The coronavirus pandemic has halted lots of activities due to government restrictions, such as lockdowns and social distance rules meant to curb the spread of the virus. However, self-isolation does not have to affect your relationship with your furry friend. COVID-19 is likely to have limited the fun you have with your dog. However, there are still many games you can enjoy together, even when self-isolating.

You do not want to leave your dog bored. When this happens, your pet may start showing undesirable characteristics, such as chewing your stuff. In contrast, playing with your dog keeps them away from destructive behaviors. Hence, it is a great way to have fun with your furry friend.

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Here are excellent indoor games you can enjoy with your dog during the COVID-19 period.

Fetch it

Does your dog like fetching stuff around the house? This can be an excellent opportunity to have fun together. You need a small ball or any other object that fits in the dog’s mouth for this game. Alternatively, you can use a big ball, which your pet can roll. You will need to throw the object some distance then ask your dog to fetch it for you.

Additionally, if your dog knows various stuff by their names, consider asking him to fetch them one by one. This can also be a great way to train your dog in some basic commands. For instance, if your dog does not love fetching, try training first. Use phrases such as “pick it up,” “bring it here,” “drop it,” etc. You may want to give granola to your dog or any other treat as an encouragement after a successful fetch.

Treat/treasure hunt

Dogs have 45 more scent receptors than humans, making them one of the best animals when it comes to smelling objects. This is an excellent opportunity to train your furry friend to sharpen his sniffing abilities. All you need for this game is to collect some containers and have them placed upside down. Buy your dog’s favorite treat and place it beneath one container. Lastly, ask your dog to find which container has the treat. If he finds it, congratulate him by letting him have the food.

Equally, you can play the treasure hunt with different objects. Moreover, you do not need food for all kinds of the hunt. Try using a different object and see if your dog can identify it. For instance, you should consider using a snuffle mat to sharpen your dog’s sense of smell.

Obedience training

Training your dogs on basic commands can also be an enjoyable game for the two of you. Besides, obedience training is one of the best ways to have fun with your dog indoors during this period of Covid-19. Whether it is for pleasure or enhancing your dog’s skills, this activity is so engaging.

Consider using simple commands such as sit down for starters. If your dog is more advanced on such matters, try more complex commands such as fetching objects around the house.

Obstacle course

Another enjoyable indoor game for dogs is the obstacle course. With this game, you need your dog to jump over obstacles. It is also a great way of training your dog to keep him physically fit.

The obstacle course will help you drive away boredom. For this game, you will want to plant obstacles around the house then ask your dog to follow the trail with obstacles. When he reaches where there are obstacles, he will jump over them. You can use a stack of books or pile boxes up.

Alternatively, you can use a set of cones for the obstacle course. However, you will need to consider the size and abilities of your dog.

Tug of war

If your dog loves a game of tug, this will be a great way to exercise indoors. Accordingly, this can be an opportunity to teach your dog some self-control. For instance, you can add rules to the game to determine when your furry friend pulls and when to stop.

Fun with toys

Teach your furry friend the names of his toys. After the dog has mastered them, ask them to pick them up as you name each. You can make it more challenging by hiding the toys and asking your dog to find them.

The Bottom Line

There are no shortages of engaging indoor games to enjoy with your furry friend. Ensure you make the most of every activity and use it to train your dog. You need your furry friend in his top condition because exercise can strengthen your dog’s immunity. So, why not use these games to improve your dog’s overall health and have fun.

Buying a home is a significant achievement that everyone wishes to attain. While buying a house is not an easy task, this shouldn’t deter you from making this decision. Sure, you will face challenges such as gathering enough money to make the purchase. In addition, the thought of responsibilities of a homeowner may overwhelm you, and you might face the dilemma of buying or renting.

But once you decide to buy a home, you should embrace everything about homeownership and find ways to protect and maintain your investment. One thing you must do is protect your home from various things such as natural calamities, burglars, and pests.

To protect your unit from theft, you need to incorporate the best security systems. This can be having functional door locks, security cameras, outdoor lighting, or sensors. To protect your home from pests, you can take measures such as calling a pest control service company, seal your windows to keep away bugs, or you can install siding to block exterior crawl space.

There are many ways to protect your home from natural calamities such as floods, storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fire. For instance, to protect against floods, you can raise it on stilts or install foundation vents. To protect against hurricanes, you can install impact-resistant roofs from RPS Metal Roofing & Siding, Inc. and many other ways.

If you’re interested in this phenomenon, please take a look at the following infographic. It shows the latest research on how to protect your home against hurricanes. The infographic makes it easy to understand this tricky concept and provides a more detailed insight into fortifying your home against storms and additional safety measures to take. Check it out below.

