Ten Indoor Enrichment Activities for Rainy or Lazy Days

Ten great indoor activities for rainy or lazy days

It's a myth that dogs need three separate walks a day to be happy, dogs are smart, underestimated animals, and dragging them round the block repeatedly on a lead can do more for boredom and stress than good. Indoor enrichment activities are just as valuable, and often more fun for the whole family too.

Scent and search games

"Find it" is a genuine favourite: hide treats around the house, let your dog watch you the first few times, then say "find it" and let them search, encouraging and praising every success. Once they've got the idea, hide treats out of sight entirely and let them work it out themselves. Puzzle toys (Nina Ottosson's range are a favourite) offer the same kind of mental workout, or make your own with cardboard boxes and hidden treats.

Classic games with real training value

Hide and seek doubles as genuine recall practice: put your dog in one room with a "stay" or have someone hold them, hide somewhere in the house, then call their name and reward generously when they find you. "Which hand" (treat hidden in one closed fist, dog sniffs and picks) is simple but genuinely useful for building focus and the human-dog bond.

Tricks and grooming

Tricks are a great bonding activity and sharpen your own training skills at the same time, start simple with "spin" or "walk back" and build from there, one of our trainers has a Staffie who knows 136 different tricks, proof of just how far this can go with consistency. Rainy days are also the perfect excuse to catch up on grooming, a big brush or a nail trim you've been putting off can be a truly relaxing shared activity.

Indoor agility and downtime

Household furniture makes a surprisingly good makeshift agility course, walking under a chair, jumping onto a stool, get creative. And some days really are just for a lazy day, a movie together on the sofa is a perfectly valid form of enrichment too. If your dog already knows some tricks, revisit them and see if you can perform them on a verbal cue alone, without the hand lure, a good way to polish existing skills without needing anything new.

Getting the right support

See also our guide on the basics of positive reinforcement. Get in touch if you'd like more ideas tailored to your dog. Learn more about our play days programme and our cognitive enrichment hub and Play as Enrichment: Why It's the Missing Piece in Dog Training and Using Movement to Motivate Your Dog.