Canine enrichment with everyday items

Canine enrichment is an activity that adapts a dog's environment to encourage engagement and mimic behaviours they would normally do in the wild to satisfy their physical and mental needs. For dogs, this is mainly foraging. We want our dogs to strengthen these natural behaviours and stretch some ‘muscles' they may not be using regularly. For enrichment activities to be effective we do want to challenge our dogs a little bit, but the last thing we want to do is frustrate our fluffy friend or cause any anxiety. In fact, the goal of these exercises is actually to reduce stress and give your dog some control over the situation. This gives your dog a task that will keep them occupied in a constructive and non-destructive way. 

Below are a few items that can be modified to encourage species- and breed-specific behaviours and satisfy their need for mental and physical stimulation. Also, enrichment activities can help to promote the human-canine bond, whether you are playing with them or not we always recommend that our precious pups are always supervised.

Empty Bottles

There is so much you can do with old, empty bottles. Firstly, rinse out the bottle, and make sure to remove the lid, the label and the plastic ring as we don't want any choking hazards. 

Add tasty dog treats to the bottle, your dog will love rolling this around and figuring out the fastest way to empty out the treats. If this is a bit difficult, you can try adding holes to the bottle for more ways the treats can be dispensed. 

If your dog is on a diet (poor thing) or is not so food/scent focussed, you can put the bottle into an old sock to create an interesting toy to chew with a satisfying sound. They may also be interested in figuring out how to get the bottle out of the sock. 

If you want to take your enrichment DIYing to the next level you can turn old bottles into a spinning, puzzle toy for an extra-long lasting, fun way to enjoy treats! There are some great ideas on this process on the Canine Enrichment Facebook group.

Toilet Rolls

Toilet paper rolls can really satisfy a dog's instincts and playing with them involves a lot of their senses. The feel of the paper in their mouths, watching the toilet rolls flip and flutter around in unpredictable ways and the sound of the roll when moved around with their paws.

Using toilet paper rolls is a fun way to give your pupper some treats and challenge them a little at the same time. Grab an empty toilet roll, fold one end of the roll then pour in some nice smelling and tasty dog treats, then fold the other end up to close it. Give your dog a simple command, such as sit or lay, and give them the treat roll as a reward. Let them figure out how to get the treats out of the toilet roll. If it looks like they are struggling and getting frustrated, loosen one end so the treats fall out a bit easier. 

To make the game a little more difficult, you could play the classic shell game with your pooch. Use 3 toilet rolls but only put dog treats in one, get them to sit and move the rolls around as they follow your every move. Once you have finished the shuffling, ask your dog to find the treat roll and empty out the treats.

Another way to use toilet rolls is together with a cardboard box. After saving your empty rolls for a while, place them in the cardboard box with the end facing up towards you. Now scatter treats into the rolls. Your dog will need to figure out how to get to the treats by removing some of the rolls first. 

Towels

Towels can be folded in many different ways and depending on how you fold, roll or scrunch them they can become varying levels of difficulty to challenge your dog. 

Lay the towel out and scatter some of your dog's dry food or some treats over the towel. For a more simple task, you can start to fold each corner in on the towel quite loosely. This ensures the treats aren't too difficult to find and ‘free' from the towel. However, if your dog is a little more advanced you can roll the towel more tightly so the treats are dispersed between the layers like cinnamon in a cinnamon roll. Another good trick is to grab the towel in the very centre and start to twist to create a rose-like effect. For even more of a challenge, you can tie some knots in the towel and tuck the ends into itself to create a ball or bundle. 

These towel puzzles encourage the act of sniffing and foraging, which activates the pleasure centres in your dog's brain. These natural behaviours can alleviate stress, promote calm behaviour and encourage slower eating habits.

Egg cartons or muffin trays

Both of these are another good way to let your dog do some foraging and get some good old sniffing in. You can put treats into each section and then keep your dog on their toes by using different objects to hide the treats under. Balls fit really well in a muffin tray, but you can also just use paper or paper towels in an egg carton.