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I've posted a few times about homemade dog toys and here's another one! It's really fun to try to create new ones and I think I'm officially hooked!

Today, instead of just giving the dogs their Kong's, I thought I'd challenge them a bit. [Even frozen peanut butter has become too easy for the dogs to get out.] So I rummaged through the recycle bin and the trash and came up with some cool "Kong holders."

I had an empty six-pack container that once held beer. I wedged Lily's Kong down into the bottom of one of the compartments.

For Nemo, who isn't very good at these puzzles, I put his Kong in an empty peanut butter jar. The jar still had some peanut butter residue, which I thought might make him more interested and help him figure out how to get the Kong out.

Tango's Kong went into an empty granola bar box (and I re-closed it).

I wrapped an old paper plate around Lucky's Kong and then put it in my trusty paper lunch sack and wrapped that up tightly too.

I wish I would have taken pictures — it was quite a sight. Lily was carrying the six-pack around trying to find a good spot to work. Nemo took his peanut butter jar to the crate for some privacy and a quiet place to do some thinking. Tango went to work on his right away, simply chewing the cardboard box until he could get to the Kong. Lucky loves to rip things apart, so he relished every second of his challenge.

It still didn't take them very long — looks like I need to make the containers a little bit more challenging. I'm eyeing an almost empty ice cream container…

I was interviewed today by a journalist who is writing an article about keeping dogs happy by keeping them busy.

Just yesterday I posted about how I wrapped their Kong's in paper bags and let them shred the bags to get to the goodie-filled Kong.

I thought I'd post a few more ideas here today, since they are fresh in my mind from my interview.

Mix Up the Walking Route
Instead of taking the same old path when out for a walk, mix it up. Go the opposite way, or take a new route. Try a hike along the edge of the woods to give your dog the opportunity to smell new smells. Or, better yet, go wherever your dog wants to go — it's his walk, after all! Sometimes I let Tango decide where we're going and at what pace. Sometimes he likes to sniff a lot, other times he passes right by fire hydrants. But it's his walk, I like letting him set the pace.

Or if you regularly walk wooded trails, go out of your way to find downed trees and see if you can get your dog to jump over them. Or walk under them. Or, if they're big enough, to walk on them like a balance beam! You may need to do it first to show your dog how to do it.

Create Food Dispensing Toys
There's no need to spend any money at all to make cool toys your dog will love! Save your empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Put a few treats inside and then fold and twist the roll closed. Give the roll to your dog and let him at it! Or better yet, stuff a few of them with food, put them all inside a cardboard box and let your dog figure out how to get the box lid open! He'll have to figure out how to get the box open and then shred the toilet paper rolls to get to the goodies!

Other Homemade Toys
Use plastic or paper cups and play "the shell game" with your dog. Put a yummy treat under one of the cups, shift them around so your dog doesn't have a visual clue, and let your dog use his nose to find the goodie. As your dog gets better at this, use more cups!

Build Your Own Obstacle Course
Use kitchen chairs lined up to make a narrow "hallway" for your dog. Toss some treats down the "hallway" to get your dog accustomed to going through the narrow space. Once your dog is good at that, drape a blanket over the chairs to create a tunnel!

Put a ladder flat on the ground and have your dog step over each rung. This is a good exercise for teaching your dog hind-end awareness.

Find a large (2' x 2') plywood board and wrap it with a no-slide rug pad (for traction). Then ball up a hand towel and put it directly in the middle under the board. You've created a wobble board! Now put a treat or two on the board and encourage your dog to step onto the wobble board. With practice, your dog might just become a well-balanced dog! (Pun intended!)

I try to entertain the dogs as much as I can. Especially now that vacation's over and they're just laying around the house this week – compared to last week when they were exhausted every day from swimming and running and jumping in and out of the lake.

