You hear this word all the time in the dog world, but what is it? 

When we enrich our dog’s lives we are providing them with healthy outlets for their innate dog behaviors. For dogs, enrichment can include activities that provide opportunities for playing, chasing, shredding, smelling, chewing and scavenging. These activities should be offered on a daily basis to ensure their basic needs are being met physically and mentally. Adequate enrichment can decrease stress, frustration and leave your pup feeling more content and in a more stable state of mind (not to mention it minimizes and prevents those unwanted behaviors from occurring I.e. chewing on your fav shoes, digging up your fun flowerbeds, barking at you to acknowledge their existence)

Enrichment is a conversation we have with each of our clients, and is a critical piece of our behavior modification training plan. Simply put, an enriched pup is a happier healthier pup, and a happy healthy pup is a better learner. 

Canine Enrichment:

To be most successful these activities should be built into your dogs daily routine. Any food activities should reduce regular meal time, or you can use enrichment activities to replace traditional mealtime altogether! 

*If you have dogs that guard resources or if you are not sure, you will want to feed separately either in crates or behind baby gates. 

• Feed on a schedule (morning & evening) and with a mentally enriching item: Puzzle bowl, snuffle mat, treat dispensing toy (Kong wobbler, starmark tetraflex)
• Natural Chews: bully sticks, gullet sticks, tremienda, buffalo horns, deer/elk antlers, femur bone. The edible chews should be supervised.
• Busy Bucket: stainless steel bowl or bucket filled with kibble, treats, chicken/beef broth and/or water, and frozen.
• Frozen Toys: Kong, West Paw Topplr, SodaPup - filling can be a combination of different textures and fillers that may include peanut butter, sardines, tripe, canned wet food, kibble and can be frozen to last longer.
• Licki mat or licki bowl: spread across any of the above items for the frozen toys and freeze! *These will need to be supervised as dogs tend to try and eat the mat itself once the food is gone. 
• ‘Find it’ Game: while your dog is put away, hide treats throughout the house or yard and then let them out to go find them all! You may have to help them initially understand the game by pointing out the treats and hiding them in easy places before making it more difficult. Use the same treat for the entire game so that the scent remains the same.
• Decompression Walks: using a secure and comfortable harness (we like the Blue-9 Balance Harness) and a long leash (10-30 ft) you will drive to a place that is ‘scenic’ and has no other people or dogs around. Using this long lead (clasped to the back of the harness) you will allow your dog to smell all the things! Your dog will lead this entire walk, you will simply follow where they go! The long leash allows them to move more freely. Of course if something is harmful or could hurt them we want to call them away excitedly, reward them and continue the walk. Capture their check-ins by rewarding any time that they offer you eye contact on their own. 

(Decompression Walks can be life changing for a lot of dogs! Read more about

them here: https://www.dogmindedboston.com/blog/2019/5/27/the-life

changing-power-of-decompression-walks)

• DIY Boxes: Fill an empty cardboard box with packing paper and other items that will hide treats (toilet paper rolls, plastic cups, etc) and sprinkle kibble or other treats into the box to hide some of the treats. Then let your dog find them all! *This should be a supervised activity as some dogs will attempt to ingest it. If your dog just shreds the paper that is totally fine (bonus enrichment).
• Scatter Feed: simply scatter your pup’s kibble on the ground (inside or outside) and let them clean it up! 
• DIY Obstacle Course: Using a blanket, dog toys, a broom, a bucket, and other household items, create a ‘course’ in your living room! Use a treat to lure your dog through the course initially and praise along the way. You can make these more difficult by adding in jumps and weaves once your dog gets the hang of the game, or moving it into your backyard! 
• Digging: If you have a dog who loves to dig, create a space where it is appropriate for them to do so. Using a kiddie pool filled with sand or dirt is a great way for dogs to get their dig on! You can also hide toys in the sand/dirt for your pup to find. Offer lots of praise as they dig here, and then introduce a cue like ‘go dig’ as you encourage them to play in their new sandbox! 
• Recall Games: 
• Ping Pong: you will need 2 or more people to play this game. Everyone will stand in a circle with a pocket full of treats. Begin by having one person call the dog to them excitedly and offer a treat when they arrive. Then turning your back to the dog, another person in the circle will turn around and excitedly call the dog to them, treating when they arrive, etc. Turning our backs when we are not the one calling them will make it clear to your dog which person to go to! 
• Hide and Seek: Offer a distraction to your dog (a few treats scattered on the ground) while you go and hide. You will want to make this easy at first, maybe hiding in another room, before you make it difficult. You can say your dog’s name + ‘come find me’ to encourage them to come and find you, and once they do, you will celebrate big time with lots of praise and offering a treat. Once your dog understands this game, you can play a surprise version during your day. For example, when your dog is hanging out in the yard, hide and call ‘come find me!’ and reward with a treat or a fun game of tug when he finds you. 
• Flying Cookies: Start with tossing a treat a few feet away from you so that your dog moves away to get the treat. You can say, “Get it!” as you toss so he knows he has permission to eat it. As your dog is finishing the treat (but before he looks back at you), say his name. As his head turns in your direction, click or “Yes!” and toss another treat in another direction. Then repeat, gradually tossing the treats a little farther away as your dog’s confidence in the game grows. This is great for energetic dogs to like to race back and forth and builds excitement for that head-turn! Start this game inside and then move it outside on a long line.