Tips To Help Provide Health-Promoting Benefits To Your City Dog
When you live in the city in an apartment or condominium, your access to the outdoors may be limited to an off-flat patio. Although this living situation can be easy for a person to handle, your dog, on the other hand, may suffer from lack of outdoor play, fresh air, and sunshine. Here are some tips for you to implement to help boost the health of your dog and give them access to the benefits provided by Mother Nature.
Get Access to a Local Dog Park
When you live in an apartment, especially one that is situated on a higher floor, it can be difficult to provide your dog the space outside to run. Your patio may only give them so much freedom, and they will want to have dirt and real grass to dig and run through, and bugs to chase. Find a local dog park in your area that you can visit frequently. Look for a dog park that allows your dog to run freely off their leash, which gives them the freedom they need to burn off some energy and interact with other dogs.
A leash-free dog park can help improve your dog's behavior, if you have noticed they have begun to show troublesome behavior or act out inappropriately. For example, if they have begun to chew on your items they normally don't or if they have begun to have accidents inside your home, time spent at a leash-free dog park a few times each week can improve their behavior and mood.
Provide Grass on Your Balcony
Another way to help your dog's health is to plant some grass in a square planter box, which you can place on your patio. For example, build a planter box that is two feet by two feet, fill it with potting soil, and plant grass seeds.
There are also patches of turf you can buy and place down, which will simulate real grass and provide your dog an outdoor space to relax, look for bugs, and sniff the fresh air. Be sure you get permission from your landlord before you plant a space of grass, just to make sure it won't get you in trouble.
Ensure You Have South-Facing Windows
Providing your dog with a patch of sunshine inside your apartment or condo is a great way to boost their health. Make sure you have windows that face south or southwest where your dog can take an afternoon nap. Then when they lick their fur, they take in the vitamin D created from the sun's rays to help boost their health and mood.