Enrichment for Dogs by Martindale Dog Training

Enrichment for Dogs by Martindale Dog Training

Canine enrichment- something people seem to be talking about a lot at the moment (yay!) but what is it? and why should you start incorporating enrichment into your dogs daily routine?

So firstly what is enrichment? Enrichment is classed as ‘any activity your dog finds innately satisfying’. This means any activity or interaction which stimulates their senses, engages their minds or satisfies an innate behaviour (such as sniffing, digging, licking or chewing).

Why should I provide enrichment for my dog? Any dog can benefit from extra enrichment, any breed, age or character. By regularly allowing our dog to engage in enrichment activities we help to strengthen our relationship with our dog, problem solving activities can help our dogs to become more confident, we can give our dogs outlets for breed specific behaviours and enrichment can help our dogs lower their stress levels. We often focus on keeping our dogs physically fit by giving them lots of lovely walks but often don’t concentrate as much on their mental wellbeing, enrichment is a great way to help with that.

What sort of enrichment should I start with? Take a look at your dogs breed/mix of breeds, what were they originally bred to do? Herding dogs will usually love herding games like sheepball, hunting dogs will usually enjoy anything that involves sniffing like snuffle mats etc. Half of the fun of enrichment is trying out new activities with your dog so you can discover together what activities your dog enjoys most. Each dog will have preferences, just like us.

Here is a list of some of my favourite easy to try enrichment activities, why don’t you give some of them a go?

  • Snuffle mat 
  • Puzzle feeders
  • Lickimats
  • Go for a sniffy walk, with no destination in mind, let your dog set the pace and sniff as much as they like
  • Find the treat, hide treats around the house or garden and let your dog sniff them out
  • Take a cardboard box with some scrunched up paper in, throw in a handful of treats and let your dog sniff them out*

*All enrichment activities should be supervised so we can make sure they are appropriate for our dog

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