No matter what their age or breed, enrichment toys like puzzles and treat dispensers are valuable training tools to add to your dogs’ daily routine. Particularly while many people are adjusting to more time spent at home working and home schooling, canine enrichment toys can also help tíre out your dog and break their boredom while you’re getting everything else done. Dogs who have their needs met through physical and mental stimulation are overall happier, healthier, balanced dogs with fewer behavioural and training issues. This is because enrichment toys benefit your dog by providing a positive outlet to relieve excess energy, stress, break boredom, use their minds and senses in a satisfying way and helps the brains release the happy hormone (dopamine). Dogs who have daily enrichment, like kongs, snuffle mats and lickimats in their routine are better able to self soothe in stressful situations and are generally calmer which helps prevent the development of behavioral issues such as separation anxiety, barking, being unable to settle, chewing etc. Also, remember just twenty minutes of going at an enrichment toy is the equivalent of an hour and a half long walk for your dog!
There are many tools and ways to provide enrichment to you dog’s daily routine. Products like the lickimat and snuffle mats can be bought or made at home. Snuffle mats are rubber matting with fleecey fabric cut into strips that provide hiding spots for food and treats and a challenge and reward game for your dog to find them. Lickimats are rubber, non-slip pads that you can spread dog safe liquid foods on and your dog can spend time licking, rummaging and entertaining themselves by licking the treat off. Licking is a natural behavior in dogs and helps relieve stress and boredom. The best dog safe foods to use on lickimats are Greek yoghurt, natural peanut butter, mashed banana, pate, whizzed up berries and cream cheese. Freezing the lickimat before giving it to your dog will make it last longer!
The most well known enrichment toys are probably the kong and k9 connectables. These are treat dispenser toys that are robust and long lasting and challenges your dog to work out how to get the treats out. Can also be used as throwing and fetch toys. Remember to keep your dog interested by switching up the treats, like cheese and hotdog pieces one day and frozen Greek yoghurt the next day.
For big chewers, invest in a long lasting, natural chew like an antler, horn or yakker. These are available online and all good pet shops. They can be a little more expensive but they can last years for a lot of dogs. They are naturally shed and are a natural enticement for dogs to want to chew. They also don’t contain any sugar, nasties, splinter or cause potential digestive blockages like rawhides or roasted and cooked bones that you can find in some shops.
Other enrichment toys can include the treat snake, a rubber squeaky snake with a hollow middle that will provide a much bigger challenge for dogs to work out, the kong wobblers or gyro sphere which work on the same reward based enrichment techniques but switch it up with a new way for your dog to work out.
When introducing your dog to a new enrichment toy or puzzle, always place it on the ground first to allow your dog to sniff and investigate it. When his interest is peaked then scatter or add something tasty to it and give your dog lots of praise and encouragement when they start to get the treats out. Praise and support will help keep your dog interested in enrichment. Remember to always supervise your dog while they are using a toy. The benefits of enrichment toys and puzzles are vast and can improve the life of all dogs from all different backgrounds and activity levels from keeping a senior dog’s brain active when their joints don’t allow them to walk for long periods anymore or to a new rescue dog who can become distressed in new situations and destresses with a frozen lickimat. We highly recommend researching more and trying out enrichment.
