If you feel guilty about leaving your dogs home by themselves while you go to work, join the club. Most of us dislike it, though, truth be told, the majority of dogs do just fine. Many of them simply relax and sleep for a good part of the day while we stress out at work.

I say “many of them” because I’m absolutely not including dogs who are too young to handle a lot of time alone, or those who are struggling with separation anxiety or some other condition that makes being at home without you truly traumatic, somewhat upsetting or even just unpleasant. I’m talking about typical, behaviorally healthy dogs who really don’t mind the daily rhythm that includes your regular workday absence (though obviously, they would rather you stayed home).

Along with making sure that their basic needs are met, what do we owe the dogs who hold down the fort while we’re gone? Some dogs are fine with a cozy place to snooze, and some may be satisfied with a compatible dog buddy or some toys. Others need a little help in finding interesting ways to stay occupied while we go out and earn the money to support them in the style to which they have become accustomed. A great way to help these dogs is to provide them with multiple activity stations around the house.

Activity stations are just what they sound like: places for dogs to engage in activities that can be done alone. Setting up different activity stations in distinct areas of the house allows dogs to make good choices and to have fun even when they’re on their own.

This kind of enrichment won’t cure separation anxiety or help a dog overcome a fear of traffic, airplanes, passersby or the sound of sirens, and it’s not a cure for excessive barking or destructive chewing. What it can do, however, is make being alone more fun.

Deciding what sorts of activity stations will work best for your dog requires you to give some thought to your home’s layout and your dog’s interests and abilities. But basically, they are really only limited by safety concerns and your creativity.

Some stations are extremely simple, involving nothing more than a tug toy attached to the wall with a carabiner and a sturdy hook. Dogs who love to tug often do best if the toy is a little stretchy to compensate for the fact that nobody is on the other end giving it life and motion. The toy must be safe—no chance of the dog choking on it, becoming entangled in it or shredding it. A tug station is not suitable for dogs who would either become obsessive about it or frustrated by it. To interest your dog in it, shake the toy a little to make it move; once your dog has hold of it, let him tug on his own. Putting peanut butter on the toy makes it more enticing and helps many dogs engage.

A related activity station is for dogs who like to bat at toys rather than tug them. As long as the dog won’t become entangled in the toy or attempt to ingest it, this sort of station can occupy those who love to use their paws in play. Toys with multiple hanging parts often appeal to dogs who like to play this way.

Another activity station with simplicity in its favor consists of providing your dog with something safe to chew or eat. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to buy hundreds of new items. Rotating your dog’s durable favorites, supplemented by an occasional new treat, keeps this from costing a fortune. You can also use stuffable toys such as Kongs, or toys that the dog has to chase around or otherwise manipulate for the food to be dispensed —for example, the PetMate Wobbling Treatball, Kong Wobbler, West Paw Design Toppl or Buster Cube.

Make sure you are not giving your dog anything that poses a choking hazard or other dangers. Avoid rawhides and rope toys, and check with your vet about what else may be dangerous for an unsupervised dog. All dogs need to learn to enjoy an activity station is that it provides good things. For safety and convenience, site the station away from areas that are off limits to the dog, such as the counter or where kids store their toys.

On a related note, you can also keep your dog occupied by making the whole house (or at least a room or two) a place for food-searching activity. Hide treats while your dog is in another room, say “find your treats” and then head out for the day. (If your dog is sure to follow you, tell him/her to stay, or close a gate or door while you hide the treats.) Teaching your dog to search for food in response to the cue “find your treats” is not hard, but it’s critical to start by making it easy and gradually working up to greater challenges. Start with the food in full view and point to it or tap your toe by each treat until your dog gets the hang of it. You can also hide treats in canine puzzle toys that are specifically designed for this purpose.

A basket of toys is a great activity station, but for most dogs, it’s only appealing if the contents change frequently. To maintain your dog’s interest, rotate toys in and out and add new ones regularly. That way, your dog will never know which toys will be available on a given day. If your dog has a couple of favorites, make sure they’re always on hand. The purpose of rotating toys is to prevent your dog from becoming bored, not to take away toys just for the sake of removing them periodically.

For dogs who like to fetch, independent play may seem harder to provide. However, some dogs can be taught to fetch on their own using a ball and a ramp or an iFetch. There needs to be enough space for them to chase after the ball without injury to themselves or to your furnishings. It takes practice and patience, but once dogs get it, they are able to play on their own.

To teach dogs to use a ramp at a fetching station, start by placing the ball on the ramp and letting it roll away. This accustoms dogs to fetching a ball that has been “thrown” by the ramp. Then, teach them to drop the ball at the top of the ramp themselves. Once dogs realize that they can make the ramp work for them, many really enjoy the activity, though I’ve yet to meet a dog who didn’t prefer fetch played as a social game outdoors. (Caution: this activity station is not suitable for dogs who are so obsessive about fetch that they would play all day and drive themselves mad.)

