At the moment 'Enrichment' is trendy word. Commonly enrichment is associated with food, like puzzle toys, but it is so much more than that.
Enrichment is anything new: a new sound, seeing something new, tasting something new, smelling something new. It is any environmental contrast the dog is curious about--and you can orchestrate that. Important: the dog ALWAYS has a choice whether he wants to explore or not. Exposure has to happen at the dog’s comfort level, otherwise you instil fear and anxiety.
Allow your dog to observe and sniff freely. Free sniffing is a vital piece to have good welfare if you’re a dog.
It is opportunities for the dog to live out what they have a natural aptitude for.
Structured scenting, channeling that superb sense dogs have, is a fabulous way we can add extra enrichment. And for the fearful and anxious dog it is the best confidence builders. For our feral born Will a recreational search and rescue course in the Albertan Rocky Mountains it was a game changer. You can see her, and hubby Mike and me and Davie plus our instructor, in the photo returning from a successful people find.
Normally a dog who would hide and shut down, her confidence, may I say pride, is palpable. After all, scenting is the one thing dogs in a human world are better at than we are. It is primal. They can succeed—which builds confidence.
Notwithstanding, not every dog is equally motivated. For Will finding any object we intentionally dropped was a highly valued game, and a reinforcement. I once called her of a rabbit in mid chase. In contrast, it took some effort with Bowie before he truly enjoyed finding a scented toy. Whether a dog is more or less interested, I find that the best way to start that journey is to introduce something that makes sense to your dog. I find that dogs need purpose. Wintergreen or thyme in a box is purposeless for most.
With Will is was people she was asked to find first, then objects once she loved the game.
With Bowie we took a scent detection class. Equally fabulous instructor who understood motivation. She started with pepperoni in a spice container. Bowie definitely saw the purpose in locating that. Here are the steps:
A small piece of pepperoni in a buck.25 spice container. Why? Because the container on it’s own is neutral, so it really is about the scent not the object.
Whenever Bowie showed interest, sniffed the container, I handed over a piece of pepperoni from my hand. That gave meaning to the scent: “This is important. Sniff it and you get a piece”. Important: from the hand—to convey that it is about locating the scent and not about eating what’s in the container.
Once Bowie got that, I placed the container on the floor, then a few steps away so that he had to deliberately walk to it, then the hiding began: easy first, making it more challenging as he became skilled. He always got his separate piece of pepperoni when he located the container.
Next, I switched pepperoni for a piece of paper towel with a few drops of liquid smoke (found in most grocery stores). That scent was close enough for Bowie to still be motivated—reinforcement was still a piece of pepperoni.
Then I switched that liquid smoke scent onto a new toy—which only came out when played the game. The game of finding the toy anywhere: in the house, the yard, we used our neighbours’ cars and garage (with permission), the playground, wood trails, etc.
Although Bowie loved finding the toy in its own right, we occasionally still give him a food treat. Especially after a difficult search.
If you or your dog aren’t into that, here are some other nose work ideas:
Gear your dog up in much the same way, but use something that smells of you (or your kids)—a sock or maybe a new toy you slept with for a week.
For very scent-savvy dogs like our Will finding the car in the parking lot on the way back from the dog park or hike, or finding the house coming back from a walk, or really any object, is fun.
Generally play scent games both on and off the leash. It is one of the best ways to create a positive association to the leash and lower or eliminate leash frustration. With all our dogs we followed animal tracks in the snow on leash hikes.
Recreational tracking is people search for fun.
You can create the course we did with Will easily with your dog.
You need: a park or space large enough to work with the dog on a 20 foot leash (not a retractable) line and a group of people—friends, family members, or likeminded dog owners up for the game. A comfortably body harness on your dog is a must.
The person who is about to hide places a piece of cloth or fleece somewhere on his body (armpits work well) for about 5 minutes to get the scent on it. The person then drop it in a clean plastic container. A second person hides person # 1. Especially for a beginner dog it is useful when a human knows where the person is hidden to prevent that the rookie sniffer goes too far off track. Once the person is hidden, let your dog sniff the scented piece of cloth in the plastic container, and see whether she is up to locating the hidden person. Most dogs clue in quickly what they are supposed to do. Pulling of course is allowed here. Follow your dog.
You can make this as easy or difficult as the dog’s skill level allows, but no cues from the hidden person, and ideally no helping from the handler either. It’s all about setting the conditions for the dog to succeed with his nose.
Although scenting is so much more than food, laying treat trails, tossing treats in the yard, letting your dog trail something smelly you tied on rope and dragged behind you, or something hiding hand a ham sandwich in a bush for your dog to find, are all fun nose games.
Create a Scent Space in your home
Arrange arbitrary things you find in your home in one area. (Of course segregate your dog when you set it up.) It could be new to your dog stuff you have in the basement, loaners from friends and family, but also familiar items in a new place. Be creative. Anything goes: egg cartons, clothes, an unwashed sock hanging from an overturned chair, an old shoe, a bucket, a chair upturned…. whatever you have in your normal household.
Let your dog explore, but no coaxing and no interrupting. When your dog walks away he’s done. You can leave the stuff there if you have the space, rearrange it for the next time, or clean it all up and come up with new stuff, or some new stuff, the next time.
A variety of that is to spread cereal or cardboard boxes in the living space, some could have treats in, or treats wrapped and tied in a towel, some are empty, some have a toy, and so on.
