you can keep your dog busy with an ice block — you can make ice blocks out of diluted ‘pet’ milk, sandwich tuna, meat stock etc. Freeze in ice cream containers, the bigger they are the longer they last.
Daily exercise — long walks, games, hiking, dog parks, training etc. Yes, getting out and about with your dog is essential and should form a big part of any enrichment program and indeed part of every dog’s daily life. For destructive dogs, a 30–45 minute walk before you go to work is great as it releases a lot of the energy that your dog would normally use to be destructive once you leave. If you can’t squeeze a walk into an already busy morning then you must make time to walk after work. Most dogs do well with a minimum 30–60 minute walk every day. Vary where you walk to keep it interesting for both of you e.g., I have 10 different walks that I do in my neighborhood plus I visit the dog park three times a week for 60–90 minutes. You can also get involved in activities like fly ball, agility, herding, tracking or lure coursing as well as other activities that your breed is designed for.
The important thing is to make sure you do not give the same things every day. The greater the variety the more you can mix them up, rotate them and be inventive. Try to make things hard for your dogs as they get better at finding things around the yard or accessing the treats etc. All animals habituate to things, which mean that the more your dog’s get something, the less likely they are to react to it. Keep them constantly guessing at what you have given them today. Try creating a fortnightly enrichment schedule that you can follow. Put it up on the fridge at home so everyone in the home can follow it. The following page has a very basic sample schedule. Even your dogs’ meals and exercise/training program can be part of the schedule to ensure they have lots of variety.
The benefits of providing enrichment to your dogs from day 1, is that they learn that these items are OK to chew, rip up etc. Your dogs have an outlet for chewing, mouthing and playing. I have found that my dogs are not destructive at all in my home or yard. Plus, by giving the enrichment items to your dog’s when you go to work or go out, it helps the dogs to focus on something other than the fact that you have gone and because these things are fun, your dogs will actually enjoy you leaving just so they get something special.
There are a huge variety of treat dispensing balls/toys available. Aim to have a minimum of 6–8 per dog.
(Left) Placing treats up high for the larger dog can prevent smaller dogs from accessing treats. (right) Tethering enrichment items can prevent one dog from collecting and guarding items. Tethers should be placed at least 3 metres’ apart
Sample enrichment schedule
Monday
Enrichment item (3–6 daily)
On the menu
Drumstick (am)
Chicken neck (pm)
Treat ball 1 and 2
Kong
Box and plastic bottle
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Obedience training
Tuesday
On the menu
Lamb (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 3 and 4
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Wednesday
On the menu
Beef (pm)
Wing (am)
Treat ball 5, 6 and 7
Tetra pak
Plastic bottle
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Agility training
Thursday
On the menu
Turkey (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 1 and 4
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Ball game
Friday
On the menu
Drumstick (am)
Sardines (pm)
Treat ball 2, 5 and 8
Tetra pak
Box
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Saturday
On the menu
Turkey (am)
Kangaroo (pm)
Treat ball 3 and 6
Kong
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 2 × 30 mins
Recall game
Sunday
On the menu
Wing (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 1 2 and 3
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Find it game
About the Author
Louise Ginman is a qualified Dog Behavioural Trainer who runs a dog training business ‘Positive Dogs’ in Sydney, Australia. She has been an Education committee member of APDT Australia Inc. since 2008 and President since 2012. Louise has
Daily exercise — long walks, games, hiking, dog parks, training etc. Yes, getting out and about with your dog is essential and should form a big part of any enrichment program and indeed part of every dog’s daily life. For destructive dogs, a 30–45 minute walk before you go to work is great as it releases a lot of the energy that your dog would normally use to be destructive once you leave. If you can’t squeeze a walk into an already busy morning then you must make time to walk after work. Most dogs do well with a minimum 30–60 minute walk every day. Vary where you walk to keep it interesting for both of you e.g., I have 10 different walks that I do in my neighborhood plus I visit the dog park three times a week for 60–90 minutes. You can also get involved in activities like fly ball, agility, herding, tracking or lure coursing as well as other activities that your breed is designed for.
The important thing is to make sure you do not give the same things every day. The greater the variety the more you can mix them up, rotate them and be inventive. Try to make things hard for your dogs as they get better at finding things around the yard or accessing the treats etc. All animals habituate to things, which mean that the more your dog’s get something, the less likely they are to react to it. Keep them constantly guessing at what you have given them today. Try creating a fortnightly enrichment schedule that you can follow. Put it up on the fridge at home so everyone in the home can follow it. The following page has a very basic sample schedule. Even your dogs’ meals and exercise/training program can be part of the schedule to ensure they have lots of variety.
The benefits of providing enrichment to your dogs from day 1, is that they learn that these items are OK to chew, rip up etc. Your dogs have an outlet for chewing, mouthing and playing. I have found that my dogs are not destructive at all in my home or yard. Plus, by giving the enrichment items to your dog’s when you go to work or go out, it helps the dogs to focus on something other than the fact that you have gone and because these things are fun, your dogs will actually enjoy you leaving just so they get something special.
There are a huge variety of treat dispensing balls/toys available. Aim to have a minimum of 6–8 per dog.
(Left) Placing treats up high for the larger dog can prevent smaller dogs from accessing treats. (right) Tethering enrichment items can prevent one dog from collecting and guarding items. Tethers should be placed at least 3 metres’ apart
Sample enrichment schedule
Monday
Enrichment item (3–6 daily)
On the menu
Drumstick (am)
Chicken neck (pm)
Treat ball 1 and 2
Kong
Box and plastic bottle
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Obedience training
Tuesday
On the menu
Lamb (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 3 and 4
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Wednesday
On the menu
Beef (pm)
Wing (am)
Treat ball 5, 6 and 7
Tetra pak
Plastic bottle
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Agility training
Thursday
On the menu
Turkey (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 1 and 4
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Ball game
Friday
On the menu
Drumstick (am)
Sardines (pm)
Treat ball 2, 5 and 8
Tetra pak
Box
Dog Park 60 -90 mins
Saturday
On the menu
Turkey (am)
Kangaroo (pm)
Treat ball 3 and 6
Kong
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 2 × 30 mins
Recall game
Sunday
On the menu
Wing (am)
Bone (pm)
Treat ball 1 2 and 3
Pinecone
Box and plastic bottle
Walk — 60 mins
Find it game
About the Author
Louise Ginman is a qualified Dog Behavioural Trainer who runs a dog training business ‘Positive Dogs’ in Sydney, Australia. She has been an Education committee member of APDT Australia Inc. since 2008 and President since 2012. Louise has
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