Canine enrichment

[Moobli]

Do dogs who are having their needs satisfied need extra enrichment? I don’t think it’s necessary.


Taken from dog trainer “Untamed” on FB.

I often get asked “what kind of enrichment games do you recommend for rainy days or days that are too warm to run/train the dogs?”

It’s always an interesting concept to me. The mindset of giving the dog physical and mental stimulation 24/7 to keep them tired all the time. It just not how I train.

We train (mushing, hiking, adventure) 3-4 times a week. So the dogs get lots of physical exercise. But at home... we chill. From day one the dogs are trained that home is where we relax. This starts at puppyhood with crate training and continues throughout adulthood. I set very clear expectations. When we train the dogs work hard and get to utilize their natural drive and instincts for enrichment. In the yard the dogs can go crazy and be social for enrichment. I also will set up obstacles and play with the flirt pole in the yard. In the house... a little play is allowed between dogs. But they are not allowed to be unruly. We don’t keep toys or chews out. Generally the dogs get enough enrichment during their daily activities that being home becomes their relaxing down time.

I teach them dogs to have an off switch. And I think this is incredibly important. I see far too many owners constantly trying to “wear out” their dogs with physical and mental enrichment. They never teach them how to just relax - therefore creating neurotic dogs that can’t settle and become hyper and destructive.

A good off switch translates well into other aspects of a working dogs life. It helps them to be able to make better decisions, and be more self aware and relaxed in stressful situations.

 

[Karran]

My dogs having been left at home when the world was normal and I was in the office, had free access to their toys and the house but slept. They had time before work with me, and after work we were out 4 weekdays out of 5 doing something fun together with weekends at comps or long country walks.
They soon learnt this year that if i'm in the spare room/office that i'm working and although they can be in the room with me, i'm not to be bothered unless they really need the loo or its close to lunch/end of day. They also know that 8pm onwards is chill time. I don't want to play with them, we're to hang out on the sofa and watch TV together. They can still get their own toys out and amuse themselves but the same, its not full on mad play.

I do try to add more interest to their day with their meals in slow feeders/stuffed kongs, the odd bone and on lunch now we have a quick 20 min walk and then perhaps practice a bit of obedience/flyball/agility in the garden and I feel that's enough for them on top of their morning and evening walks. Certainly the more i'd do with Miss Collie, the worse she behaved, one of the early mistakes I made with her was panicking that as a collie she needed to be doing something all the time and that just lead to her being more hyper and over stimulated so we both needed to learn that rest and doing nothing is important!

Mrs Spaniel has always been the perfect mix of super active outdoors, but a sofa dog inside so even though she's a busy bee I never had the same panic that "oh my god, she's a working dog in London on her own most of the day! I need to fill up every single hour that i'm with her, with THINGS!"

 

[BBP]

I think if they are having their needs met then no. But when I broke my foot and couldn’t walk for awhile, the enrichment stuff was quite handy to do things with him that replaced walks. But even then I definitely wouldn’t want to spend all day stimulating him or finding ways to entertain him, I quite like a dog that snoozes whilst I’m working.

 

[wren123]

@Moobli totally agree although I do allow toys but my dog isn't obsessed with them.

I think the same with children! Some parents are a bit manic feeling they need to fill every moment of their child's time with worthy activities. Their children tend to be a bit hyper too.

 

[CorvusCorax]

As with most things, depends on the dog, if a dog is trying to eat their bed or chase their tail, give them a toy instead. 'Enrichment' is a fancy dan new word for 'keeping a bored dog occupied'.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I have two collies, hyper when they are out but chilled in the house. I expect them to be so they are. We made mistakes with the first one we had back in 1998 but learned very quickly not to pander to her wanting to play indoors. She was a nutter but soon learned to settle in the house.

 

[{97702}]

I haven’t done scent work with Millie lurcher for a couple of weeks now due to weather, dark evenings, work pressures etc - boy can I tell, she has turned back into psycho hound ? Ordinary toys, playing with Colin (endlessly. Noisily. All day.), running around the house just doesn’t cut it for her!

Needless to say, training is starting again ASAP before i strangle her....

When she is doing training, she chills around the house with no bother as do the rest of them ?

 

[SAujla]

I will admit I do more enrichment during the day for Clover. She has what I call 6 wake sessions during the day, sessions 1 and 4 are physical exercise, sessions 2 and 3 are mental/training and sessions 5 and 6 are relaxing with naps in between each session. I have noticed working her nose tires her out a lot more than physical exercise does.

I don't know why I call them wake sessions but it's stuck in my head to call them that

 

[skinnydipper]

To me, physically tiring a dog is not the same as enrichment.

I don't think all dogs fit neatly into the same box. Enrichment is different things for different dogs.

The mushing and hiking that the author (dog trainer on FB) does with her dogs would not appeal to my dog. Sniffing is her thing.

On our morning amble she sniffs to her heart's content. She will also track a scent.

Dogs are crepuscular and current dog is no exception. When we get home she settles and sleeps.

Like Karran, I don't just plonk her food into a bowl. She eats raw complete which she gets in Kongs, Goughnut or various Lickimats (wobble, slomo and playdate).

