Enrichment for dogs

What is enrichment?

Enrichment enhances your dog’s environment by providing activities and opportunities that allow them to express natural behaviours.

Why is enrichment so important for dogs?

Providing enrichment has huge benefits for your dog:

• It allows your dog to carry out behaviours they enjoy and need to do so they feel fulfilled and satisfied
• It helps improve their overall mental wellbeing
• It can help improve confidence – studies show that enrichment can increase ‘optimism’ in animals 
• It can help reduce some problematic behaviours

Some dogs may have a temporary or permanent restriction on how much exercise they are able to have. For example, young puppies or dogs who are not able to freely exercise off lead. This can lead to frustration as they may have fewer chances to use up their energy or express natural healthy behaviour. Enriching their life in other ways can help them to cope.

Types of enrichment

You might be surprised how many ways there are to enrich your dog’s life! Here are few to get your started.

Food 

Food enrichment can help change your dog’s ordinary bowl of food into a fun and mentally challenging activity. Food enrichment creates lots of opportunity for dogs to display their natural scavenging behaviour, which is both enjoyable and satisfying. You can use:

• Activity feeders. These are hollow dimpled balls, the size of a small football, with two holes. Small pieces of dry food are placed inside. Your dog has to roll the ball around to get the food out of the holes.
• Snuffle mats
• Frozen Kong toys
• Destruction boxes with food inside
• Scatter feeding some or all of your dog’s dinner in the house or garden – a great way to activate their natural searching behaviour

Cognitive (mental)

Dogs of all ages and breeds are fantastic problem solvers. Reward based training sessions stimulate dogs’ brains and teach them new skills.

More on training your dog

Sensory

Sound

Did you know music can affect your dog’s mood? Try playing calming music for relaxation or something more upbeat for play. Offer toys that make different sounds (as long as your dog is not scared of the sound). You can also try playing the radio or podcasts, or even reading aloud to your dog.

Scent

Activities like scent games, nose work, hide and seek, and food scattering all require dogs to use their phenomenal sense of smell. A slow ‘sniff walk’ allows your dog to explore the environment at their own pace, which can be very rewarding (especially for dogs who must stay on the lead).

If you have a garden, no matter what the size, you can make it more interesting to your dog by planting safe herbs and plants, adding logs to climb, and hiding treats.

Social enrichment

Just like us, dogs are very social creatures and spending time with their friends is essential for their wellbeing. Depending on your dog’s preferences, this can be with people or other dogs.

Dogs don’t have to have exciting play with other dogs to benefit – slow walks sniffing the same spot is something most dogs tend to enjoy. If your dog is not keen on other dogs, just focus on allowing them to spend time with their favourite people. This can be through playing with your dog, training, a car ride or just relaxing at home together. 

Environment

It’s good to provide lots of choice and variety in your dog’s environment. Look at your dog’s resting places and where you take them for walks and outings. Some of this will depend on your dog’s personality – some dogs do better with a predictable routine and the quiet life (especially if they are a bit anxious). Others may enjoy lots of variety.

It’s easy for us all to get stuck in a rut, so think about some new adventures you and your dog can do together. You may enjoy hiking in woods, or a car ride to a nice quiet sniff spot for your dog.

Tips for enriching your dog’s life

• Rotate activities regularly
• Include a variety of enrichment types
• Be mindful of your dog’s individual preferences – think about their breed type and what outlets they might need, as well as their personality
• Create an enrichment calendar to help you plan exciting activities in your schedule