Quarantine with Mocha

This past month has been a blur while working from home everyday. Aside from coding and writing, the only things I’ve been up to recently are Mocha-related shenanigans. The only times I go outside now are walking with Mocha and making trips to the grocery store (and sometimes even plan those around what I need for Mocha’s treat supplies). We’re enjoying the snow-melt puddles and although she’s an all-weather dog, I know she is excited for the river to finish thawing.

Puddles at LaBarriere Park with her friend Winnie

I have always been keeping an eye out for fun things to add to our list of tricks to keep Mocha occupied indoors and mentally stimulated. As part of our normal routine, we feed Mocha’s meals through treat dispensing toys, or frozen kongs, or scatter and hide kibble throughout our home. One of the newer things we started to use is a snufflemat. My friend Kristen and I made these for our dogs just before the the quarantine situation developed. We got a rubber mat with holes from home depot and some cheap blankets from a thrift store, and together cut pieces up to assemble into a mat where we can hide kibble and treats, which keep the dogs busy sniffing food out. A great way to feed them some of their meals! Another recent item I’ve been using is a hot pot pad with little grooves (as a “lick mat”), where I spread peanutbutter for Mocha to lick for a while. I have also been making more homemade dog treats, using Damn Delicious’s peanut butter pumpkin dog treat recipe to make big batches of cookies, storing some in the freezer. It helps save some money and a trip to the pet store.

I’m relieved that dogs can’t catch the virus, and this allows Mocha to still see her friends and stay socialized. As part of our normal routine, she sees her friends at daycare once a week, and also hangs out with some of her besties on walks or when we are babysitting. Our most recent friend is Luke & Lindsey’s pup Zoey across the hall, whom we’ve been watching in the daytime over a couple weeks. Mocha is like her big sister, helping her gain confidence on walks and learn to play nicely, and I’m very proud of my gal for being such a great role model to more young pups! It’s funny to see her in the mature role as she used to be the crazy one a year ago.