Mental Stimulating Dog Toys
Did you guys know that mental enrichment, and stimulating activities have many benefits for your dog! “The key to a happy and healthy dog is regular enrichment and allowing them to engage in their innate behaviors, such as playing, chasing, smelling, chewing and scavenging. By allowing your dog to engage in these behaviors, you allow them to be physically, emotionally and mentally satisfied. Dogs who don’t receive stimulation tend to find ways to enrich themselves, resulting in unwanted behaviors.”
Here are 2 examples of what I do with my personal dogs:
- Scent Walks
- Enrichment/ Activity Toys
Scent walks are a great example for stimulating your dog, and providing them with daily exercise. “Not only do dogs have hundreds of millions of scent receptors as compared our six million, but they also devote approximately 40 times more brain volume to decoding smells than we do.” There was an article I was reading specifically about scent walks and it said that even a behavioral component comes into play. “… when dogs are allowed to use their noses, they actually display a lot less ‘misbehavior,’”
Enrichment/ Activity Toys are something my dogs get so excited for. I read that “Activity toys are useful to redirect an energetic puppy, provide stimulating challenges for a senior pet or provide a more desirable behavior for a dog with separation anxiety when left alone or simply help meet the daily need for activity, exploration oral stimulation or simply food intake. Activity toys filled with food may not be appropriate for dogs that exhibit food or possession guarding behavior.” I typically do these on days where either it is too hot for a walk, or I don’t have enough time. I have even done it to feed them their morning or evening meals. I do recommend being careful on how frequently you do these activities because it can lead to unnecessary weight gain if you are giving your dog more food than they need which can cause health issues for your fur
