Training & BehaviorHow to calm my 4-month-old puppy who goes crazy when I get home?
Personally, I love interactive toys. I recently had a trainer work with my dog who focuses on brain games vs. physical activity, and he's done very well with that!
One thing you can easily do, is when you get home, take handful of kibbles or small treats and just toss them into the back yard. Then he has to go and find them. This is very easy to do, and will tire him out of sure.
Toys that I like are the kong wobbler, feeder balls or treat dispensing balls, the pickle pocket, the everlasting treat, and even a good old kong toy stuffed with some frozen fresh ground peanut butter (avoid any peanut butter with xylitol of course), greek yogurt, or pumpkin.
My one dog doesn't really like the kong wobbler or the treat dispensing toy because he gets frustrated very easily. You'll just have to do a trial and error with Leny.
My puppy really likes the treat ball and the kongs, as does my older guy. The older, more frustrated guy, really likes the everlasting treat ball as well.
I order a lot of things from chewy.com because the prices are great, and if the dogs don't like the toys, it's not a huge waste of money, and I can just give them away.
There is also something called a "snuffle mat" that you can purchase or make, that I think is a great idea for dogs after they've finished teething and don't chew things up anymore. (Of course if Leny winds up just being a chewer, I'd be careful with this too so he doesn't ingest any pieces). The snuffle mat is basically a mat with pieces of long fabric that you toss the food on. Then brush the pieces back and forth to hide the food, and let Leny sniff around and look for the food. I actually have this on my 2019 bucket list to make for my dogs.
Of course, just to mention, there's always a huge benefit to working with a trainer, to help you streamline Leny's daily routine, so that he gets rid of the most energy and is calm and content.
I hope you find this answer helpful! Best of luck!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
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