What is enrichment? Enrichment is a term that dog trainers use meaning mental and physical stimulation for our dogs. Basically, this means doing things with our dogs that not only make life more interesting for our dogs, but also can help with some “problem” behaviors. Before my time at the Victoria Stilwell Academy, I was not aware of how important enrichment is to both our and our dog’s lives. I knew that a dog needed to get out for walks at least twice a day for some exercise, but I did not know that they really need so much more than that.
Most “problem” behaviors stem from a dogs lack of enrichment also known as boredom. Some of these behaviors are barking, jumping, digging, and destruction of household items. These “problem” behaviors probably will not be fixed with enrichment alone, but enrichment can help curb them.
So, what exactly is enrichment and what do I need to do? Enrichment can be as simple as taking your dog on a sniffy walk. This means that when you go on your walk with your dog, you let them choose where to go and how long to sniff things of interest (within safety). During sniffy walks, the dog gets to explore new places and interact with many new smells, which is like FaceBook for dogs. A twenty minute sniffy walk can tire a dog out just as well, if not more than a twenty minute jog.
That is just one example of enrichment for our dogs. I will have many more enrichment ideas in my upcoming posts, so stay tuned.