Canine Enriched

28/10/2022

𝔼𝕟𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥

💛 I'm sure you’ve heard of this popular word, since you’re all deep in the dog world like me, but what does it look like and why should you be interested in it?

🧩 Enrichment can be something we offer our dogs to engage in actively, or passively, that promotes natural behaviours our dogs are wanting to engage in already - the important thing to understand with enrichment is, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘂𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼. We can do our best to decide what our dog MIGHT like, but ultimately, we need to be observing our dog when they engage in the enrichment activity to see if they truly do find it rewarding.

💢 We want to avoid frustration.

👀 So, It’s important we have some good understanding of the dog in front of us, and I would encourage you to watch your dog's body language when they are engaging in their enrichment activity to determine whether they’re having a good time.

𝗦𝗼, 𝗹𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀:

⚽ Anything to do with chasing - flirt poles and low impact games of fetch, or sheep-balls (careful when googling that one!)

🍖 Food based puzzles - Kongs, lick mats, s***fle mats or treasure hunts

🐽 Fun nose work games - finding specific toys or locating a scent in a box

🐺 The reason these activities are my most popular ones, is because they touch those natural tendencies dogs share, such as chasing prey, or acquiring food.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀?

🦁 I like to think of Zoo animals when I think of why enrichment is important. These captive animals have to rely on their keepers and the structure of their enclosures to keep them from going absolutely bonkers - and it wouldn’t be ethical to the zoo animals, to feed them out of bowls, keep them in boring cages and offer no novelty or opportunity to engage in the behaviours they would in the wild.

🦓 Enrichment really kicked off in the Zoo world because distressed/maladaptive behaviours were being noticed and the animals were really suffering. We can see that doing what’s natural to you is important and being deprived of the opportunity can be devastating.

🏡 Now dogs are, technically captive animals too, that have a natural set of behaviours they tend to gravitate towards because it’s either what we’ve bred them to engage in, or it’s simply in their DNA as a survival mechanism. We are the zoo keepers for our dogs and if our dogs don’t have healthy and appropriate outlets for their natural behaviours , a few things can happen…

🥴 You might see an increase in boredom related behaviours such as digging, destroying or excessive barking

𝙖𝙣𝙙/𝙤𝙧

😡 you might find yourself in a constant battle trying to prevent these behaviours from being expressed, which isn’t great for your relationship long term and isn’t great for your dog’s mental wellbeing.

✅ Offering appropriate outlets for your dog to engage in the behaviours they are already gravitating towards 𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

💭For example, you have a dog that likes to chase, rather than avoiding all moving things, we might give them opportunities to chase the end of a flirt pole. If we have a dog that likes to follow scent trails, rather than avoiding hikes, we might teach them some fun nose work games.

🐶 Offering appropriate enrichment is beneficial for both you and your dog because you will experience less of the inconvenient and unwanted behaviours expressed by your dog and your dog will be having it’s needs met in legal ways.

💛 𝙄 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚, because it meets my needs of wanting to nurture and care for animals, and I also love seeing my dog happy and enthralled in whatever he’s doing so, I hope this post might inspire you to think about the things 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 dog naturally gravitates towards and maybe you can think of some ways to promote them in healthy and appropriate ways. Because I’m sure, you’ll get just as much joy out of it as they do! 🐾💕

27/09/2022

Thank you Wrinkles in the Valley Bloodhounds for playing enrichment games with me! 💛

This activity was inspired by an assignment in my Cert IV in animal behaviour & training.

I hope you enjoy and save those boxes of yours to try with your own dogs!

Is your dog curious?Do they like to find food? Maybe they've gotten into the pantry or the cats dinner when you're not looking? Instead of trying to s***f th...

24/09/2022

𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙏𝙪𝙗𝙚 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤, 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠??

I thought I would start off with a topic that's near and dear to me, and most of us I'd think..