Infographic designed by RPS Metal Roofing & Siding, Inc.

When you are working from home, it’s important that you look after your health. Mental health can be a problem because you don’t get much interaction and you can start to get a bit of cabin fever. However, there are a lot of physical problems you need to tackle too. 

Leg pain is very common when sitting down all day, and it can be worse when working from home because many people stay at their desk for lunch and work longer hours. When you are in a static position all day long, it can cause stiffness in the muscles. There is also the potential for fluid to build up in the veins and that can cause pain as well. 

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If you work from home a lot, you need to make sure that you take preventative measures to reduce your leg pain. There are some great exercises you can do and thinking about the way that you set up your workstation is important too. Here’s how you can combat leg pain when working from home. 

Take Regular Breaks 

The main reason that people experience leg pain is that they don’t move around enough. Your legs are in the same position for hours on end, so the muscles get stiff and start to hurt. Taking regular breaks to get up and walk around is the easiest way to prevent this. Every hour or so, get out of your seat and walk around for 5 minutes to stretch your legs. Having regular breaks will improve your productivity at work as well as reducing your leg pain, so it’s very important. 

Do Some Simple Stretches 

Even if you take breaks, your legs will still get stiff from time to time. Doing regular stretches can help alleviate the tightness in your muscles and give you a lot of relief. Whenever you get up to take a break, do a few simple leg stretches for a couple of minutes. Try to do them when you get up and before you go to bed too. You don’t need to spend too much time on it and once you incorporate it into your daily routine, you will see a big reduction in leg pain. 

Exercise Your Legs

Strengthening your lower body can help to support your spine and alleviate pain from sitting. Activating your leg muscles on a regular basis will also stop them from stiffening up, so try to do some simple exercises like squats from time to time. You can also do some great glute workouts from South America to strengthen those muscles too. Between regular exercise and stretching, you can prevent stiffness in your legs and increase your strength so you can take the strain off your joints and your back. 

Get The Right Office Setup

The way that you set up your workspace and the furniture that you choose makes a huge difference. If you are using an old chair that doesn’t offer much support, the pain you feel in your legs will be much worse. When you are setting up your home office, it’s important that you invest in high-quality ergonomic office furniture. Consider the position of your desk too because if you are hunched forward and the desk is too low, your legs will be in a less stable position and the muscles will get much tighter. If you are particularly concerned about leg pain, you should try a standing desk. These are much better for you because you are in a more active position and your muscles are engaged at all times. However, be aware that standing all day in the same position can still cause leg pain because you are still in a static position. So, you still need to take breaks to move around. If you have an adjustable desk, you can switch between sitting and standing. 

Consult Your Doctor

Often, leg pain is caused by sitting for too long while working. However, there are other potential causes and it could be a symptom of a wider health issue. So, if you have tried making the other changes we have already discussed and it still doesn’t make a difference, you should consult your doctor. In many cases, they won’t find anything wrong and you will just have to keep up with your stretches. But it’s better to be safe than sorry, so get yourself checked if you are concerned. 

Leg pain is very common, especially in people that work from home. But you can avoid it if you follow these simple steps. 

 

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If you’re lucky enough to have a garden space you’ll want to keep it looking beautiful. Whether you’re a keen gardener or a novice, these apps have got plenty of useful tips and tricks.

1. Moon & Garden

Moon & Garden can help you to create the perfect organic garden. The idea is that plants depend on natural lunar phases. The app guides you to base your gardening activities on these phases of the moon. There are many different activities to focus on including repotting, sowing, harvesting, and transplanting.

You can use the app to learn about the current zodiac sign and the moon phase. Check out the weather forecast, and keep your garden in the best condition. You can take pictures, make notes, and organize your gardening tasks. There’s a reminder feature that can help you to stay on track.

2. Gardenize

The Gardenize app is the perfect tool to improve your garden. Using the app you can monitor your plants, whether indoor plants or an outdoor garden. The app includes lots of tips that will help you to take care of your plants. Store your photographs and notes, and check out the educational news feed. The news feed has lots of advice that will help your garden to thrive. Topics covered include harvesting, fertilizing, raising beds, or flower breeds. Using Gardenize you can monitor the condition of the soil, and keep a useful garden diary.

3. Gardroid 

If you’ve always wanted to grow vegetables, Gardroid is the perfect app to get started. You can use the app to learn about harvesting and sowing. The app will give you lots of plant care tips, and info about the correcting sowing temperatures. With Gardroid you can track the progress of plants, get notifications, and save into. You’ll learn all about plant spacing and depth. There are so many benefits of growing your own vegetables including:

• Improve your health by eating more nutrients.
• Save money by reducing your grocery bill.
• Live a greener and more sustainable lifestyle.

