   Also great for puppies who you don't necessarily want to crate, but want to keep away from certain areas or other dogs in your house. When camping we put one around the tent, so we don't have to worry about the dog running out."

• 12

  Ice cubes as treats

  
  via The Straving Chef

  "I read about it somewhere, and decided to give it a try. Turns out my dog loves it! It's quite healthy for them too, especially in the summer. But like most things, it's all about moderation"

• 13

  Get Stuffed

  
  via Photography Blogger

  "Does your dog love to gut stuffed toys? I have a couple of his larger de-stuffed toys, I will load a treat into the appendages and then "stuff" the toy again with random cloth (ok, I use dirty socks, he loves them and doesn't tear them up). He then gets the joy of unstuffing the toy and burrowing into it's guts to get the treats. Voila, interactive food toy that he adores."

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• 14

  For me the most important things I ever taught my dog are “leave it” and “drop it”. It is one of the best was to keep him safe. Cause you never know what they will pick up on walks or even if you drop something in the kitchen you know it’s all good.”

  
  via The Bark Magazine
• 15

  If you want to teach your dog to walk with you, and not stop and sniff every little thing on the walk, then SPEED UP.

  
  via Pet sitters

  This also works if you are trying to train your dog for obedience competitions. If you walk fast, and do not stop for the dogs sniffing, he will learn to stay with you and keep going. Make sure you have designated 'pee spots' where the dog can stop and sniff around. Once the dog gets used to the route, he will happily stay up with you until he gets to the pee spot."

  
  

  
  

• 16

  “I have a rule: No pets in the kitchen".

  
  via nirinatuzla

  "I started doing it when we lived in a townhouse with a teeeeny kitchen and it wasn't safe to cook with a dog underfoot. It turned out to be a huge stress relief, so even now that we have a big kitchen I've done the same with two other dogs and a cat. NO worries about counter surfing, animals eating onions or something dangerous off the floor, no messing with the garbage, no picking pet hair out of the soup, no begging for people food.

  
  

  The other bonus is that whenever kids come over who are afraid of dogs, they have a place to go where dogs aren't allowed."

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