✨𝙁𝙀𝙏𝘾𝙃✨

I still have super fond memories as a child tossing the ball to our dear family friends' dog, Huey. He was a gorgeous German Shepherd mix and I believe, a huge contributing factor to my dog obsession today.

Although tossing that slobbery tennis ball to my big furry friend was a delight for both of us, I do remember it being super repetitive and Huey not wanting to stop.

-------

Since learning about dogs a bit more, and how their minds and bodies work, I'm rethinking fetch. I've discovered this repetitive nature of play isn't actually the best for the long run.

I don't want to delete fetch completely. Jedi and I play it today - we've just adjusted it and binned that bloody ball chucker (𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦).

Fetch is still a great game and I hope this video helps to inspire you to look at the exercise and play your dog is engaging in, and make sure it's right for them - or could it be adjusted? 💛✨

𝘚𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘶𝘦𝘺 ⚾🐾

Learn how to adjust your game of fetch so it's easier on your dogs' body + adds another layer of depth by incorporating sniffing ✨-------Physical exercise is...

16/09/2022

Beautiful beautiful read and such an important reminder!!

Enrichment isn't a boredom buster, it's a way we can meet the needs of our dogs in healthy, legal ways!

The fact enrichment can be used to reduce boredom behaviours is a nice little consolation prize.

💛 Enrichment is for every dog

11/09/2022

𝔼𝕟𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕕𝕠𝕘 💛

Remember it's not something we '𝘥𝘰' to our dogs - it's something we offer them. If they enjoy it and touches on some inherently 'doggy' behaviours, then it's enriching.

Enrichment can look like a lot of things.

🐦Chasing birds at the park
🍂Sniffing interesting scents on a walk
🌊Swimming
👀Watching the world go by
💗Cuddling with loved ones
🍖Enjoying a juicy bone
🧸Playing with toys
💡Fun training sessions

It's whatever 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 dog deems pleasant.

What does your dog enjoy?
Could you add or swap a few things?

✨There's always options - come to me if you need ideas! ✨

07/09/2022

𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏!

I overheard someone say today,

"𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺"

It was very hard for me to not jump in and ask, 𝙬𝙝𝙮?

Does your dog 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 need to be walked everyday, or do you just not know what else you can do with your dog to meet their needs? 🤓

Walking is great, I love it, but 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵.

Here are some ways you can entertain and fulfill your dog's need without leaving the home:

1. 𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀🎓
Get yourself some food, or toys and polish up your known skills, or teach a new one!

2. 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗲 & 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗸 👀
Hide some treats, or a favourite toy and challenge your pooch to go in search!

3. 𝗧𝘂𝗴 & 𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵 🥎
I looove a good game of tug and a short game of fetch - grab a favourite toy and entice your dog into playing with you

4. 𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 🐽
Once you have learnt the basics - setting up little hides for your dog is fun for the both of you!

