What is canine enrichment?
Canine enrichment means engaging your dog in activities to stimulate them mentally and physically in ways that would be similar to how they might behave in the wild. For instance, with dogs, fetching, sniffing, and foraging would be behaviors that could be displayed in the wild.
Why does my dog need enrichment?
Canine enrichment is great for your dog for several reasons. Enrichment activities will boost your dog’s confidence, teach them to problem solve, and help them learn new skills.
Enrichment is also beneficial to your dog’s health and wellness. It will reduce stress and give them control over their environment which is beneficial to their mental health. Enrichment activities are also good for eliminating boredom and teaching your dog to engage in constructive ways to expel energy.
Taking a closer look at what your dog was bred for can help guide you to the best enrichment activities for your particular breed dog. For instance, if you have a retriever, you would want to focus on activities that require fetching, sniffing, and possibly even water activities.
Different types of canine enrichment
There are several different types of enrichment for you and your dog to try. Experts vary on the exact number of different forms of enrichment but for this article we will focus on seven: social, cognitive, physical/ environment, nutrition, toy, sensory, and occupational. Some enrichment activities will fall into more than one category.
social enrichment
Social enrichment is exactly what it sounds like: gaining enrichment through socialization with other dogs, people, or other animals. Social enrichment is beneficial because it builds trust and self-confidence. It is best to introduce your dog to various social enrichment activities from a young age so they learn how to properly interact with other dogs, animals, or people.
Doggy daycare, the dog park, or the pet store are all examples of places where you can take your dog to experience some social enrichment. Introducing your dog to different animals, such as a new pet or even taking your dog to a farm is also a good way to open up their world to new social experiences.
Physical / environmental enrichment
This form of enrichment involves physical exercise and adding to your dog’s environment to liven things up. For instance, ball pits for dogs are a big trend right now. A ball pit simply consists of a plastic pool filled with plastic balls; throw in a few treats and watch your dog have loads of fun! Another example would be to add a sandbox in your yard so they can enjoy digging without doing any damage.
Certain breeds may enjoy certain activities. For instance, some breeds may enjoy agility courses, while others may prefer dock diving.
nutrition
Nutrition enrichment focuses on using your dog’s nose and brain. Offering your dog their meal or treats in a way that makes them work for it is a great way to offer nutritional enrichment.
Rather than feeding your dog’s meal in a bowl, you can put their dinner in a kong or another food dispensing toy. There are several food puzzle toys on the market which actually require your dog to put in a little work to earn their food.
Lick mats and snuffle mats are other ways to offer your dog nutritional enrichment.
Throwing your dog’s food out in the yard or hiding it in different areas of the house will trigger your dog’s natural foraging skills and make meal time more fun for them. There are several different DIY puzzles you can make for your dog using items found around the house. A little creativity can go a long way! Here is an article on DIY enrichment ideas.
cognitive
Cognitive enrichment involves your dog using their brain to think and problem solve. This form of enrichment is all about learning. Training your dog new tricks, enrolling in obedience school, or teaching scent work are all good ways to incorporate cognitive enrichment into your dog’s life.
There are also a number of games you can play with your dog to help with their cognitive function. Hide and seek and hide the toy or treat are both fun games you can play with your dog.
Toy
Toy enrichment is, as you may have guessed, enrichment using toys! There are so many puzzle toys and toys specifically for enrichment these days it’s hard to know where to begin, and although those toys are great, you can also use everyday household objects to provide entertainment for your dog as well.
For instance, you can hide pieces of your dog’s kibble in a rolled up towel or throw their favorite toy in a box within a box and watch your dog have fun problem solving. Flirt poles are very popular right now. Essentially it is a giant pole with a toy on the end attached by a long rope or cord. Dogs enjoy chasing the “prey” at the end of the pole.
sensory
Sensory enrichment is any activity which stimulates your dog’s five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch.
Sniff walks, which are slow walks geared toward allowing your dog to sniff and explore the world at their own pace, are a great example of sensory enrichment.
Bubbles for dogs are another way to engage your dog in sensory enrichment.
Before leaving the house for the day, you can open a window and put on some classical music to help offer some enrichment for your dog throughout the day. Putting on the television, especially dog television, is another simple way to enrich your dog’s day.
occupational
The final form of enrichment we will explore is occupational enrichment. Occupational enrichment focuses on giving your dog a job to do. All dogs were bred for something, so breed specific enrichment focuses on what the breed is bred to do and assigns a job for that purpose.
Taking a herding dog to a farm to let it herd a bunch of sheep is an awesome idea, but if you live in the city and don’t have a friend in the country with sheep, it might prove difficult. So this is where you get creative.
Herding balls are a great way to bring out your dog’s natural herding instincts. Herding balls are large indestructible (typically plastic) balls made for your dog to “herd” and push around.
Flirt poles, as mentioned above, are another fun toy to introduce to your herding dog.
Another example of breed specific enrichment for sporting breeds could be training your golden or labrador retriever to retrieve something for you. Train your dog to fetch your newspaper everyday or bring you a drink. Training your dog how to put their toys away is another fun job to teach your dog.
Dogs love having a job to do and if you incorporate a job that your dog is bred to do, it will make your dog that much happier.
conclusion
As we have learned, there are so many different ways to enrich your dog’s life, from toys to games to jobs. The more enrichment you introduce to your dog, the more they will have a happy and fulfilled life.
Dogs are very intelligent and love to problem solve, so it is important to offer a variety of enrichment activities for them. You can’t just offer them the same puzzles over and over and expect the same satisfaction from them. Rotate their toys and puzzles, give them a new job, train them new tricks and you will see the greatest benefits of enrichment.
Have you tried enrichment for your dog? What’s you and your dog’s favorite form of enrichment?