5 Ways to Bond with Your Dog

The key to bonding with your dog is doing activities you both enjoy doing together.

Here are 5 ways to bond with your dog:

1. Adventures

Plan an activity where you can bring your dog along. Whether it’s hiking a new trail, visiting a pet friendly store, walking around the park, going out for lunch or dinner, taking a car ride, planing a photoshoot, or taking a day trip somewhere. Get creative on the ways you can include your dog on the adventures you like to do.

2. Training

Go somewhere different other than your house. Take a trip to a secluded field or a park with not that much traffic. Use a long leash and work on an obedience command in a different environment. It doesnt need to be long. I recommend training for 10–30 minutes.

3. Hand feeding

Instead of letting your dog eat their meals out of the bowl, try hand feeding them throughout the day. Ask them to complete certain tasks before giving them a reward. Try it out for a day and see if it would be something that could strengthen your bond.

4. Dog sports

An activity that you and your dog can do together as a team is a really great way to bond. Sports such as agility, disc, dock jumping, herding, rally obedience, or tracking can be great bonding experiences. Think about what your dog already loves to do. If they like to hunt and are super into smells, tracking may be a great sport to try out. If they are quick and agile, agility may be a great sport to try. See what sport would work best for your dog and give it a try!

5. Quality time

Dogs love attention. Make time to give 100% of your attention to them. Not while on your phone or while watching TV. Take time to truly be present with them in the moment to love on them. Give your dog belly rubs, ear scratches or booty scratches — what ever their favorite is! Be intentional with the quality time you give to your dog. You may get more out of it than your dog!

If you try one of these out, I challenge you to evaluate how it made you feel…Was this an enjoyable bonding experience? Were you or your dog uncomfortable? It is important to find something that both you and your dog enjoy in order to maximize the potential of your bond.