Well-trained adult dogs need a few things to make them complete as pets. Dogs don’t only need food, its basic needs for survival and the rewards you give as you treat it for behaving well. But you also ought to give it regular physical and mental exercise to keep it alert and stimulated. Aside from these, you also need to provide your pet with sufficient socialization with other dogs in order to fill its dog life with interaction and happiness.
Mental Needs of Your Adult Dog
Even mature, well-trained dogs still have big potentials to learn without regard to their breed and personality. The more skills you teach your dog, the better it becomes and the more that it gives your pet a certain purpose. A dog that is taught to behave well is no longer an ordinary pet but a friend and buddy with whom you can share great times with.
Teaching your dog new things enables it to do more than ordinary dogs can. Having been taught skills that involve listening and performing certain orders widens its horizons and makes it even smarter as a pet. You can stimulate your dog by taking it out to different places and allow it to enjoy activities with you.
Giving your pet something new to learn every week will give it the confidence and alertness that a well-trained dog should have. Constantly stimulating your dog mentally will surely work to make it a happy pet until it grows old.
Intelligent or active dogs need to be taught more skills to prevent them from getting bored. These dogs also need to have something to do. This is one way of preventing them from developing negative behaviors as a result of boredom.
While intelligent and active dogs need more skills to keep them mentally alert, working breeds need to be given more work to do in order to keep them busy, focused and to keep them from diverting their attention to unproductive or destructive activities. Collies, Great Danes, Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Sheepdogs are among the dogs that are bred to perform lots of work to help their masters. These breeds need to be stimulated physically and mentally to make them happy.
Frequently giving your pet some physical and mental exercise will surely prevent your dog from getting bored. As a matter of principle, boredom is the origin of your pet’s dissatisfaction which in turn will become a cause for your dog to dwell on destructive activities. No matter how much training a dog gets as a puppy, if it is not given a job to do as an adult, it will most likely turn its attention on undesirable activities.
Consistency has always been the most effective way to maintain your dog’s physical and mental alertness. Your pet needs to practice regularly on its skills in order to make it active and having a sense of purpose. Your failure to let your dog regularly practice the skills it has acquired or learned will make it lose what it had learned, and your pet’s smartness is gone.