Sorry about the Robbie Williams rendition but this is what I'm singing at Darcy every evening, she's driving me mad.

She has the attention span of a gnat!!!

As some of you know I work full time so Darcy has a dog walker twice a day and then I try and make it up to her in the evening
WE have a long walk woth the football when I get home and then try and play most of the evening until she falls asleep at about half nine.
But just recently she seems to have decided I'm very boring. 5 mins of fetch the ball, 5 mins of tug of war, 5 mins of catch me if can and then 5 mins of hump your leg and then she just stis there and barks at me. And I cant do anything for more than 5 minutes before she barks again, its like she wants the attention but wants to do something else and I'm flat out of ideas of games to play. She'll ask to go outside and then just sit outside the door staring at me and whining, the neighbours must think I shut her out there all the time but she's always asking to go out and then just sitting outside the door looking in!!

What does everyone else do to entertain their dogs, maybe I have a limited imagination but I just cant seem to think of anything. We buy her new toy after new toy but they're all demolished within minutes. She loves her football but tires easily so we can only pay fetch it for so long!!

Ideas please before her incessant barking drives me insane!!!!

Hiya

You are rewarding her attention seeking with attention :) You need to teach her to settle down, and that when you say "enough" it is "enough"! I am pretty sure Lindsay will be along soon and she will have some good tips to advise you...but at the moment, the more you give her, the more she expects so you are going to have to ignore her :)

Rachael - are you spending every moment from when you get home playing with her? If so then maybe you need to spend some time doing other things so she realises you are not there solely to amuse her.

How about doing something else like grooming her? And can you give her a bone to chew on while you just chill together in the same room?? You are already spending quality time together on walks - maybe get her to understand that walks = fun, then other times at home means everyone does their own thing, pottering about calmly, with some occasional playing??

No its not continous playing sorry i read it back and thats what it sounded like. she knows we cant play when we're eating dinner and she always has a quiet period after her walk but its not that I mind playing with her, I dont want her to sit quietly while I watch the TV I think she does enough of sitting by herself while I'm at work. I want to spend the time with her (except while Eastenders is on, which is when she gets that bone you mentioned :D) I just dont know how to keep her amused.

We usually play from about 7.30pm till 9.30 pm with a break for Eastenders etc.

I think she needs to learn how to entertain herself - what about a stuffed Kong, or hide a few treats around the garden for her to hunt down.

Rachael -
I used to worry about this all the time with Lascaux but realised we had to keep on running our lives - he comes to work with me, or husband works at home so he knows that us working and pottering means "settle" and going out means "fun". We do play with him at home [just not constantly], talk to him and take him out 3 times a day so he gets a good balance. Otherwise we would get nothing done in the house. He also gets dog company twice a week and when he comes home he happily sits on his mat chewing things - he also does this when we have visitors so it is nice to see him so relaxed.

He is rarely home alone but neither is he with both of us at the same time all day so one assumes he misses the person who is not there. I am sure that Darcy just likes your company and is happy to watch Eastenders with you and see what you are doing around the house.

What hobbies do YOU have? Can you do them in the house? Believe it or not Lascaux likes watching me play the piano, do my textile designs and cook, read books and the paper but it is also ok for him if the TV is on.

Maybe a corgi is easier than a lab but like Darcy he also needs the "working dog" stimulation. If she is getting it outside then relaxing inside is ok. Have you thought about maybe taking her to that lady that has the Choc lab just one day a week instead of a dog walk? You might find that doing this helps you worry less.
HTH
C xx

sorry everyone I obviously didnt make my problem clear. (my waffling could confuse a scholar :) )

I dont want Darcy to entertain herself during the evening I think she does enough of that during the day when she's on her own

I just wanted some activities to keep her entertained becasue at the moment she seems to find my ideas quite boring, hence the barking!!

Don't think that the problem is that she is bored - I think that the other people are right, that she is trying to get some reaction out of you. She barks - you respond. She shouldn't be barking at you :) You should ignore her and only do things with her when she is quiet :)

Daisy

Hi - my advice still stands - if you reward the barking with more games, she will learn how to control you... teach her to settle when you ask her to, stop the barking, then introduce more games :) I think its great you have such fun with your girl, but take it from one who knows (Willis) its no fun when they learn how to get your attention - on the occasion you need some space, they won't let it go!!

Rachael - don't worry I know what you were getting at; sorry if I didn't offer any games other than non-interactive chewing; you can try new tricks etc but as Daisy says it doesn't sound like she is bored. Make yourself busy in the house by doing things that Darcy can watch and that in itself will be a form of entertainment for her. e.g make brownies or something and talk to her while you are making them but don't engage her if she is leaping about. It's a good sign if she just sits/lies down and learns something about you.

:)

Am I understanding this right? You want some more ideas for things you can do with Daisy in the evenings? Have you thought about training her to do small tasks around the house? Finding keys or the TV remote?

I'm very trainable and I do have a problem finding my car keys and the remote control - how did you guess :D

Daisy

Have you taught her to bark (and then cease barking) on command, Rachael? Cam finds it really fun, and you can develop it so that you can be any distance away and just nod your head (or whatever command you use). As my trainer said, its always a handy one to have - if walking pooch on dark nights or aware of strange life forms lurking around house!

Other than that, Cam's favourite inside game is "find it". We're not very advanced yet I'm afraid. :D

Jo