Again, the safety of the stations and their elements is critical. Don’t use anything that could in any way strangle or trap a dog. Only use toys that can handle serious chewing, the level of which varies from dog to dog. Avoid rawhide or rope toys that a dog can choke on. If in doubt, put the toy away before you leave.

Don’t expect dogs to automatically be interested in activity stations just because you’ve set them up, however lovingly. The statement “If you build it, they will come” rarely applies. Dogs have to be taught what to do and to understand that the stations have entertainment value before they will engage on their own.

Activity stations can be antidotes to the boredom dogs may experience when left home alone. Providing them with something constructive to do can improve their quality of life, even though they may be fine with being alone. The stations can also help us fulfill our responsibility to make sure our dogs are happy, stimulated and entertained (not to mention relieve our guilt!) when we leave the house without our dogs, as most of us must do daily. Above all, they’re a wonderful way to change our dogs’ daily alone time from “fine” to “fun”!

Football playoffs often involve trash talking and betting, but this year, there are dogs involved, so it’s obviously getting serious. In the NFC Championship game this Sunday, there’s a trip to the Super Bowl on the line for the Arizona Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers, but for the governors of Arizona and North Carolina, their dogs’ honor is at stake.

Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona and Governor Pat McCrory of North Carolina have made a friendly wager. If Arizona wins, McCrory’s Lab mix Moe will have to wear a Cardinals’ jersey. If Carolina wins, then Ducey’s Golden Retriever Woody will be sporting a Panther’s jersey. Luckily, these handsome dogs will look great in anything, so they are unlikely to suffer no matter what happens.

Either governor, on the other hand, would no doubt be distressed to see a beloved dog wearing the other team’s jersey. As close as we are to our dogs, it just feels wrong to have our dogs wearing enemy colors.

Ducey has tweeted, “AZ Cardinals, we can’t let Woody wear a Panthers jersey! Let’s get this done” and McCrory has said, I am confident that our Carolina Panthers are going to be victorious on Sunday, so that our beloved rescue dog Moe doesn’t have to suffer wearing a Cardinals jersey.”

I don’t care all that much about the game’s outcome. Yes, I live in Arizona, but I have family in North Carolina and I’m a Packers fan anyway. I’m just happy to see two governors expressing affection for their dogs.

Small space and active dog. This is reality for an increasing number of people who share their small city apartments with dogs. While there is no substitute for a long walk or run, there is a surprising amount you can do to keep your pup fit, both mentally and physically, in a confined space.

Tricks are the key to happy urban dogs. Trick training might once have had a reputation as dog training’s less serious cousin, but no more! It has tremendous benefits: enhanced bonding, increased canine confidence and a contained way to exercise your dog’s brain absent a yard filled with agility equipment. Trick training is also a fantastic way to build human/ canine communication skills, which will improve all areas of life with your dog. Finally, many build muscle tone and strength.

Tricks generally fall into two categories: physical movement (or manipulating or in some way interacting with a prop) and vocalization. Tricks can be fun and silly (spinning in circles and dancing) or practical (putting toys away in a basket). Essentially, anything your dog does—stretching, yawning, barking or other vocalizations—can be turned into a cued trick.

Some physical behaviors (bowing, spinning, sitting up and so forth) can be trained very easily using what’s called a luring method, in which something of high value to your dog is used to guide the dog into the desired position. Over time, a cue word is added to the behavior; then, the cue comes first and the luring is slowly phased out. The result? A polished trick.

To turn other behaviors such as sneezing, yawning or vocalizing into tricks, a technique called capturing works well. Capturing takes a little more time than luring, as you aren’t manipulating the dog into the behavior but rather, are waiting for the dog to exhibit the behavior and then offering an immediate reward. To be successful, you need to keep treats and/or clicker close at hand. (Clickers can be extremely effective when you’re starting to train tricks because they allow the precise marking of a desired behavior; they’re especially helpful when utilizing capturing and shaping techniques.)

Shaping involves working in partnership with your dog; I like to think of it as putting together a puzzle, or “building” a trick. Shaping focuses on facilitating dogs’ use of their brains. With shaping, you are click/treating (or otherwise rewarding) at incremental steps along the way to the goal behavior. Shaping is useful when training a complicated or multi-part trick.

For example: my dog knows how to “play basketball,” which in our case means dunking a ball into a little basketball hoop. In order to get to the finished trick, I broke it down into small pieces so the dog could understand what I wanted. Eventually, the different pieces of the trick came together. To shape the basketball trick, I first treated for interest in the ball, then for picking it up, then for holding it, then for moving toward the basket and, finally, for dropping it through the net.

Although they take up a little more room, tricks involving props are fun and can add a new twist to your trick repertoire. Hoopla hula hoops or broomsticks can be used to make indoor jumps (be sure to keep the height low for safety). You can also repurpose children’s toys such as basketball hoops, stacking rings, skateboards or wagons for impressive and innovative tricks that show off your training skill and your dog’s brilliance. The biggest payoff, however, is the fun you’ll have together.

