Enrichment for dogs

Written By Tarka Dog Training .

What is enrichment?

 Enrichment can be anything that occupies or interests your dog. It can include:

  • Using different ways to feed your dog (ditch the bowl!)

  • Taking your dog to explore new places and smells

  • Allowing your dog to really stop and sniff everything on a walk,

  • New toys

  • Games

  • New smells

  • New tricks to learn

  • A chew

  • Water play

  • Social interactions and much more!


    What could be enriching to your dog might be terrifying to another dog so it’s important to read your dog's body language and decide if your dog is stressed by what's on offer or interested.

 

What are the benefits?

 There are so many benefits! To you and your dog! Investing a little time and perhaps even a little money is a great investment in your dog's overall welfare and wellbeing. And that in turn has a positive impact on yours! Adding enrichment to your dog's day can help to alleviate and reduce problem behaviours by giving them an outlet for some of those normal dog behaviours that can sometimes be a problem in our homes. Behaviour problems often result from stress or boredom and enrichment is all about reducing stress and boredom!

Ideas for enrichment…

 • Any feeder-type toys will slow your dog's food consumption making that tasty meal last longer and meaning that they have to work harder for it. Dogs are carnivores and they have evolved brains and bodies for hunting and scavenging. When they live in our homes finding a meal is rarely an issue and is very predictable. But our dogs still need an outlet for those innate behavioral tendencies and energy. Reduce boredom and increase mental stimulation by providing a challenge at mealtimes by ditching the regular food bowl and try a food dispenser, stuff-able toy like a Kong, or spreadable mats to encourage licking.

• Sniff safari! We like to get from A to B....... Dogs see the world through their nose. Allow your dog time to sniff whenever possible. A sniffy walk can be as tiring as an off-lead run! It also helps the dog de-stress.

• Games galore! Playing tug or fetch or training new tricks or skills is enriching to your dog mentally and physically.

• Chews. It is no secret that dogs love a good chew! There are many natural treats available that are very low-calorie and help to clean your dog's teeth. Rabbit ears, dehydrated chews, chicken feet, pizzle sticks (don’t ask!), yak chews, antlers, and tracheas are all great healthy chews and available from most pet shops and online suppliers. Chewing is a way of self-soothing and offering opportunities will reduce the need for chewing on your shoes….. In theory.

• Lick mats. Spread some dog-friendly peanut butter, natural unflavoured yogurt (kefir is great) canned dog food, soaked kibble, or mince across a lick mat so that your dog has to lick the food off. Licking is another self-soothing behaviour and can help your dog to calm down, these can even be frozen to make them last a little longer and cool your dog down in the summer. Lick mats are available online or in pet stores, you could also use shallow ice cube trays or unwanted muffin trays. If your dog is a super chewer these will have to be supervised and removed when your dog has finished.

Some low-cost/free ideas….

  • Egg boxes/cardboard boxes fill with some kibble or tiny treats and let your dog tear it up and forage away! layer boxes up for an additional challenge.

  • Old towels. Lay the towel out and sprinkle over some tiny treats roll up and let your dog figure out how to get to the treats inside, to make this harder you can tie the rolled-up towel into a loose knot.

  • Scatter feed. Scatter your dogs' biscuits in the grass or over a floor for foraging.

  • Plastic plant pots. Hide pieces of food under an upturned pot for your dog to find.

  • Muffin tray and tennis balls. Place some food bits in the tray and place the tennis balls on top, your dog will smell the food and have to figure out how to pick up and move the balls to access the treats, a great DIY puzzle feeder.

  • Loo roll tubes. Fill with treats or kibble and fold the ends over for a quick and easy food foraging activity.

  • Hiding treats in the house or garden is scent work at it’s most basic, and any activity that gets that sniffer switched on is always going to carry well being benefits for our dogs.

Let us know in the comments what your dog's favorite enrichment game/activity/feed toy is.



Tarka Dog Training .
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