What is enrichment?

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 Enrichment is basically all the activities you give your pet in order to enhance or add to their daily lives.  There are lots of different types of enrichment activities, but most usually require the owner to be involved in some way, either planning and preparing the activity or being there to support, guide or help them.
Enrichment isn't just for dogs, lots of our furry friends benefit from it, you noght just need to adjust the ideas and activities a little.
So why bother giving your pet enrichment activities, surely they can enrich their own lives?  We enrich our children's lives by the toys, games and activities we give them, and pet enrichment works in the same way.

  •  It relieves boredom, and that is huge for some owners as boredom can lead to inappropriate verbalisation (lots and lots of barking), destructive behaviour (chewing objects, beds etc), pacing, hyperactivity, and lots more.
  • It stimulates the brain and allows your pet to practise natural behaviours such as sniffing, hunting, tracking.


  • It provides an alternative to a walk for dogs.   This is an important benefit if using enrichment activities. Firstly, it is a bit of a myth that dogs need daily walks ... they need opportunities to exercise physically and mentally, and to behave like a dog.  If your dog has had a stressful walk, perhaps been inappropriately approached by another dog, it is possibly not a good idea to take him out for another walk until the stress and arousal levels have reduced.  Providing an enrichment activity as an alternative to the walk will help reduce stress and arousal levels, empty your dog's 'arousal bucket' and ensure that the next walk starts on a positive note. Secondly, there will be times that you cannot take your dog/s for a walk, perhaps they are on post operative rest, crate rest during or following illness or infection, or there are just not enough hours in this particular day to fit the walk in.  Enrichment activities will provide mental stimulation that can replicate a walk and allow the recuperation that is necessary.  Practising these types of activities before you are in the situation where you need them is hugely beneficial, as stress levels with new situations are kept to a minimum, and confidence levels are kept high.
  • Enrichment activities are perfect confidence builders, help with frustration control and help build and support owner/pet relationships.  The nature of enrichment activities means that your pet develops confidence by trying out, testing, exploring, problem solving, and this helps develop impulse control as some activities mean that your pet has to work through something methodically, and therefore helps your pet develop coping skills when they are frustrated.


  • It is also important to consider the other part of the relationship - you, the owner.  If you have had a stressful day, just don't have the time for a walk, really don't want to get cold and wet,  and any number of other scenarios in the busy, modern world, enrichment activities can give you the 'opt out' you need, that 'get out of jail free' card. If you are stressed, feeling rushed, not overly happy with the idea of the walk, that is going to be communicated to your canine friend ... so don't do it, maintain your good realtionship, and do something else.
Next time I'll be discussing the different types of enrichment activities for your four legged companion.

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