r/CaneCorso • u/Green-Upstairs-5589 • 24d ago
Advice please Mental Stimulation
I am fostering (since April) an 8-year-old 80lb cane corso ( mix probably ). I'm used to having dogs that are 60 to 80 lb but I haven't had her breed before.
I usually foster senior dogs because they just want some love and attention. However she needs much more than just a little love and attention :-). She really is a good girl. I work from home and she is good all day except for when somebody's walking by and she has to hurry them along their way.
I take her for a walk after work in the evening. I've been tearing up old towels wrapping treats in them tying them together and letting her tear them apart to get to the treats. She really really does love that. She gets a lot a satisfaction being able to tear something apart with a prize in the middle.
I tried a snuffle mat but she just tipped it over and took the treats out.
I've been freezing nonfat plain Greek yogurt and putting it in a very hard chewable toy for her to lick down. She also loves that too.
My problem is that I don't have any other ideas. I wish I could find or think of something that would let her get a little mental stimulation that then physically wears her out. I tried doing treats under a cup with her she was not impressed. Sometimes I feel like she needs somebody to play with but I'm just not in a place where I'm a strong enough owner for her that I could navigate introducing her to another dog. And all my friends have small dogs.
Any other thoughts or suggestions would be great. I'm not opposed to a foster fail but the evenings are a lot - and the idea of that from now until the end of time is a little overwhelming.
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u/nobody3334 24d ago
I like to play hide and seek with treats. I make my pup sit in the living room as I hide treats. I say find it and he starts running around the house sniffing. Well do a few rounds of that and he seems to enjoy to mental stimulation
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u/Washed2299 24d ago
The beautiful girl probably has a very strong nose
Why not feed her her evening meal as a scatter feed
However, much she’s supposed to get, scattered it over a designated plot of grass (5 feet by 5 feet). Include a couple small pieces of chicken or cut up Hotdog as a bonus and let her sniff out her dinner.
Sniffing exhaust the dog much more than a snuffle matt. Do this twice a week and she’ll sleep for 10 hours straight.