How Enrichment Toys Can Cure Your Dogs Boredom

Do you understand the importance of enrichment toys for your dogs? Do you know enrichment toys can help cure boredom? Enrichment is easy to incorporate into day-to-day life, and it’s the essential aspect of pet care. Like humans, dogs need to be involved in different activities to stay happy and healthy.

Enrichment toys can cure your dog’s boredom, but the question is, how do they do that? We’ll try to find the answer to this question. So, let’s start.

How Can Enrichment Toys Help Your Dogs Beat Boredom?

Are you ready to learn enrichment activities? If yes, then don’t go anyway and read this article till the end.

1. Food Toys

Yes, you have read it right. Food toys are best for enrichment, but unfortunately, many dog owners don’t feed their pets this way. Puzzle toys are a perfect example of food toys, and these toys provide stimulation and help dogs beat boredom when they’re not at home.

You can purchase anything that can occupy your dogs. When dogs think more, they get tired. Remember, don’t stick to the same food toys for a long time and keep changing them frequently.

2. Automatic Ball Thrower

This enrichment toy isn’t for all dogs, but it’s a powerful tool for dogs to get rid of boredom. Some dogs love to play fetch, so it’s an ideal toy for them. Ensure that your dog doesn’t chew tennis balls. If your dogs do that, then don’t purchase this one for your puppy.

These types of toys are ideal for small dogs. Dogs will take time to get used to this game. So, ensure that you introduce the concept gently, and dog training is a must. For example, you need to teach your dog how to put the ball back into the machine and also how to stay away from the machine when the ball is released.

3. Introduce New Smells

This concept is also called Novel Enrichment. Dogs use their nose to collect and assess information. Therefore, they love to walk because it allows them to experience novel enrichment. It’s not essential to take your dogs for a walk to introduce new smells, and you can provide stimulation in your home as well.

You can find items from garage sales and second-hand shops. Remember, different dog breeds have a distinct smelling tendency, so you can’t expect the same response from everyone. But when you introduce different smells, this enrichment activity will definitely help dogs to beat boredom.

4. Teach Tricks

There are many dog toys for this task. On the other hand, positive dog training can be an excellent source of enrichment, and positive reinforcement can help your dogs get rid of anxiety and behavior issues.

5. Puzzle Feeders

Puzzle feeders are also perfect examples of enrichment toys. As the name indicates, they’ll keep your dogs guessing and stimulate their minds. It’s an ideal enrichment toy for fast eaters because it will slow down the eating process. To get the best results, you can fill these puzzle feeders with your dog’s favorite diet and treats.

6. Play Unusual Sounds

You can’t stay with your puppy all the time, and it makes them anxious and bored. Understand your dog’s favorite music or sounds. Make an album of different human and animal sounds and play them on lower volumes. It will make your dogs feel that you’re around. If you can pair these sounds with food, then it would be an excellent experience for them.

7. Play Hide and Seek

If you have time, you can play this game with your pets. If you have a busy schedule, you can hide treats and your dog’s favorite food and ask them to find it. You can hide food under pillows and on shelves. The idea is to keep them guessing and engaged. It will cure boredom and keep your dog busy when you’re not at home.

8. Try Enrichment Box

Most dogs love to dig a garden, but when you provide them with an enrichment box, they will dig it to find treats. More importantly, it’s safer than digging a garden and it protects your garden from damage. Enrichment boxes are great for engaging dogs in foraging behavior. The best thing about these toys is you can allow your dogs to play with them inside your home.

9. Snuffle Mats

Many pet owners don’t know about snuffle mats and how they can be important for pets. This rubber mat contains lots of fabric strips tied to it. These are designed in such a way that they provide challenging ways for dogs to sniff out treats. Moreover, dogs use their natural sniffing abilities to find food.

They increase enrichment because dogs have to work hard to find their food. While playing this game, ensure that you praise your dogs whenever they find food. You can create snuffle mats at home, but if you feel you can’t make that, you can purchase them online.

10. Food-Dispensing Toys

We have mentioned lots of toys above, but these enrichment toys are different. The concept is the same because this toy and all the other toys keep your dogs engaged, but the working is different. These toys encourage dogs to challenge their natural scavenging abilities.

When dogs engage with these toys to get food, they beat boredom. The working is simple, and you just have to fill food dispensing toy with food and treats. Some toys are automatic, but they’re expensive. But you can purchase toys that allow your dogs to move them around.

So, all these enrichment toys and activities can cure your dog’s boredom.

Final Words

Enrichment toys don’t only alleviate boredom, but they also help dogs to live a happy, healthy, and long life. Some enrichment toys can help you strengthen your bonding with your puppy. You can give these toys to your dog to keep them entertained and engaged. The best thing about enrichment toys is they’re not expensive, and you can create most of them at home. Keep changing these toys. Otherwise, these toys can also turn your dog’s excitement into boredom.