I have working dogs, and so anytime either of us has an injury, or life gets chaotic, I have to 'return to basics.'
So, no matter what, if they are healthy, they get half an hour of exercise in the morning. Walk, run, swim, fetch (if I am injured) which is important for me as well, as it helps keep me healthy. It does mean I am up earlier, but I find it does me a lot of good. Also, if I really need to study, I can take along note cards with 'topics' on them and review while on the go. That is pre-breakfast.
Breakfast is then served in a food puzzle. You can buy some of these (kong, premeir, and starmark all have options available) or you can make your own (google canine behavior enrichement or wolf behavior enrichment.) We made most of ours. If we aren't in the house, food is always fed in some sort of food puzzle. We rotate the puzzles just to keep the dog's more occupied. Mental energy translates into better behavior and more restful.
If I know it will be a long day away from home (more than 9.5 hours) I arrange to have someone stop by, let the dogs out, and distribute a chew or bones or just a different set of toys (we keep toys in bins and rotate what is available which helps keep the toys fun and novel.)
After I return home we have another exercise session, about 15 minutes, generally a walk or fetch or tug and often including a brief training session (clicker training) where I use their food as treats. This is a good relaxer for me, and I finish feeding them while I prep my own dinner. Then we settle in for the evening, often with a different set of toys (toss the ones down into a bin, and grab another bin....we have about 20 small stackable bins on a shelf for this.) Dogs occupy themselves while I study. At least every hour I take a 5-10 minute break to get up, move around, get a soda, and I try to make these high energy aciivity with my pets. We play tag and tug a lot. I have trained all of my dogs to settle down and be calm on cue, just in case they are too riled. We end the evening with a last 10 minute game, then off to bed.
I do have multiple dogs, and I do feel that our dogs, which are paired up pretty well, entertain each other. As I write this, my two big dogs are laying back to back. My medium dogs are in the other room chewing on bones, and the two small dogs are chasing each other around.
I do believe that getting a dog to work mentally, along with regular physical activity, will help them rest better and be calmer in general, and will give some quality, even if there isn't quantity.
