A Bored Dog is a Naughty Dog
Dogs need mental and physical stimulation. If you don’t supply an appropriate outlet, your dog can find countless inappropriate ways to entertain themselves. Chewing the coffee table down to stubs, digging up the petunia bed, shredding your clean, neatly folded laundry into miniscule rags, or chewing up your favorite shoes and pillows can indicate that your dog needs more enrichment.
Enrichment can be anything that gets your dog’s brain working and engages their senses, allowing them to express species typical behaviors like digging, sniffing, chewing, and shredding. Providing an appropriate outlet for these natural behaviors can help prevent our homes and furniture from becoming the target of these behaviors.
Make Mealtime Fun
Food puzzles are fantastic and simple solutions to increase your dog’s mental enrichment. Domesticated dogs are hunters and scavengers, hardwired to work for their food – though it may simply mean sniffing out some scrumptious treasure. Food puzzles are an easy way to put that energy to proper use. There are many options for both store bought and homemade food puzzles. KONGs, treat balls, wobblers, and slow bowls are all great options to start out with. You can also repurpose household items such as:
- Tissue Boxes
- Egg Cartons
- Paper Towel Rolls
- Tissue Paper Rolls
- Plastic Bottles
- Paper Bags
- Coffee Tray
- Cereal Boxes
Be sure to supervise your dog to ensure they don’t ingest any non-food items!
Use Their Nose
Giving your dog a chance to use their nose is another great enrichment option. This can mean playing games of find the treat around your house, offering them a snuffle mat or providing them with novel dog safe scents like lavender, clove or ginger. Taking them on a sniffy walk in a big open area where you allow them to follow their nose and pick the direction of the walk is an excellent outing for you and your dog. Nosework and scent training games are another great option that are fun and enriching for dogs. Fear Free Happy Homes has some great free resources on enrichment ideas.
Sign Up for a Training Class
Taking a training class is also amazing enrichment. Whether that’s learning basic manners or taking an agility class! Check out Joybound’s training classes for our full schedule and offerings.