Dogs shed hair, males of the deer family shed antlers. Granted, not a perfect analogy—antlers are dropped only once a year, after all—but it’s one way to remember that antlers, like dog hair, are renewable resources. Working with dogs to find these “sheds” is an increasingly popular activity. Many dogs love to chew on them (serious shed-dog enthusiasts don’t allow their dogs to do so, however, because it reduces their finding value with the dog), and hobbyists enjoy crafting with them.

Deer typically lose their antlers from late winter to early spring, which makes summer an ideal time to train your dog to find the bony castoffs. The first bit of good news is that the training is neither difficult nor expensive. The second is that many types of dogs can become skilled at shed recovery; it’s not breed-specific. Any dog who’s interested in retrieving and has a good nose—a very large category!—can do it.

“There are advantages with certain [types] of dogs, such as those with a natural retrieve, [but the dog] doesn’t have to be a Lab,” says Jeremy Moore, Wisconsin-based professional shed-dog trainer. “Plenty of dogs love to play fetch. It’s not overly complicated. You’ve got to have a plan and the right tools.” Moore advises training one element at a time and keeping it fun.

Before beginning shed training, however, it’s a good idea to work on a few foundation skills. For safety, Mike Stewart—professional dog trainer and owner of Wildrose Kennels, who has been training dogs for shed retrieval since 2005—recommends that you work with your dog to brush up on obedience. Sit and stay, of course, as well as recall; your dog needs to know how to stay with you in the wide open environments where most sheds are found. Integrate basic obedience training into your summer routine, both indoors and out and in a variety of locations.

It’s also important to home in on the retrieve. One way to do that—besides throwing a tennis ball—is to have the dog watch as you walk about 10 feet out in a straight line, place the ball on the ground, return and send the dog to fetch it. This helps develop her trailing memory, bridging the gap between retrieving a thrown ball and retrieving a ball—and later, antlers—on the ground.

Next, acclimate your dog to the smell of antlers by adding liquid antler scent, a mixture of deer blood and bone. Dot scent on a tennis ball and play familiar retrieval games. Use a green tennis ball and you’ll also have a tool for advanced training.

Stewart advises desensitizing your dog to other animals and wildlife, or you’re likely spend your shed time with the pup in pursuit of a squirrel. One way to do this is to train in public parks where there are plenty of distractions: birds, squirrels, other dogs, people.

Once your dog’s basic obedience is up to par, it’s time to train shed-specific skills. With a little patience, you can have a lot of fun. (A shout-out here to Jeremy Moore, who developed the three steps that follow.)

One: Condition the dog to the shape of the antler. Moore uses a safe, flexible dummy antler. “If [a dog] gets poked or jabbed, you’re going to have a dog who shies away from antlers.”

Play fetch games using the dummy. Start inside in a closed-door hallway, then take it to the back yard. Keep it fun and praise lavishly (baby talk is allowed). If heat is an issue, practice water retrievals by tossing the dummy into a pool or lake. The dummy floats, and your dog will connect the retrieve with a positive experience.

Two: Work the dog’s nose. Building on previous training, add antler scent to the dummy. Enjoy more games in retrieval mode, and have a party when your dog delivers.

Those green, antler-scented tennis balls come in handy at this stage. Roll one into green grass cover and tell your pup to find it. Voila! You’ve helped her connect with a familiar shape and added nose work.

“Associate the scent with the same reward [your dog] got for shape,” says Moore. Reward. Reward. Reward. Keep it exciting—don’t make it just another job. Your dog will gain confidence through consistent training.

Three: Condition your dog to the feel of real antlers. Called the “finishing antler,” this specimen should be very close to the dummy in size and shape to provide a smooth transition to the real deal. (Natural scent is found at an antler’s base, so don’t use a cut-off piece.) Enhance the specimen by adding a generous amount of antler scent.

Do familiar retrieving games, connecting the finishing antler with a positive activity. When you’re confident that your dog is comfortable with real antlers, place a few on the ground and in grass cover (just as they would be found in nature) and instruct her to find them.

From your back yard, move the game to a neighbor’s back yard or a park. Antlers cue her that it’s a retrieval party waiting to happen. However, resist the temptation to go big right away.

“Set your dog up for success. Don’t go from your back yard to a 40-acre field. Don’t overwhelm the dog with distractions,” Moore says.

As your dog’s training progress, widen the training environment. As Moore notes, “If the only place you train is your back yard, [your dog] will be very good finding shed only in the back yard.”

Finishing a shed dog combines exercising the body and engaging the mind. Mike Stewart takes the dogs he’s training out on acreage and walks in a zigzag pattern, cueing direction with his hands. Zigzagging covers more ground and provides dogs with a better chance for finds. If he sees that a dog is going flat and losing focus, he waits until she’s not looking and tosses out antlers he’s brought with him to renew her interest.

“Sooner or later, she has to find something, or she’s going to quit. Make finding shed special,” Stewart says. Pump your pup with success.