My dog is a handful–and that’s putting it nicely. We rescued him in December after literally years of begging my husband. I started working from home last fall, and decided it was the perfect time to get one. I was terribly unprepared. I assumed that having dogs growing up I understood the responsibility I would be taking on. I was wrong.

I adore him, but he’s so smart that he stays bored unless you keep him entertained, he’s so loving that he is devastated when I leave him at home and destroys everything and he’s so beautiful but requires hours of running (not walking) to stay healthy and happy. Needless to say, it took some adjustment. And while things are not perfect now, we have found five simple tricks that make life infinitely easier on us and our pup infinitely happier.

1. Frozen food.

Everyone kept telling us to just buy him more brainteaser toys. “He needs to be challenged physically and mentally!” “He’s just bored.” While that may be true, no matter what we purchased, it never lasted very long. If he liked it, he destroyed it. If he couldn’t destroy it, he didn’t like it. We were dropping some serious cash on toys that lasted all of an hour sometimes. Solution: yes, buy brainteaser toys, but fill them with frozen food. I know this sounds gross, but soak your dog’s food overnight, blend it in the food processor. Stuff his brainteaser toys with the mush and freeze them. They do take a while to freeze, so plan ahead. This is the only way we have discovered to keep him from getting overly anxious and destructive when we leave. He wants the food so badly, and it takes him hours to get it all. If you’re in a pinch, keep individual servings of all-natural apple sauce in the freezer and pull one out when your dog gets too unruly or wants food when he shouldn’t have a large serving.

2. More food.

When we first brought him home, we listened very carefully to the vet and the trainer and read the instructions on the back of his food bag religiously. We only ever gave him the recommended amount. Now that I think back on it, we were so silly. He expends so much energy in a day, he is all muscle and bigger than you’d expect for his weight. We started feeding him more, really anytime he asked, and he is a different dog! We were worried he would gain too much weight, but several vet visits later and he has stayed the same healthy weight he should be. To some degree, our dogs know what they need better than we do.

3. Buy a backpack.

This sounds crazy, but it is possibly the most helpful thing we have found thus far. Unless we go to the dog park, we cannot walk our little one long enough or fast enough to tire him out. Our trainer recommended a doggie backpack with weights. It not only makes him work harder but gives him a sense of purpose and he gets distracted less often. We still try to get him to the dog park once a day to run around, but three medium-length walks a day with the backpack and he is a sleepy puppy!

4. Nylabones.

The only toy he enjoys and can’t destroy in a matter of seconds. We stockpile them now.

5. Carlin Springs park.

Finally, for those living in the area, please take your dog to Carlin Springs park. Our dog reached a time when the neighborhood dog park became boring. The same dogs, the same trees, the same fence. He stopped running or playing, but became obsessed with eating grass and poop. Awesome. A friend recommended Carlin Springs, and I will be forever grateful. Unlike most dog parks, this area has not been cleared and it is really large. Everything is new and exciting to him, and he is happiest here. We can let him off leash and he runs circles around us as we “hike.” It’s the best Saturday morning tradition we’ve ever had. And our dog sleeps the rest of the day. The best Saturday afternoon tradition we’ve ever had.

If you’re going through a rough patch with a new dog, don’t despair. Ours is already 2.5 years old, so I don’t know if he will really grow out of it, as some people have told me. But I love him for it. He has personality and brings joy to our lives. Still, these five little tricks have taken us from frustration and tears (on my part) to bliss about 85% of the time. For the remaining 15%? Well, he’s a dog. And dogs will be dogs.