Imagine if you just let your dog run free, and do whatever they wanted for a week…. Think about all the things they might get up to.
They might roam, scavenge, play, bark, sniff, dig, chew, make a den, chase smaller animals… the list goes on.
However we put a lot of limitations on our dogs by inviting them into our homes. Many of these natural canine behaviours simply aren’t acceptable in our living rooms.
Its no wonder then that so many pet dogs are often bored; and the single walk we are able to squeeze into our busy schedules doesn’t fully solve this.
Canine enrichment is an essential part of dog wellness. It exercises the mind and body, prevents boredom and reduces stress; improves behaviour and improves success in training.
What is canine enrichment?
Enrichment is allowing your dog to engage in mentally and physically stimulating activities designed to satisfy their natural instincts.
Good enrichment activities are positive, fun and challenging for your dog, without being frustrating or overwhelming.
There are many different types of enrichment activities:
– Some are active and raise arousal levels (think chasing a ball, tug games and dog sports like agility or flyball)
– Some are relaxing and have a calming effect (think lick mats, stuffed kongs and chew toys).
– Others are a mixture of active and calming and their effect will differ depending on the dog and how they respond. For example food puzzle toys, homemade problem solving and sniffy games that encourage the dog to use its brain in order to ‘win’ the food.
What are the benefits of enrichment?
All of these activities do take some level of effort for owners, but the rewards are really worth it:
1. Engaging your dog in enrichment activities prevents boredom.
A bored dog will often look for his own entertainment; sometimes finding activities that we might not like. Chewing furniture, excessive barking and destruction can all be symptoms of boredom.
In many cases, a good enrichment plan can almost entirely eliminate many of these ‘problem behaviours’. If a dog is provided with proper outlets for their mental and physical energy, they are much less likely to search for their own more destructive outlets.
A dog that regularly gets social enrichment and appropriately interacts with other dogs and people is much less likely to jump on guests as they arrive. Why? Because he does not have such an intense desire to do so, since his social needs are regularly met.
The guest’s arrival now, whilst exciting, is not such a big deal. Whilst enrichment alone might not completely eliminate the jumping, we now have a dog who will be much more receptive to training not to jump up, since his arousal levels are now lower when guests arrive.
In short: enrichment prevents boredom and can decrease or even eliminate many common behaviour problems.
2. Regular enrichment can reduce general levels of anxiety
Calming enrichment activities such as chew toys, lick mats or sniffing out treats scattered in the yard can significantly reduce overall stress levels.
Chewing, licking and casual sniffing release endorphins that help calm and relax dogs, making them feel good. This is why dogs with separation anxiety might chew things when left alone. They do so in an attempt to self soothe and relieve some of that stress they are feeling.
Giving dogs a chance to regularly relieve stress in this way can help your dog achieve a more emotionally balanced state of mind.
Imagine if you were never given the opportunity to decompress and relax after a long day of work or a busy social event. It probably wouldn’t take much to push you over the edge, for you to snap. The same is true for our dogs, especially those prone to reactivity.
Stress can easily build up in dogs for lots of different reasons, and if they are never given an outlet for this build up of stress, they are much more likely to over-react (eg bark, growl or lunge) even to ‘minor’ things. However by including calming enrichment into our dog’s daily routine, we can significantly reduce levels of anxiety and reduce stress-based behaviours.
3. Interactive enrichment is a great way to strengthen your bond with your dog
Playing with your dog, and dog sports such as agility are fun for both you and your dog. Not only do these activities allow you both to enjoy each other’s company but they also help build better communication and strengthen your relationship.
If your dog sees you as a fun partner in their enjoyable activities, you will find that they are much more likely to listen to you at other times.
If we only interact with our dogs to tell them off or to stop them doing things, its no wonder that they start to ignore us… we’re boring, and we’re spoiling their fun! By doing fun activities together, your dog is more likely to want to focus and spend time with you, and more likely to respond when you train them.
Bottom line
Finding time to enrich your dog’s life is massively worthwhile. By preventing boredom, lowering stress and strengthening your relationship, enrichment can improve behaviour, reduce stress and anxiety and increase focus levels. It’ll lead to a happier dog and as a result, a happier you!
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