In the evening, a short period of scent work/training/games which she enjoys before settling down again.

There is an abundance of toys if we feel like playing.

She is a pretty chilled, amiable dog.

I think the needs of a high drive/working dog would be very different.

 

[Moobli]

Some interesting replies, thanks. Enrichment to me isn’t just physically tiring a dog out either, it’s providing the dog with specific tasks (training, exercise etc) with that dog’s individual needs in mind based on breed, age, likes/dislikes etc.
Most working dogs get their needs satisfied through their daily work (sheepdogs herding, police dogs tracking, gun dogs retrieving etc etc, and her example huskies mushing) so don’t require extra activities in their “down time” to keep them relaxed. That said, our workers all enjoy play time with a ball, a meaty bone to chew on, a sniffy walk.

 

[palo1]

Not all dogs are the same but the trend for quite a lot of sleeping seems common! It's literally never occurred to me to try and tire a dog out at home but I guess that having had sighthounds and hounds that will do what they need themselves and current terrier is entertained enough with his 'daily' activities and outside stuff I am very fortunate. If you have a high-drive sort of dog or one with serious working breeding of any kind then yes I can understand having a 'structure' to provide them with the work they need. I guess these days a lot of people who are pretty much sedentary and walk their dogs on leads find the dog has a bit too much energy - perhaps that is why a dog trainer would be putting this out there possibly? Most decent dog owners seem to have a dog that suits their lifestyle and personal exercise type preferences though some dogs are definately more 'demanding' than others...just don't get a spaniel lol

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

IME having another compatible dog available to spend time with is 'enrichment' enough for most dogs. Ours do have chew toys available in the house but they know that they have to be sensible and quiet with them. Running/jumping/noisy play is for outside. We have had Labs and LabxGSD, Rottweilers, Border Collie, JRTs, with extended family households having Scotties, Poodles, Corgis and they have all learned the rules pretty quickly no matter what age they joined us.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I don't see enrichment as training or exercising, training is training, exercise is exercise, 'enrichment' for me is something like playing with a toy or a bone in their own time. I know very few working dogs who are happy to just sleep outside of training/working/competing, mine have always certainly liked to do other things with their time, I don't call it enrichment, I just call it being a normal dog and doing other things outside of work. To me it's just another 'hot take' or people trying to reinvent the wheel. There's nothing new under the sun. I don't sleep all day when I come home from work. Well, not all the time lol.

 

[{97702}]

I don't sleep all day when I come home from work. Well, not all the time lol.

You don’t? ? I knew I was going wrong somewhere.....

Would it be too simplistic to say that training is ‘work’ in human terms (if the dog is the sort which needs it) whereas enrichment is like our hobbies and interests? So down time is ‘sitting down and watching TV/reading a book’ ?

 

[skinnydipper]

Would it be too simplistic to say that training is ‘work’ in human terms

I make a game of training, she just thinks she is having fun.

I don't do "real" training like CC and Moobli, they are out of my league.

 

[CorvusCorax]

You don’t? ? I knew I was going wrong somewhere.....

Would it be too simplistic to say that training is ‘work’ in human terms (if the dog is the sort which needs it) whereas enrichment is like our hobbies and interests? So down time is ‘sitting down and watching TV/reading a book’ ?

Yep that's how I look at it.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I make a game of training, she just thinks she is having fun.

I don't do "real" training like CC and Moobli, they are out of my league.

So do I and you're not imaginary lol.

My dogs are pets, they live in my house and go everywhere with me, competing is just an added bonus/something to do/is good for the breed overall and I don't really miss it if I'm not doing it, it's just a hobby.

 

[Moobli]

I make a game of training, she just thinks she is having fun.

I don't do "real" training like CC and Moobli, they are out of my league.

My dogs are pets and I only dabble in training (no interest in competing) with my GSDs. The sheepdogs more or less train themselves ?

 

[P3LH]

As others have said, depends on breed and then individual.

My rough collies are fulfilled after a long walk. They’ve never really liked toys, and as for training they trained themselves and I just took the credit. In that respect it’s one of the reasons they’re great, if I could find the ‘half coats’ like my blue boy who needs a brush every blue moon I’d always have them. The big coats no no.

Corgi Sherman tank would over engage with everything if allowed. As a result we don’t generally ‘do’ toys in the house, and as a result she is a much more switched off and chilled out dog. She does enjoy lots of ‘activities’ though e.g food hiding, training sessions that are quite reparative (corgi’s like to be able to outsmart you and predict what comes next) but equally this can change. Sometimes a walk is enough. Not generally playing with toys inside has been a crucial move we’ve made as she was a dog that would literally keep going to the point she was visibly stressed out, just because toys were there. She also can’t settle if she knows they’re there...yet without them is as placid and settled as a lab in the house.

 

[GSD Woman]

Due to my work schedule my dogs don't get but so much training and exercise on my work days. If I can find good bones they'll get one to chew on at night while I read the news. I do try and throw the ball in back weather permitting. On my days off we do training and they get good walks. They have toys available it they want to play with them.