Games for pets

Most of us used to have or have pets that need our care and attention. As soon as pet appears in the house, our life habits change forever. Soon pets become full members of the family and we can no longer imagine our life without them being around, despite the challenges and difficulties we are facing during the adaptation and training process.

In addition to the proper nutrition, daily care and regular visits to the veterinarian, pets should be given a chance to communicate, walk, play and be active. This is an important condition for healthy and happy pet, which will reward the owner with devotion and unconditional love only pets can give.

Games with cats

Cats are the most playful pets. They like playing for hours when they are still kittens and like to keep their owners engaged. This is the way for kittens to learn and understand the surrounding world and get prepared for an adult life. An adult cat also likes to play, however, it is up to the cat to decide whether to play alone or with the owner.

Cats are also considered to be born hunters. They like all rustling objects that can be rolled, tossed, bitten and chased.

For games with your pet, you can buy special toys that are sold at specialized pet stores, or design a toy yourself. It is recommended to have few toys and make sure they are safe for your pet.

Most of the kittens and cats like the following interactive games:

• hide and seek – the owner is hiding, and the pet is trying to find him;
• cat and mouse – hunting a toy mouse;
• catching up – chasing each other;
• teasers (stick or rope with a toy attached to it/ paper bow/ feather, laser pointer);
• games with a ball or a wool ball and many others.

Games with dogs

Unlike cats, which choose their own time for games, walks, sleep and food, dogs are being taught a discipline and strict daily routine from an early age to make sure that a puppy grows to be a true friend and reliable guard to the owner.

Regular walks, proper training and games contribute to the harmonious development of dogs. Keeping the dog active will help getting rid of wrecking habit, develop necessary physical and emotional strength and it is just a great way for the four-legged friend to spend time with his owner.

As for the toys, there should be as many as possible. These can be toys for active games and outdoor training, as well as toys for keeping pets occupied while owner is away.

You can play the following games with your pet, which at the same time will help to train the dog and develop useful skills, as well as will teach some commands:

• catch-up – chasing each other combined with obstacle run;
• frisbee – throwing a disc that the dog must catch and bring back to the owner at the “Aport!” command;
• games with dragging of various objects;
• searching for items – hide the object and give the “search” command to the dog, as well as many others.

Games with hamsters

By nature, active and curious hamsters are domesticated animals. Owners often fear of losing their small pet, this is why hamsters are rarely being released to “freedom” and mostly are being kept inside the cage and provided with all the necessary amenities, like food, water, toys and “in-house” entertainment.

Well equipped cages with tunnels and stairs will be well appreciated by hamsters, but are not enough for their overall development. Communication with pets and playing games outside the cage also contributes a lot to their wellbeing.

In order to avoid any danger and damage (meeting other domestic pets, biting wires, hiding or getting stuck inside narrow gaps or running away) it is important to organize a proper game area for the hamster. To arrange a proper playground for the hamster, a large box or game arena, which is sold in any pet store, can be used.

Recommended games for hamsters outside the cage are:

• walking around the house or apartment inside a special ball;
• play arena with labyrinths, tunnels, stairs, wheels, tubes, various obstacles, sandbox and swings.

Games with parrots

These birds also spend most of their time in cages, but despite this, parrots are very active, sociable and like to play various interactive and even intellectual games.

To keep parrots in good spirit, owners are advised to offer their feathered friend few interesting games, depending on the level of their domestication.

• gymnastics – putting a treat in the cage a little higher as usual, so that the parrot tries to climb higher to reach it;
• football – rolling the ball to the parrot so that it pushes it back with the head and the beak;
• games with coins – show the parrot, how to throw coins into the piggy bank slot, so that he repeats the same movement;
• swing – fix a rope with knots and rings on the ceiling or in a cage;
• pyramid – the children’s pyramid or scores with the moveable details, which can be collected and moved together with the parrot;
• songs and dances – repeating all the movements and sounds of the parrot, expecting that the pet will also try to repeat them.

Games with domestic monkeys

Monkeys are still considered wild animals, which are not fully accustomed with the domestic conditions. Not every monkey breed can be trained like cats or dogs. Some breeds are rather violent in nature and require certain living and training conditions for getting comfortable with the home environment. Therefore not every family dreaming of such an exotic pet gets lucky and make friends with monkeys.

Specialists recommend choosing macaques or rhesus macaque breed as a monkey pet. It is easier to find a common language with monkeys of these breeds. Also, with the proper treatment and care these monkeys can become quite complacent and obedient in a long term.

As any other pet, macaques need to communicate and play. Even a small monkey loves space, so for comfortable life and games this pet will require a lot of space, light, as well as many ropes and branches to jump, climb and hang on.

Following developing games are recommended for monkeys:

• games with shiny objects or a mirror – monkeys like to see their reflection and twitch or “make faces”;
• sports games and gymnastics – monkeys love to jump, run and hang;
• “reading” magazines – monkey like to look at illustrations and drawings, as well as tear out pages, etc.

Quite often, while being alone at home pets like to chew your favourite pair of shoes, indoor plants or destroy furniture upholstery. The best way to keep them away and distracted from these objects is keeping them occupied with the pet toys. As many of them as possible.

Animals, just like children, need love and constant care, so before getting one for ourselves, we need to think how well we will be able to manage and take care of our pet.