What do trainers mean when we say canine enrichment?
Canine enrichment is making sure that your dog leads a full and interesting life. Giving them activities to meet their specific needs, mentally, physically and socially. Most dogs will have similar overarching needs, but individual dogs or breed groups can have more specific enrichments needs. This is why breed specific activities, sport and competition exists, to meet those specific needs and scratch those genetic itches, leading to more satisfied and happy dogs.
People often think of the multitude of enrichment toys and equipment that is on the market when they hear canine enrichment, however this is a very small part of what enrichment is. Some of these items ( kongs, lickimats, snuffle mats etc) are useful to support initial training with your dog, for instance crate training etc. Having a dog who values enrichment in the home is useful for if they ever have an injury which restricts them ( or elderly dogs ). It is also useful if you as an owner have an illness and are unable to take your dogs out for a short period. Some dogs with certain behavioural problems may benefit from days where their activities are more sedate and less stress inducing. However, teaching your dog to switch off and not constantly being on the go/constantly being given something to do is very important too. Especially for busy working breeds who may be more likely to struggle to switch off. The use of these items are a nice addition to your dogs life but shouldn’t be used excessively or instead of training, exploring, playing etc.
The main forms of enrichment that I provide my dogs with includes…
🐾Regular training indoors and outdoors. Mentally stimulating them, building our bond, meeting breed specific needs.
🐾 Scent work/ nose work. Dogs noses are amazing and they love to use them. This is one of the best ways to enrich your dogs life. I do scent work in the form of food search’s sometimes indoors sometimes outdoors, searching for scent squirrels/ hunting for toys( active indication). I also train Badger to search for certain odours and passively indicate when he has found them.
🐾Off lead time allowing them to sniff and explore and just be a dog ( training allows this freedom).
🐾Playing with them, having fun together and strengthening the bond.
🐾Exploring new places together.
🐾Partaking in doggy parkour to help build confidence.
🐾Visiting their favourite people or dog friends.
🐾Occasional use of enrichment toys- fed in kongs a few times a week. Lickimats very occasionally usually frozen on a hot day or used to help build positive associations with handling etc.
🐾Long lasting chews a couple of times a week.
Enrichment toys are the least enriching thing in my dogs life, they are a happy extra/ treat for occasional use. I use enrichment more when my dogs are puppies to support behaviours, build confidence and redirect them to do appropriate things, gradually fading how much I use them as they get older. It’s not wrong to regularly use enrichment feeders/toys, how much you decide to use them is down to you and the needs of your individual dog. I guess the post is just to highlight the need to also teach them that they don’t constantly need something to do as this can create problem behaviours. Also that enrichment toys are not a long term replacement for all of what I’ve outlined above.
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