5 Healthy Ways to Celebrate the First Day of Spring (with your dog!)

It's the first day of spring. Hurray! The days are getting longer and that means more time for us to play outside.

Doggie popsicle!

Here are five fun ideas for celebrating the first day of spring.

Puppy Tip: Keep Your Dog Occupied With a Kong Popsicle

Rocco enjoys his Kong loaded, frozen and ready to go!

One of the first things I bought after bringing Rocco home was a puppy-sized Kong. Actually, after I bought it, I found two more puppy Kongs in our well-organized toy cabinet the bottom of our over-stuffed toy basket. And as it turns out, having more than one Kong is incredibly useful when you're using the "stuff and freeze" technique.

We learned this quick tip in puppy class. Simply add hot water to your pup's dry kibble, and soak it until it turns to mush. After you stir it up, the consistency will be similar to canned dog food. Then stuff the mixture into a Kong and freeze it! We keep all three loaded, frozen and ready to go, providing Rocco with hours of Kong-licking pleasure.

Before learning the freeze technique, we stuffed dry kibble into the Kong. That also provided Rocco with some entertainment as he learned to maneuver the Kong to empty it in, oh, about 10 seconds. We like this loaded and frozen Kong not just because it lasts longer, but also because Rocco's still getting some nutritional value from the dog food stuffed inside. Just remember to account for the extra amounts of food as part of your pup's overall daily intake.

And when you leave the house, give your pup a loaded and frozen Kong to keep them occupied in their crate. They might not even notice you're gone!