Enrichment Toys

Dogs are meant to lead active lives – remember that most of them were bred for a specific purpose, such as hunting (retrievers, hounds), farming (collies, german shepherds) and protection (dobermanns, rottweilers). Today they spend most of their time on our sofas and we serve them free food in a bowl – no effort required. Boredom and excess energy leads to behavioural problems. So find ways to exercise your dog’s brain and body!

Exercise is the simplest way to increase the interest in your dog’s life. Most dogs will benefit from daily walks where they can sniff and explore – ideally with both some on-lead and some off-lead time, but always be careful when exercising your pet off the lead. Follow different routes and visit new places whenever you can so your dog can experience new sights and smells. Take the opportunity to play games or train with your dog. Remember to keep your dog protected from ticks and mosquitoes and take extra care in the summer months to avoid heatstroke.

Alone time – because we all lead busy lives, our dogs often end up spending a good portion of their day home alone. Giving your dog something to do when they’re by themselves means you are less likely to come home to chewed-up furniture or emptied rubbish bins. Food puzzle toys require time, patience and problem-solving, encouraging natural behaviour such as pawing, licking and chewing. KONG have an excellent range of food puzzle toys to give your dog’s brain and jaws a workout. When you first introduce your dog to a food puzzle toy, make it easy for him to empty it, as he has been used to getting his food served up to him in a bowl. As he becomes an expert, you can make it harder for him to get the food out of the toys. Check out the KONG website for more details on how to use a KONG toy.

http://www.kongcompany.com/(open in new tab)

Nina Ottosson also has a great range of dog activity games with different levels of difficulty. Each one requires your dog to use his sense of smell, reasoning ability, and dexterity to get his reward. Have a look on Nina’s youtube channel to get an idea of the different games and skills involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsguChcw0Gk&list=PL3B90FF4B530E342D(open in new tab)