So today, instead of just giving them their stuffed Kong, I used those little paper lunch sacks you put your kids' lunches in. I put the Kong inside the paper bag, then wrapped and twisted until the Kong was completely wrapped up tightly. Then gave it to the dogs to unwrap and rip up.

Everyone except Nemo gets this game. I know from experience that Nemo can't fathom that this wad of brown paper could ever hold anything of value, so I didn't wrap his Kong up, just dropped it into the bag. Still not good enough – he looked at it and walked away. So I laid the bag on it's side and ripped it until he could actually see the Kong. Still not interested in it, so I pulled the Kong out enough that he could actually sniff it.

Bingo! That was enough to pique his interest. So if you try this with your dog(s), make sure you make it easy enough for them at first to keep their interest!

When we visited the local shelter in Virginia to pick out Copper, I fell hard for a hound mix there. He's listed as Collier and you can see him here. If we had room for him, he'd be here with me tonight. He doesn't belong in the shelter, he needs a home of his own. Take a look at him on Petfinder and see if he'd fit in your life.

I don't know anything about his history, and don't know about his behavior, but I'm willing to offer a 15% discount on any of my training services if someone local adopts him. I serve northern Montgomery County, and from Columbia to Frederick, MD. Call me if you're interested him and want to see if you're in my area… (240) 848-3468. Or you can email me at laurie@smartdoguniversity.com.

He's got really soulful eyes, and he wrapped his paw around my hand as I reached in to pet him. He was so wiggly and happy to have a visitor – I almost cried as we left the shelter. He needs a home – do you have room for him??

No one loves their job more than me, but it's tough coming off a vacation. Even the dogs are sad we're home. In the picture to the left, Lily's fishing, Tango's supervising, and Nemo's fixin' to take a nap.

That's what we did all day, every day while on vacation. We'd head to the dock around 9:30a or 10:00a and stay down there until about 4:00p or 4:30p.

We'd take the boat out for a few hours, swim in the middle of the lake, or just cruise around and look at all the spectacular houses being built. I wish I would have taken the camera on the boat with me…)

All day, Tango retrieved his bumper, Lily fished, and Nemo antagonized whichever dog was closer. Actually, Nemo preferred to be held in Dana's arms out in the water. Sometimes Dana would swim to another point, and the dogs would follow. They'd then explore a new territory on the shore. It was really a little slice of heaven.

We saw two bald eagles on the lake. They flew directly over us and wow was it a sight! I couldn't believe my eyes. We took the dogs out on the boat and had stopped to jump off the boat and swim around. Off the nearby shore, I saw a big bird take off from a tree. His (her?) white head was unmistakeable. Absolutely breathtaking. We watched as it soared up, then really low to the water as it plucked a fish from the lake. Not far behind was a second eagle, just as majestic.

We went out to that spot each day and were rewarded with an eagle sighting each day. I didn't realize it until I came back and researched them on the internet, but they're quite common on Lake Anna. I've been going to Lake Anna for almost 30 years and this was my first sighting. I'll be keeping my eyes open from now on!

The new addition has a new name: Copper. She's got such pretty dark red coloring, it really fits her.

Our vacation ended today, so we (and all four dogs) left my parents all alone with their new pup. I called down to check on her (and them) and everything's a-ok so far.

She had a little bit of an issue with Tango, but he's been a real gentleman, giving her plenty of leeway without telling her off. We'll see if she settles in as time passes.

My mom and dad are very active and at ages 62 and 72, respectively, they need a dog who can keep up with them. Each morning, they walk anywhere from 2.5 – 4 miles and any dog of theirs has to be able and willing to keep up! So far, Copper's up for the job.

She doesn't seem to have any issues with food or toy guarding, although she could sure use some leash manners. But it'll come in time. I left my parents with instructions on how to use her breakfast on their walks to reward her when the leash is slack. My dad picked up pretty quickly how to feed her when the leash is slack, while still walking.

Both my parents and Copper have lots of learning to do – I'll keep posting their adventures here.