In the zoo world, the term “enrichment” is used a lot. Enrichment is defined as any item that encourages natural behaviors, and because zoo animals are provided with everything they need to survive, zookeepers need to give them ways to practice natural behaviors they would use in the wild.
In the dog training world, trainers focus on canine enrichment. Although dogs are not wild animals, they have primal instincts as well. Chewing, hunting and sniffing are all natural behaviors dogs need to practice in order to get the mental stimulation that is necessary and important to live a happy and healthy life.
Fortunately, canine enrichment is an incredibly easy thing to add into your dog’s daily routine. Here’s how to get started:
Encouraging Enrichment at Mealtime
Zookeepers need to be creative with what they have on hand in order to provide effective enrichment opportunities, and often use items such as boxes, bottles, scents and purchased toys (when possible). Many pet parents buy their dogs toys to help meet their dogs’ needs, but often the best toys are the ones created with a zookeeper state of mind.
The easiest way to encourage enrichment is at mealtime. Believe it or not, your dog doesn’t need to eat out of a bowl. Utilizing mealtime as enrichment time is a great way to mentally stimulate your pup. It doesn’t benefit any animal to simply have their food handed to them. Encouraging them to “work” for their food slows them down, engages their brain and keeps them busy and out of trouble.
Canine Enrichment Games
Following is a list of enrichment ideas for you to try with your dog:
- Store bought puzzle feeders. There are so many of these out on the market, and as your dog gets good at them, you will need to challenge them further by finding more difficult ones.
- Homemade puzzle feeders. You don’t need to spend money to get your dog thinking and working for their food. You can use boxes with kibble scattered inside, milk jugs without the cap on and food inside, with the cap on and with holes cut out on the sides, or any other container that will challenge your dog to retrieve his food. Just be mindful not to leave them sitting around empty when your dog is finished as they might chew up the container!
- Ice blocks. Made with kibble frozen in plain or flavored water.
- Hide and seek. Play this by hiding treats or simply hiding regular dog food around the house.
- Training. Training is a form of enrichment as well. You can use your dog’s normal meals to train and it gets them thinking and moving.
Enrichment is a wonderful activity for our dogs that makes them think, which in turn helps you with their training and gives you a smarter dog. It’s also fun to watch them learn and figure things out.
When starting anything new with your dog, it’s important to remember that they need to learn it first. If you start out with something too hard, your dog will get frustrated and give up. Help them learn, and when they start to understand, challenge them with more difficult things.