Enrichment Activities for the Anxious Dog
I am sure I don’t have to convince you that dogs are sophisticated beings with complex emotional and social structures, serious problem-solving capabilities, and mental/physical needs. They are captive in our homes. And the hard truth of it is most of them are not getting what they need in terms of enrichment in their daily lives.
I am sure some of you live with a dog that will steal tissues and shred them. How about a dog sniffing so intensely that you are using all your body strength to get them to extract their face from a bush and move forward? How about excessive foot licking? These things feel good. Like actually make them feel good, like how I feel after a glass (or two) of wine.
Canine enrichment is a hot topic, and you can find many items on the market these days that make it easy to get your dog’s food out of a conventional bowl and into a problem-solving puzzle, but I am going to ask you to take it a step further. I will ask you to find activities that promote and enhance your dog’s relaxation.
That puzzle toy with trap doors, a kong wobbler or a treat ball that sends kibble flying across your kitchen floor may not be the best way to enrich your anxious dog’s day. Take up their time? Yes. Get them interested? Yes. Promote serotonin production in their bodies? Maybe not.
Give your dog at least two opportunities to decompress with daily coping activities. And more importantly, I want you to observe what happens when you provide these things to them before, during, and after a stressful situation, such as a neighbourhood walk or a training exercise for separation anxiety. Things to look for include: Does your dog calm down after the activity, or do they get frustrated? Do they enjoy the activity, or do they walk away and leave it unfinished? Observing your dog will give you great information about their preferences and valuable insight into what they find most relaxing.
Dogs tend to soothe themselves in four major ways: licking, chewing, sniffing, and shredding.
Licking
Examples include Kongs/Toppl/Licking Mats.
The easiest soothing enrichment to prepare and serve is licking items. Classic Kongs and West Paws Toppls are two staples in my household. There are many other options too, but you want something made of rubber that can be stuffed, frozen, and put in the dishwasher. These are great options for meal delivery. If you feed raw, it is easy to stuff a kong with the meal. If you feed kibble, mix the dry kibble with a little wet food, canned pure pumpkin, yogurt or stew that allows the kibble to bind together and freeze, should you want to do that. It does take a little organization to ensure meals are prepared in advance and frozen, but on the plus side, dinner is just a matter of reaching into your freezer.
If you have dogs like mine, who find licking extremely pleasurable, you will want to explore licking mats and slow bowls. My dogs also enjoy empty yogurt and peanut butter containers before being washed and recycled.
Here is a video of my dogs using their licki mats. They are a big hit in my house. I smear everything on my licki mats. Stew, baby food, squished fruit or pureed veggies, and occasionally a special treat like cheese or peanut butter. I will freeze the licki mat to make them last longer.
Shredding
Examples include cardboard boxes, recycling bin contents, paper towels and toilet paper rolls.
If your dog is shredding that used napkin or crate pad. If you have a shredder on your hands, you will want to start saving all your light cardboard boxes (think paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes and granola bar box type) and brown bags. You can also use boxes to hide food and let them shred the boxes to get to their food. Remember to observe them. If they are getting frustrated, the activity is not enriching for them. Make it easier for the dog to solve or try a different activity. Just a word of caution. If you are mixing food in with the shredding activity, be sure to supervise the dog while they are doing it. We want to ensure they are not consuming the material.
My dog, Frankie, is a shredder. Of all my dogs, Frankie is the only one that enjoys shredding. Pippa will de-stuff a toy in record time, and I am sure she finds this totally enriching. While this is a form of shredding, it is a little off-topic.
Hard Chewing
Examples include bones and other species-appropriate items, such as bully sticks.
Chewing projects are happening in my house a couple of times a week. Marrow bones, knuckles, and neck bones are options but need supervision to avoid choking. Soft bones are a better choice to avoid broken teeth and becoming obstructions. But I will happily give out bully sticks and other chew items. Frozen stuffed Kongs and Toppl’s as meal replacements also qualify in my book. Hard chewing is probably the ‘riskiest’ on my list, but if you use common sense and you will be okay. Observe your dog chewing and decide if they are trying to swallow anything whole. If yes, make sure the bone is larger than their muzzle. What I am looking for is 30-60 minutes of hard gnawing, ripping, and dismantling. I want to observe my dog manipulating the item with their paws and using their way back molars to gnaw repetitively. Raw bones are safer than smoked or airdried and are mostly digestible, but always supervise your dog’s chewing.
Sniffing
Examples include snuffle mats, find-it games, and sniffie walks.
Sniffing is the definition of dog-ness. Their brains are literally dedicated to it. It is a sense that we cannot even begin to comprehend in human terms. We have nothing that resembles it. Equating it to our vision is doing it a disservice. I want my dog sniffing on walks. Leisurely walks where the dog sets the agenda is what defines the ‘sniffari’. But I want them sniffing at home as well. I love foraging. They were designed to walk around all day looking for food. Does anyone live with a counter surfer? The easiest way to cater to this is to serve a meal in the grass! Scattering food under blankets and in snuffle mats will also work inside. Imagine you are feeding chickens and scattering their food around whatever environment you have available to you. Here is a video of a previous client working on a snuffle mat. If you want to take sniffing to the next level, play find-it games on your walks and watch your dog’s attention to you grow exponentially. If your dog loves sniffing, consider taking a nose work class. Your dog’s olfactory skills will amaze you.
ACE Freework
Another calming activity that I have recently discovered is ACE Freework. This technique was developed by Sarah Fischer, a trainer from the UK. You can find out more information on Sarah’s website. ACE Freework gives the dog total autonomy to move around different stations you set up for them. Each station will have different textures, different surfaces and different heights. As your dog moves around, you will start to observe how they move and their different preferences. It is fascinating and enlightening just to observe your dog. Here is a video of my dog Lulu doing some freework. This was one of our very early sessions, but it was fascinating. Stay tuned for a future blog on Lulu’s story.
Summary
The key to enrichment is observation! Watch your dog’s body while they lick, snuffle, and chew. Are they still? Are their eyes half shut? Are they moving quickly? Are they using their paws? Are they walking away, leaving the enrichment activity unfinished? We are aiming for ‘eyes half closed bliss’ face. If they leave the project, it is either too hard, or they are not into shredding boxes. I am not dissing other types of enrichment, by the way. Kong wobblers, treat balls, and puzzle games all have their place. Your dog may love these types of enrichment as well. But the focus here is on enrichment activities that help calm a dog that is struggling following a stressful event or is living with anxiety. Boosting happy hormones is our goal.
While it is important that they participate in their activity, what they do after is more important. We want deep, feet twitching, dreamy sleep. We want slow breaths and sighs. When you see that post-enrichment project, you know that type is your dog’s glass of wine.
Assignment: Take this recommendation to heart. Try to provide at least two enrichment opportunities daily to your anxious dog. Experiment and ensure you test all four types and keep a log of the after-effects. After a week or two of logging, look to see if any type of enrichment promotes relaxation over the others. If you find a type favoured, ensure they get that type of enrichment daily and then rotate through the others as needed.