Rainy Day Games to Keep a Dog Busy Indoors

Indoor games for dogs can start with a favourite-toy search, a short food trail or a game built around cues your dog already knows. Choose one you can supervise, begin with an obvious success and change only one part of the game when your dog is ready for another round.

Clear a small play area first

Use a patch of lounge room floor where your dog can move without sliding. Put away children’s small toys, loose craft pieces and cables. Leave the dog’s bed outside the game area so resting remains an option. There is no need for a running lane, furniture jumps or a course through the stairs.

Bring out one familiar, intact dog toy. If everything is buried in a basket, rotating toys so they stay interesting explains how to organise the collection for future play. For today, choose something your dog already picks up or investigates.

These are shared games. Start when you can watch the dog and finish before you need to answer the door, cook or supervise something elsewhere. The steps below are suggested formats you can simplify, rather than a checklist your dog needs to complete.

Play find the favourite toy

Choose this when: your dog enjoys a familiar toy and you have one clear room.

1. Let your dog see the toy, then place it on the floor nearby.
2. Use your usual invitation to play or find it. Give them room to approach.
3. When they reach the toy, let them enjoy it. Picking it up is not a requirement.
4. Reset only if your dog is interested in another turn.

For the next round, move the toy beside a chair leg with part of it still visible. Later, try another reachable floor-level spot in the same room. Avoid pushing it under furniture where your dog cannot comfortably retrieve it.

Dogs Trust includes searching for a hidden favourite toy among its enrichment ideas. Our suggested progression starts with almost no hiding: the variation comes from where you put it. If your dog stops searching, show the toy again rather than adding more hiding places. You can also finish by simply playing together with the found toy.

Lay a short food trail

Choose this when: your dog is interested in food and you can keep other pets away from the search area.

Use food your dog already eats, taken from their usual allowance rather than added on top. Dogs Trust recommends accounting for food used in enrichment within the day’s meals.

1. Place a few pieces on a clean, clear patch of floor while your dog watches.
2. Invite them to search and stay nearby.
3. After the pieces are found, check the floor before resetting.
4. On another turn, spread them a little farther apart within the same area.

Keep the first trail in the open. You do not need cups, folded fabric or a cardboard container to make it a game. Change the shape of the trail if you want another version, while leaving every piece reachable. Avoid laying it among children’s toys or underneath cupboards where food could be left behind.

Indoor food searches and treat trails are supported by Dogs Trust. The layout here is an editorial suggestion. If you want a separate making activity, cheap enrichment using household items covers DIY options; this game needs no construction.

Take turns calling a familiar cue

Choose this when: two adults are available and the dog already comes when called at home.

Stand a short distance apart in the same room. One person calls the dog using the familiar cue and rewards their arrival. Pause, then let the other person take a turn. Keep both people visible and leave enough space around them for an easy approach.

The game is taking turns, rather than racing between people. Do not call at the same time, keep repeating the cue or move farther away while your dog is still working out whose turn it is. If the response is uncertain, return to one person practising at close range.

Playing alone? Ask for one familiar cue, reward it, then pause before another turn. You might alternate coming to you with sitting, if both are already comfortable tasks for your dog. There is no need to introduce a new trick to make the round worthwhile.

The RSPCA recommends reward-based training in short sessions and finishing with something the dog knows. Use a quiet room and a reward your dog enjoys, without turning the game into repeated requests when they have lost interest.

Offer a toy choice and follow it

Choose this when: you want a shared game with almost no preparation.

Set two familiar dog toys apart on the floor. Let your dog approach whichever interests them, then offer the kind of play they already enjoy with that toy. The choice itself is enough to start; you do not need to teach toy names or ask the dog to select the one you prefer.

On a later turn, put away the unused toy and offer a different familiar one. Change the pairing, rather than making a bigger pile. If the dog walks away from both, pack them away and try another time.

This format follows Dogs Trust’s advice to consider individual preferences when choosing enrichment. It is a suggested way to offer that choice, with no promise that a previously ignored toy will become interesting.

Make the next round easier when needed

Change distance, hiding spot or toy choice one at a time. If you hide the toy more thoroughly and move to another room together, it becomes hard to tell which change made the search confusing. Return to the last easy version, or finish the game.

Keep children’s jobs separate from handling the dog: they could choose which toy an adult offers next or help put unused supplies away. An adult should manage the play itself. In a busy household, another adult can take over the children’s activity while the dog game runs.

Games also need an end. Allow undisturbed rest and keep toilet opportunities and appropriate exercise in the day’s plan, as the RSPCA advises. For organising the rest of a wet day, use rainy day activities with a dog stuck inside.

Choose one game now and set up its easiest version. Leave a harder variation for another round only if your dog wants to keep playing.

How we checked this

Checked on 12 October 2026 against Dogs Trust enrichment guidance and RSPCA training and home-environment guidance. Game formats and variations are editorial suggestions. No hands-on testing, measured play durations or guaranteed outcomes are claimed.

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