Use her normal food, not extra food
The puzzle trap is easy to fall into: every bored moment is answered with another filled toy, and by evening a small puppy has eaten her meals plus a second day's worth of extras. The fix is to change the delivery, not the amount. Weigh or measure her usual daily food in the morning and treat that pot as the entertainment budget. Some goes in her bowl, some is scattered in the grass for her to hunt, some is hidden in scrunched paper or cardboard boxes, and some is frozen in water or plain yoghurt-style layers in a bowl for a slow lick on a warm afternoon. She works just as hard, feels just as satisfied and finishes the day having eaten exactly what she was meant to eat.
Rotate sniffing, licking and shredding
A puppy who cannot walk far still has a nose, a tongue and a strong opinion about cardboard. Sniffing games tire puppies out of proportion to their length, so hide a few pieces of her meal around one puppy-proofed room and let her quarter the floor like a tiny detective. Licking activities, such as her frozen bowl or a smear of her own soft food on a lick mat, tend to settle puppies rather than wind them up, which makes them ideal before a nap. Safe shredding, using a head of cabbage, a cardboard box with treats folded inside or a towel rolled around part of her meal, satisfies the urge to dismantle things without involving your shoes. Rotate the type of activity through the day rather than repeating the same puzzle, because novelty is what keeps a confined puppy interested, not difficulty stacked higher and higher.
Short training games tire the brain
Mental effort is the other half of a low-walk week. Teach one small thing at a time in sessions of just a few repetitions: a hand touch, a spin, settling on a mat, or bringing a soft toy back two steps and trading it. Use pieces from her measured food pot and stop while she is still enjoying it, because a tired puppy brain learns better from five good repetitions than from twenty fading ones.
Protect rest, because boredom and tiredness look alike
A puppy who is whining at the pen, mouthing hands and racing between toys may not need more entertainment at all. She may need a nap. Puppies in the early weeks sleep for most of the day, and restricted exercise often disrupts the usual pattern, so owners add activity when the puppy is actually overtired and unable to switch off. Build quiet periods into the plan between activities, with a chew from her allowance, a dim corner and no audience, and let her sleep properly rather than dozing between interruptions. If she seems restless, distressed or uncomfortable in a way that does not settle with rest, or if the restriction follows an illness or procedure and anything about her recovery worries you, check with your vet rather than inventing more games.
Share the rota so nobody overfeeds out of kindness
In a family home, the puppy's food budget usually leaks through kindness: one person runs a puzzle, another offers a chew, a third slips her a training treat, and no one realises the total. Put the measured pot, the day's activities and the rest times where everyone can see them, and take turns rather than duplicating. Plan the week in KinsLe Care Teams, assigning each enrichment activity and rest period to a named family member who can mark it complete with a timestamp, so her entertainment is spread across the day and her meals stay exactly where her growing body needs them.