2 Simple Tips for Mental Enrichment: Straight From a Dog Trainer
As everyone is going back into the office or back to school, our dogs will soon be home alone and left to their own devices. Too often we hear owners focus solely on physically tiring their pups but forget to tire them mentally. Here are two ways to provide mental enrichment for your dog so that they don’t get bored while everyone is gone:
Transform every meal time into training time.
Whether you are teaching obedience commands like “’sit”, “down”, or “heel”, or have graduated to teaching tricks like “paw”, and “roll-over”, making your dog work for every bite of food goes a long way in providing that mental drain. Some dogs will master the “let’s try every trick” approach until they get the treat. There is very little mental drain in paying no attention and trying everything for every command. We want to have our dogs slow down, pay attention, and carefully choose which behavior they know is associated with the command. Since dogs read gestures and body language much better than they understand verbal cues, try to pair a hand gesture with each command. Say the command first, then provide the gesture, then reward them. There are millions of free videos on youtube or the tips and tricks section of our Instagram account @knottydog has some great pointers.
Get your dog ready for you to leave before you actually leave.
Practice a “place” or a “crate” command while everyone is home and give them something to chew on while they are away from you. If your dog follows you around the house when you’re home doing routine activities, there is a good chance that when everyone leaves for the day, it will be very challenging for them. The more we help our dogs practice being alone/away from us even while we are home, the more ready they will be for the moments when we all actually leave. Practicing being calm and relaxed away from everyone is a huge confidence builder, and can be very mentally draining if they are used to always being close. Again, there are tons of resources for teaching these commands online and if you ever need help with implementation, send us an email or find us on Facebook!
*This article is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to provide medical advice or replace the advice of a qualified veterinarian.