4. Smart Plant 

The Smart Plant app can teach you everything you need to know about looking after plants. You can use the app to identify plants, browse for plants, and much more. There are lots of cool features to check out, including:

• Info to identify diseases and pests.
• Experts to answer plant-based questions.
• Organize the plants in your garden.
• Scan new plants to find out what they are.
• Get gardening tips to improve your skills
• Personalized recommendations about your garden.

5. Grow Flowers Guide

If you’re looking to grow some beautiful flowers for your garden you need the ‘Grow Flowers Guide’. The app will help you to learn about lots of different types of flowers, plus all the growing tips you need. Here you’ll get to understand what flowers need to thrive. Growing a flower garden can be tricky, but with this app, the process just became a whole lot easier.

Boosting your curb appeal

Improving your garden isn’t just about plants and flowers, it’s about maintaining the exterior areas of your home. If you neglect your fences, your garage, and your driveway, this will really bring down your curb appeal! If you need maintenance work on your garage, check out this quality garage door repair service. Perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve updated your driveway? Once you’ve replaced cracked paving stones your outdoor space will look far more impressive.

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok from Pexels

If you think about it, just about all spaces benefit from seating. Even in the bathroom, it’s handy to have somewhere to sit that isn’t the toilet. Even though all seating may look more or less the same, details can make a huge difference. With that in mind, here are some tips on choosing the right seating for your space.

In the living area

Living areas are for relaxing. This means that the best approach is usually to focus on a single, key piece, typically a (sleeper) sofa. In a small living area, this may be the only seating you have. Even in a small space, however, you should be prepared to invest in accessories for it.  

In particular, make sure that you have somewhere for people to put drinks (and snacks too). Resist any temptation to use the arms of your sofa or chair. This is how you get major stains on your carpet (just ask your local carpet cleaners). If you don’t have space for a proper coffee table, then a couple of small stools will do the trick.

If you have a cat, velvet-style upholstery may deter them from sharpening their claws on your good seating. This is, however, not guaranteed. Another option is simply to cover the upholstery (for example with a blanket) and consider wrapping the legs in string (or similar). This won’t deter them but it should protect your good seating.

In the dining area

If your house is big enough to have a separate dining area, then upholstered dining chairs are great investments. They support you while you eat and keep you comfortable over long periods socializing at the table. Of course, proper, separate dining areas are becoming a real luxury.  

At a minimum, dining areas often have to work as home offices too. If that’s the case, consider switching out one or two of the dining chairs for proper office chairs. If you can’t manage that, then at least buy the best ergonomic dining chairs you can fit in your space and budget. You’ll soon learn to appreciate the value of the lumbar support they offer.

If you only have space for a “pop-up” dining area, then you might want to consider padded stools. Again, buy the best quality you can afford. If your pop-up dining area has to work as your pop-up office as well then aim to invest in one great chair which will fit under it.  

If necessary make space for it by using stackable stools for people who are just eating. Stackable stools are generally plain wood or metal. You can, however, make them hard stools a lot more comfortable by just adding cushions.

In the kitchen

Counter stools are usually the way to go in the kitchen. Think about getting height-adjustable ones so you can move them elsewhere in your home and use them for comfortable occasional seating. If you have the budget, invest in padded counter stools with low backs. These are as good as it gets for countertop eating and they are also pretty decent as regular seats.

In the bathroom

Bathrooms are usually the smallest rooms in any home. They are also generally have limited storage. This means that you might be tempted to pass on seating altogether. It’s true you can just perch on the toilet but there are two good reasons not to. Firstly, it’s not the most comfortable option. Secondly, it can damage your toilet and result in an expensive repair.

Storage benches can provide both a place to sit and valuable storage. The better option, however, might be to improvise a storage bench with a shower stool and a basket underneath it. Shower stools might seem like an indulgence, particularly if you’re a working-age adult. It’s true you might not need them often. When you do, however, you may really need them.

The truth is that anyone can have a bit of an accident or just feel unwell. In either of those situations, whether or not you have a shower stool could decide whether you feel safe having a shower. It could definitely make you a whole lot more comfortable. What’s more, you can use shower stools as regular seating.

In the bedroom area

Regularly sitting on the edge of your mattress will damage it. In other words, it will shorten the lifespan of your mattress. High-quality mattresses are a lot more expensive than high-quality chairs. This means that having seating in the bedroom area should be a high priority.

