“In actuality, enrichment is about meeting all of an animal’s needs.” While foraging and working for food is one aspect of enrichment, she explained, a well-rounded enrichment routine will meet other basic needs, too, including proper exercise, adequate sleep, and offering safety and security for your dog.Īccording to Bender, many behaviors dog owners would consider “bad” are actually instinctual. “The biggest misconception is that enrichment is about items or about very particular activities,” she said in an interview. Kongs are a classic pick for an entry-level food enrichment toy.Īllie Benderwho is a certified dog behavior consultant, certified shelter behavior affiliate, certified professional dog trainer, and the author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World (opens in a new tab), defines enrichment more broadly than its online reputation would indicate. Enrichment is actually a broader trend part of animal behavior studies in general - and it’s been around far longer than #ditchthebowl has been on TikTok. However, there’s more to enrichment than just Kongs and food puzzles. “In most cases dogs love to do because it’s releasing dopamine in their brain.” “Dogs actually benefit from the act of foraging and looking for their food and working for it, not the actual obtaining the food itself,” says McDonald. Studies on contrafreeloading suggest that animals who show this behavior enjoy working for their food and are happier because of it. Dogs (and many other animals) exhibit a behavior called contrafreeloadingor choosing to work for their food instead of taking food that’s given freely. It makes behavioral sense that food puzzles, for instance, would be beneficial for dogs. “I see a huge difference in my dog’s behaviors when they get the proper outlets that allow them to thrive.” ![]() “Enrichment increases the quality of life for your dogs,” McDonald posited. The approach has really worked for her, too: In an interview, she said that incorporating enrichment into her dogs’ daily routines has helped them feel more confident and calm. She’s also set up other kinds of sensory enrichment for her two dogs, including a backyard “ sniffy station” with dog-safe herbs and flowers, a dedicated space for digging, and an outdoor dog lounge with comfortable places to sit as well as auditory enrichment, like wind chimes and a water fountain.Īlongside Bindi and Rosie, her two mixed-breed rescue dogs, McDonald gained over 300,000 TikTok followers over the past two years - a true testament to how many dog owners are getting into the enrichment trend. McDonald shares her dog’s enrichment routine in detail on her social media channels.Įnrichment isn’t strictly about food and eating, and neither is McDonald’s content.
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