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Dogs for Fun!: Things you can do with your dog.

© Nancy McMillan

Having a dog opens a whole range of leisure activities, as a couple of earlier purebred dog columns have pointed out. Yet to be covered is just plain fun. Get a good start checking out "Neat Things You Can Do with Your Dog" at Dog Play or just browse through the Dog Owner's Guide which has more than 180 articles on everything to do with dogs, all arranged by subject and alphabetically by title if you look in the index.

There are lots of people who share your interest in enjoying life with their dogs. Many owners will have already experienced the camaraderie of the doggie park. Online friendships are possible too. Think about subscribing to an e-mail list. There are general canine e-mail groups, i.e. Canine-L; topic-specific e-mail groups, i.e. breeders; activity specific e-mail groups, i.e. flyball; and breed-specific e-mail groups. Read how to join the group and sit back to receive e-mail from like-minded dog owners. Once you feel you understand the etiquette (and often introductory information is made available) you could start contributing too.

Don't forget helping your children to establish their own relationship with their canine family member. Your dog can be your child's best friend when common sense ground rules are established. Teach your children to play properly with their canine companions. Check out Best Friends On-line for school teachers, this site provides you and your students with interactive games about responsible dog ownership. These games are divided for younger and older students.

By not only enriching your playing time by having fun with your dog, your work experience may improve too. "A recent study indicates that having a dog at your side may improve your work performance. With her colleagues, psychologist Karen Allen, Ph.D., of the State University of New York at Buffalo, observed forty-five workers who were paired either with a close friend or with a dog. The workers' physical stress levels were gauged as they counted aloud backward by various intervals. The workers matched with friends were most stressed and made the most counting errors, while those with dogs had near-perfect scores and the least stress. Allen speculates that we may feel pressured to perform in front of friends, whereas dogs, who are non-judgmental, help us focus. She herself brings Flannigan, her Border Collie, to work every day."

For more doggie entertainment, before you go to play, you may want to check out the Dog Links page and the Cool Dog Site of the day.

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