From opening ceremonies to athletic events, archery competitions and sailing tournaments, we have a wealth of ideas to get you and your four-legged friends active and excited.

Follow this guide to hosting a Pet Olympics

Before you begin:

As a pet parent, safety is always at the forefront of your mind. When selecting materials for your Pet Olympic games, ensure they are pet-friendly, undamaged and have no sharp edges. Ensure your pet has full supervision for each event and avoid trying to force them to do things they don’t want to do. This is all about creating a safe and fun environment for your pet!

Starting with an opening ceremony…

Every significant event needs a grand ceremony to begin proceedings. Get into the spirit of the games by playing your pet’s favourite songs while they parade around the room, getting excited about the games to come. They could carry a flag or toy torch and wear bandanas with the Australian flag.

Gymnastics

Create a low balance beam from a sturdy plank of wood. Guide your pet to walk along the beam, stand on their hind legs, and engage in other poses such as sitting or bowing. Use a sturdy box and cushions to create a “pet vault.” Encourage your pet to jump onto the box and land on the soft cushion.

Lay out yoga mats or foam squares and get your pet to have fun with a floor routine. This could include spins, rolls, and jumps; you could even include props such as rings for them to jump through or ribbons to interact with.

Or, like Olympic gymnasts combined with world-class runners, see if your pet can beat the world record that this dog holds:
Check out Sweet Pea, a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd cross who ran 100 meters in 2 minutes and 55 seconds while balancing a can on her head!

Hurdles

Purchase a set of agility hurdles, or get creative and make your own. You could use crates or boxes with poles threaded through or make mini hurdles from PVC pipes or pool noodles. For small dogs and cats, start around 6 inches so that the jump is manageable for your pet. For larger dogs, try hurdles around 12 inches; you can always adjust the height based on your pet’s size and agility.

Set out a course; this could be a straight line, a “track” (circle), or a zigzag pattern. Ensure that there is enough space between each hurdle. Start easy to build your pet’s confidence, and you can increase the height as they gain confidence.

You can also continue your hurdles into an obstacle course with simple household items such as cones, cardboard boxes, blankets, and collapsible tunnels. Create zigzag courses, jumps, and tunnel runs. You can change the course around to make it fun and engaging for your pet and get creative with your own ideas!

High jump

Create a high jump with a pole or broomstick and encourage your pet to leap over it. Gradually increase the height to see how high your pet can reach. You can also stack toilet rolls across a corridor, increasing the height one toilet roll at a time until your pet knocks them over.

For those who want their pet to be the next Olympic superstar, Amazon have a range of various agility courses and fitness equipment for dogs!

Pentathlon

Host your own pet pentathlon, or ‘Doglympics’ by completing five tricks across five categories: hoops, balls, balance beam, fetch, and torch relay, and maybe walk away with the gold medal.

Still, it’s not only dogs who get to compete in the pentathlon – you can create your own event for cats and smaller pets. There are plenty of activities that smaller pets will be able to try, including:

• Come when called
• Jump through a hoop
• Give you a high-five
• Shake hands/paws with you
• Give you a kiss
• Stand on hind legs
• Speak on command
• Stay
• Roll over
• Spin or complete a figure of eight by following your guidance
• Walk on a leash
• Climb something safe and size-appropriate like a cat or rabbit climbing tower
• Ring a bell
• Guess the cup or hand (that’s holding something)

Shot Put

Think of shot put like a reverse game of fetch where the aim is for your pet to place an item – like a ball, toy, or frisbee  – onto a chosen target. You could incorporate this with an archery-style event and create a large target with more points awarded as they get closer to the centre.

Boxing

Hang a ball or soft toy and encourage your pet to “box” it by hitting it with their paw. It’s easy to create a mini boxing gym for your pet using PVC pipes or a cutout cardboard box, string, and toys. Include a variety of toys in different colours and textures, plus some that make noises when you bat them. This will add enrichment and keep your pet motivated to explore the toys.

You can also swing the toys to create moving obstacles, which helps your pet develop hand-eye coordination.

Football

See how many goals your pet can score in the Pet Olympics. Don’t worry if you haven’t got a goal; use a large box or two posts or craft your own using wood or PVC pipes. Take it in turns to let your pet be the striker and the goalkeeper and see which position they are best suited to!