5. 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 🏁
Creating your own agility course and luring your dog through it is super entertaining! You could also look into Hoopers, if your dog can't make the jumps of an agility set!

~~~~~~

These are some simple ideas but once you find what suits you and your dog you can expand from there.

Walking is so great and I adore it, but there's things we can do with our dogs that can foster connection, dexterity, creativity and confidence.

✨ 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹✨

03/09/2022

I'm gathering some info and I'd love some current (or past) puppy parents to tell me:

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀/𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘆 🤓💬

Let me know below!
Thank you 💛✨

10/08/2022

Couldn't click the share button faster if I tried 😅

My whole career I hear people complain about their dogs behaviour as if they have a faulty animal. Which I find difficult to hear on repeat.

From my learning, I understand dogs do what they do because it's working for them in some way.

If we focus on trying to simply "stop" that behaviour we risk seeing it manifest elsewhere in a similar problematic way.

They're doing what they do for a reason!

It's best to figure out that reason and see if we can address those needs or emotions and work with them, not against them.

You'll have more success and your relationship will strengthen 💘🐾

Jumping up. Digging up the garden. Chasing joggers. Barking at other dogs.

None of these are 'bad' behaviours. They're all behaviours which serve a function for the dog. They help them feel happier or safer or meet an innate need.

Instead of seeing behaviours as 'bad' try to think about what your dog might be getting out of them and then think about (a) whether you can now live with it or, if you can't, (b) how you can meet that need in ways that are more acceptable to you.

Can you get down to greet your dog? Give them a 'legal' area to dig in? Teach them to chase a ball instead? Give them more space? Teach them a different behaviour which fulfils the same need?

Dogs don't do 'bad'. They just do what they’ve learned works to access the things they need. Instead of focusing on what your dog is doing think about why your dog is doing it. Remove the moral judgement. Think about how you can meet that need in a way that works in a human world.

Meeting needs instead of suppressing behaviour is always a more effective strategy in the long term. And it’s kinder.

14/07/2022

Geeky, but important stuff to know as an animal owner!

* CAN YOU TRAIN WITHOUT REINFORCEMENT ? *

The simple answer is NO.

Learning Theory is becoming more popular across the horse world but it doesn't necessary mean that it is well understood. Now and then I see adds popping up promising people training approach that doesn't involve * any pressure or treats * or that is not based on operant conditioning. Those adds can be attractive but they're simply misleading.

Reinforcement is what drives the behaviour . Without reinforcement there is no behaviour (other than simple reflexes). Animals are wired to seek (positive) reinforcers and reducing the ability to obtain them can result in shut down, depression, frustration, aggression, frantic behaviours - this can be easily noticed in deprived environments or when reinforcement is provided in a very unpredictable and/or minimised way.

Horse world has become a very fantasy oriented place - people are seeking the special formula to communicate with horses and this attracts horse trainers to invent training approaches that will fit within those fantasis. In the process of doing so we often see the science being either bashed, cherry picked or twisted (pseudoscience) to match the personal/professional agenda and bias.

Positive Reinforcement is often the main focus of such bashing because there is some ( difficult for me to understand ) pride in not using food as reinforcement. Food is a primary positive reinforcer and if you opt out from using it in training then to teach behaviours you most likely need to go the Negative Reinforcement route.

Negative Reinforcement aka pressure - release can be harder to notice , especially if it is used well because it is labelled as natural way that horses communicate between each other.

This is partially true - Negative Reinforcement occurs naturally (all organisms work to avoid /escape aversives) but you need to teach the horse that particular behaviour response results in the removal of aversive stimuli , it is the removal of aversive that has reinforcing value. It doesn't make pressure- release more natural than positive reinforcement when it comes to horses.

Pressure -release (negative reinforcement) holds traditional bias , equestrians use it daily globaly because they belive that this is how horses communicate between each other. However any interaction between horses that results in avoidance /escape behaviours will always have agonistic (negative) value and won't support relationship building - right the opposite, it jeopardises the stability of the groups of horses that are naturally peaceful creatures.

If we want to interact with and /or train horses, Reinforcement will always be present despite of personal believes /biases . To understand how it occurs, to be able to observe the behaviour and work out what drives it and what emotional value is attatched to it is what will benefit our training, interactions and horses well-being.

29/06/2022

𝔼𝕟𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 🧩

💛 My favourite consideration when it comes to pet care 💛
𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮?

Enrichment isn't something we 𝘥𝘰 to our animals, it's something we 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 them based on what we assume they would enjoy - which is key - it's only "enrichment" if the animal deems it so.

𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵! - 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

Offering enrichment to our dogs (and other pets) is vitally important to their well-being and adds to their overall quality of life since the goal is ultimately to encourage species or breed-specific behaviours.

Allowing our dogs to express themselves appropriately in 'natural' ways feels good to them and not being able to do so can lead to distress, boredom, and other negative observable qualities.

A great group to be a part of is https://www.facebook.com/groups/canineenrichment/
They have heaps of enrichment inspo!

Do you have any questions about enrichment?
Let me know 💬