Karen Falciani
Jul 31, 20222 min
Boredom is the worst. When I’m bored, I find myself feeling tired and unmotivated unable to engage It’s not just us humans who fall into bad habits though. Dogs do too.
One of the easiest ways to keep your dog blissfully busy is exercise. Sasha loves doing Agility and scent work. I love to set up courses for her in our backyard or out and about locally.
While physical exercise is important for dogs, they also need to keep their brains busy too! Here’s my quick tips to enrich your dog’s environment to help them stay mentally and physically active - and out of trouble.
Tip # 1: Cardboard Chaos
Sasha absolutely loves this enrichment game. She will play cardboard chaos, daily if I let her—this will keep your pooch happy and busy for hours! This is a great way to get involved with scent work.
Tip #2: Try Trick Training
Families that play together, stay together! I make sure to spend 3 min Trick Training with Sasha every day. We get to deposit into the Relationship Bank Account to strengthen our bond, daily exercise, top up our cues, or try learning a new Trick. Which is important because enrichment is what can keep your dog calm, if you dog is calm you have a happier dog who is less reactive to the environment around them.
Tip #3: Catnip
A new smell can spark curiosity in your dog. I especially love Catnip for my dog because having her find a braided T-shirt that has been scented with catnip is not only fun for me to do with her, but she loves the hunt itself. Scent work is great because it is both independent of you and still a team sport. It was 100 degrees out when I filmed this video
Tip #4: Go high-tech!
Of course, in the modern world, leaving to go to work doesn’t have to mean a boring day for your dog anymore. The industry is exploding with high-tech tools and toys that do everything from monitor your dog’s food intake, to watch and speak to them to, yes, enrich their lives Check out-https://www.porterlabs.ai/
Do you have a trick up your sleeve for keeping your dog entertained? Let me know! I would love to hear all about it.