If you have a garden or outdoor area, encourage your pet to dribble the ball before aiming at the target. This is a great way to get fresh air and bond with your pet while keeping them active and healthy.

Table tennis

Set up a game of paw pong with a lightweight ball that you bat backwards and forwards with your pet.

If you have a larger dog, they may be able to hold the paddle in their mouth and hit the ball back to you. But this will be far too tricky for cats and smaller dogs; instead, sit opposite your pet and bounce a ping pong ball across the floor to them. Encourage them to hit the ball with their paws – extra points if they hit it back to you!

Sailing

Place a small boat into a shallow tray of water and train your pet to use their paw to push it from one end to the other. You could also include other water sports in your event with toys to retrieve (such as plastic fish), items to catch (like moving boats or other wind-up toys) or even swimming (probably not one for the cats!)

And finally, the closing ceremony of your pet olympics

Reward your pet(s) for completing the 2024 Pet Olympics with a closing ceremony. Play a slideshow with any videos and highlights you have captured while praising them for being a good boy or girl.

Create a podium out of cardboard boxes and award each pet with a medal, certificate or treat. You could even have a special (pet-friendly) buffet of their favourite food to round out the tournament.

And most importantly, post pics of your pet olympics and tag @madpawsau so we can see too!

The post How to host your own Pet Olympics appeared first on Mad Paws.

Chances are, you probably know someone who has a fondness for old catchphrases. When they’re feeling good, they’re “as happy as a clam”. If they’re RSVPing to an event, they’re “in like Flynn”. And when they want to tell you how healthy they are, they’ll say they’re “as fit as a butcher’s dog”.

These days, people mostly use the phrase to refer to healthy humans. However, back in the day, the expression saw a very literal use. In this piece, we explore the meaning of “as fit as a butcher’s dog”. More importantly, we highlight how your furry friend can reach this standard of health.

‘Firstly, what does “as fit as a butcher’s dog” actually mean?’ 

In the days of yesteryear, the butcher’s pooch enjoyed a reputation as the strongest, hardiest dog in the neighbourhood. Their renown as super-fit hounds stemmed from their diet; thanks to their Owners’ careers, they were able to enjoy fresh cuts of raw beef and other meats every day. Because of their high-protein diets, the myth explained, these dogs grew muscles and immune systems that other pooches envied.

Now, we know that there’s more to canine health than a 100% raw beef diet. However, if you take the steps below, your pupper may live up to the legend.

“How can I make my furry friend as fit as a butcher’s dog?”

Exercise them a bit (but not too much) beyond their comfort zone  

Every dog breed is unique, which means that every pupper’s road to fitness will be slightly different. For instance, if you have a British Bulldog, they may be content with a five-minute walk each day. While two-hour daily bush walks will likely cause them health problems, a short walk followed by a light game of “fetch” will challenge them in an achievable way. In contrast, a working breed Border Collie generally requires 8km of walking each day. If you’re looking to improve their fitness, an extra game of “fetch” alone may not cut it. Instead, you may want to consider enrolling them in agility training.

Regardless of your dog’s breed, tailor their exercise to their specific needs. Find their daily requirements, push them a little bit further, and watch their strength grow.

Keep them busy during the day 

Daily exercise is well and good, but it only counts for so much. In fact, while physical movement is crucial for dogs, it’s no more important than mental enrichment. For this, you’ll want to keep your furbaby occupied during the day. After all, if they spend nine hours on their own while you’re at work, they’ll likely become anxious or lethargic – both of which are foes to fitness.

Should your work keep you away from your pooch each day, it’s worth enrolling them in Doggy Day Care. That way, they’ll have other humans (and dogs!) to engage their bodies and minds while you’re out. The result will be a sharper, more psychologically balanced pet, who will be one step closer to their fitness goals.

Serve them a high-protein diet 

As we mentioned above, a high-protein diet isn’t the only route to furry fitness. However, it will give your furbaby the fuel they need to embark on that route. Like in human diets, proteins and amino acids provide our dogs with the foundations for muscle growth. This will not only augment your doggo’s strength – it will also protect their organs and maintain their mobility into later years. For a protein-rich diet, look to dog meals featuring meat and dog-friendly vegetables, or certain kinds of top-tier kibble.

The post What Does “as Fit as a Butcher’s Dog” Mean? appeared first on Mad Paws.