The Importance of Enrichment and Mental Stimulation
I originally posted this on Facebook but think it deserves a more permanent place.
This speeded up clip shows how important it can be to give your dog something to do when you leave them alone.
The “spikey dumbell” was filled with smelly cheese, treats and had peanut butter smeared in the outside grooves. As you can see our lurcher loves it. He was occupied with it for over 45 minutes. That’s 45 minutes of solid play, mouth exercise and mental stimulation. No wonder he slept for 2 hours afterwards. This clip was taken towards the end of the 45 minutes and he is still getting treats out of it.
Of course, not every dog is so motivated with food/play, (spot the couch greyhound potato on the left who was only interested in hers for 5 minutes before falling asleep), so this won’t work for every dog. However, it is really important for dogs to have some form of mental stimulation when alone to stop them getting bored and being potentially destructive, as well as helping anxious dogs by keeping them occupied.
So remember, the next time you have to go out, what is your dog going to do?
Think, Dog Positive
Tony