If space is tight, consider using a chair, or even a stool, in place of a nightstand. You can compensate for the reduced storage by using a bedside caddy. You could also pop a picture rail behind your bed for little necessities. For even more space-saving, use wall-mounted lights. There are now plug-in wall sconces to suit every space, taste, and budget.

According to recent surveys, anxiety and depression are the two most common mental health illnesses in the United States, therefore discovering strategies to treat such disorders is becoming increasingly vital, not just in our country, but around the world. While some people may need to use medication to cure their condition, others are turning to more natural alternatives, such as exercise and a balanced diet, or other complementary therapies, such as distance healing, to reduce their symptoms. Of course, each of these treatments has advantages, but there are several ways to manage anxiety and depression that are appropriate for people of all ages.

Talk to any pet owner, and they will tell you how much they love their pet and how they couldn’t live without their dog, cat, hamster, horse, or even pet snake. Human-animal bonds are extremely positive, and according to 2015 research, 95 percent of pet owners regard their animals to be members of the family. They take them on holiday, allow them to sleep on beds, and when they do pass away, buy beautiful cremation urns for pets so that they can remain a part of the family long after they have gone.

People may think of pets as animals to play with and stroke, but believe it or not, animals have a plethora of benefits that can assist enhance mental health. After all, who doesn’t enjoy snuggling with a cat or a dog?

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Owning a pet can reduce the risk of anxiety and depression

Anxiety and sadness, for the most part, coexist. Depression is more than just being unhappy; when you’re depressed, you’re sad all the time, and this misery can have a big impact on your entire life. Furthermore, anxiety might leave you feeling unsettled, with a sensation of intense fear and worry, which can limit your social life and job chances. 

These mental health problems can affect people of any age. Non-pet owners, on the other hand, are thought to be four times more likely than pet owners to be diagnosed with clinical depression. The reasons for this could be because pets can provide you with a sense of importance, unconditional love, and can have a soothing and calming effect — all of which can help to reduce symptoms of depression. 

Furthermore, your relationship with your animals is less likely to have the ups and downs that you have with humans, making it much more constant and less prone to create stress and sorrow.

Owning a pet can boost your social skills

Children with conditions such as autism or ADHD frequently struggle to communicate. However, new research has shown that keeping a pet can assist youngsters on the autism spectrum, improve social skills and reduce the anxieties and frustrations that are typical among people with ASD. 

Researchers have linked caring for an animal to improved social skills, so parents of autistic children may want to consider getting their child a tiny pet. While your children may want for a puppy if you are unable to care for such a large animal that requires a lot of dedication, consider a rabbit or guinea pig.

Owning a pet can be calming

Petting an animal causes the production of oxytocin (a hormone associated with happiness and tranquility). This can assist someone who is really worried and anxious in relaxing and experiencing sensations of joy. Because of these soothing benefits, there has been an increase in animal-assisted therapy (AAT), such as puppy and kitten therapy sessions, in which clients are permitted to sit with animals and pet them for a short period of time. According to research, all people who had animal therapy got less stressed – even those who claimed they were not particularly fond of animals!

They encourage people to get active

This obviously does not apply to hamsters and rabbits and so forth, but dogs need to be walked. When you are experiencing a mental health crisis, it can be easy to curl up and isolate oneself from the outside world. Owning a dog, and especially having a close attachment with one, encourages the owner to take it for regular walks. This alleviates symptoms of social isolation while also getting the person outside, in the fresh air, and exposed to sunlight. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a true condition in which a lack of sunlight causes depression and low spirits. The obligation of taking a pet for regular, daily walks can be a start toward preventing that.

Pets live in the moment

They are unconcerned with what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow, next week, or next month. They live in the present moment, making the most of what is happening to them. Many people who suffer from anxiety or depression do the exact opposite. People who own a pet can become more mindful. Mindfulness is a mental practice that encourages people to make the most of their lives.

Can alleviate loneliness

Living alone can be a major source of stress and anxiety. Long nights alone or walking into an empty house day in day out may be too much for many people. Having a live thing that is reliant on you and delighted to see you walk through the door can make all the difference in the world. In addition, as previously stated, it can aid with social isolation. Taking a dog for a walk immediately attracts people for discussion, and even a few minutes of speaking with another adult can raise some people’s spirits.

Requires some sort of routine

A lack of routine can be both a cause and a symptom of poor mental health. A pet gives people a cause to get out of bed in the morning, a purpose to leave the house, and a reason to go shopping. When you have someone or something that depends on you for survival, staying fit and healthy becomes much more vital, and studies suggest that pet owners are healthier and more motivated to exercise.