Dog Enrichment outside the Food Bowl

At Happy Hounds, we are so lucky to collaborate with an amazing dog trainer and behaviourist, Carri Robinson from Wild Heart Dogs. Today, Carri is sharing with us some great dog enrichment ideas that you can try outside of your dog's food bowl.

Living with dogs means that we are responsible for ensuring that they live a rich and plentiful life.

Now, what is enrichment? Enrichment is “the action of improving or enhancing the quality or value of something”. So, let’s dig a little deeper and share a few ideas of what you can include in your dog’s daily and weekly routines.

Mealtimes are a daily occurrence for our four-legged friends and one that they no doubt love. Food is an important component to a dog’s wellbeing because it helps with:

• Relationship building between owner and the dog

• Providing an outlet for behavioural needs

• Aiding physical activity

• Encouraging learning

• Providing an appropriate outlet for chewing

So how can you use food as a tool outside of the food bowl? Here are some ideas to get you started.

Set Up Scavenger Hunts

• Scatter feeding: take a handful of your dog’s food and toss on the lawn or floor for your dog to search and find.

• Hiding little piles of food or stuffed toys around the house or garden for your dog to track down.

• Setting up a digging pit for your dog containing buried yummies.

Food Enrichment Toys

• We can split these into stimulating and calming food toys. Stimulating toys include Kong Wobblers, snuffle mats, Lickimats and food puzzles, while calming food toys include the Kong range that can be stuffed with wet food.

• Choosing carefully selected raw, natural bone (never cooked) as part of a diet plan (e.g. BARF) or as an enrichment addition.

Training

• Using food in training is another fantastic way to increase connection between you and your dog.

• Have pots of food scattered around the house. A container near the door to scatter feed when visitors arrive (your dog can’t jump up if their nose is on the floor). Near their bed, to treat them for laying on their bed at human meal times.

Enrichment extends further than food, but hopefully these are a few ideas to get you started. We look forward to sharing more enriching ideas in our following posts.

For more training tips, one to one consults, virtual consultations and online courses, check out Carri at Wild Heart Dogs. You can find her details on the Happy Hounds Directory and if you're a Happy Hounds pet parent, we can set you up with a client discount.  Please contact us for the discount code.