Let your dog scout out the best path on hikes. Put it on cue and send her ahead. You will get a lot of voluntary attention when your dog checks back to ensure that you follow. A dog on a job tends to ignore other people, dogs and wildlife.
Or, you could purchase Anne Lill Kvam’s wonderful book: The Canine Kingdom of Scent. There are 12 step-by-step scent games with trouble shooting.
The Toy Box
A toy box is an always accessible activity centre in the home, a sandbox for the dog is the same in the yard. It is enriching where the dog lives, and a box works better than toys strewn because it that designated visual place makes it clear where to go to to go to self-entertain, self-regulate, and self-soothe. It also helps puppies understand what is theirs to chew, and they leave their people’s stuff intact. A basket-type center inside and out to dig in is particularly satisfying for terriers, which means they are less likely to dig up your garden.
A proper size box fits a number of various toys and chewies, and also contains props, for example something that smells of their people. Periodically tossing a few treats in it amongst all the stuff is enrichment, but also a great, and more prolonged, reinforcement when a dog leaves passersby alone and walks away from the window instead of barking at them.
Toy box ideas:
Anything new under supervision first to ensure that it is safe.
Balls, ropes, stuffies. Rotating 2-3 toys creates more attraction. Especially important for easily bored young dogs. Novelty increases interest and curiosity. If your dog has an absolutely favorite, that should also be in the box.
Nutritious human leftovers not too seasoned make great Kong stuffers, which can go into the toy box. You can freeze it for more prolonged fun. If your dog is not Kong savvy, initially fill it only lightly so that she is not discouraged because getting the stuff out is too difficult, then gradually increase difficulty as she becomes more skilled. An alternative is a Topple, which has a wider opening.
Provided your dog doesn’t swallow fabric, clean rags, holey socks or worn t-shirts with treats tied in can become cheap ripping toys. Empty paper towel rolls with a few treats and the ends folded in, or any cardboard box, work well also.
Again provided your dog doesn’t swallow, every so often a paper towel. Most dogs love to shred these. Make it legal. Or stuff a bunch in a Hol-ee Roller. Stuffing it with strips of fleece works as well. And with a few treats in the middle most dogs peel the fleece or paper out to get into the guts, but won’t swallow.
Toy Clean Up
Bringing strewn toys back to the basket can be a lot of fun for a dog, and is relatively easy to teach once your dog knows how to hold something in his most (most dogs do that automatically) and drops it on cue.
Close to the toy box, offer your dog a toy to hold, gently move the box right underneath her, and tell her to drop it. Generously reinforce when the toy automatically falls into the basket. Make it a big deal. You want to make an impression. Repeat… Most dogs make the connection what this game is about quickly, and when move the box slightly to the side, then a little farther away, then a little more, meaning that the dog has to walk to the toy box to drop the toy in. Next move the toy a couple of feet away, tell your dog to get it, point to the box, cue her to drop it.
Once that is reliably in place, add a new cue. Mine was “clean up”, followed by the old cue: drop it, gradually phasing out the old cue and pointing at the toy basket.
The rest is just a matter of incrementally increasing the distance between the toys and the basket until your dog fetches his toys from every room in the house, and drops them in the basket.
Fetching
Is another game many dogs love. And it can be useful. Dogs love having a purpose.
Hold an item close to your dog’s nose, and when he touches it, generously reinforce. Name the item. When he gets the hang of it, place it on the ground close by, and point to it. Most dogs will pick the object, you gave a name to, up. Reinforce that. At this point many dogs will already bring the object to you—to get reinforced. If your dog doesn’t, call him with the object hopefully still in his mouth, and reinforce the moment he reaches you. Incrementally increase the distance between you and the object, all the way to another room. The reason why you name the item is so that you can ask specifically for it and have your dog fetch useful things, for example your keys, or slipper. One of my trainer friends taught one of her dogs to fetch a beer, and one of my clients to get a fresh pair of diapers—a brilliant way to foster a great relationship between a dog and the new baby.
What About Tug?
Done right it can be a mutually rewarding interaction between dog and person, and you teach your dog that you are a wonderful playmate as long as he follows the rules and stays responsive— even when highly aroused.
Prerequisite
Your dog able to ignore something in your hand unless you give a release cue that he can take it. So you could dangle a leash, the toy, or a rope, in front of your dog and he won’t snatch for it.
Your dog knows the drop-it cue.
Your dog is be able to settle after you ended the game.
The Rules
A permission cue like “take” starts the game. It is a clear invitation—no snatching allowed.
The dog can re-grab, but not close to the hand. You must have a toy long enough that allows him to stay on his end.
Your dog should instantly release the toy with a drop it, and not re-grab unless cued to “take”. You absolutely can, in fact should, reward your dog with a continuation of the game.
All-done ends it, and your dog is expected to leave you, and others, in peace.
Your dog ends up with the toy. This is not about winning possession of the toy, which is competitive, but about playing—the interaction, which is cooperative.
Agility folk like to make the tug toy a limited resource to raise motivation so that they have something of high value to get their dog out of the ring after a run, but for companion dogs that is not important. The tug toy can be part of the toy box.
Those are the rules. Be aware that during play your dog can get quite excited. Be prepared to hear some fierce growls coming from your little darling, but as long as tug is cooperative play and not a power struggle, the growls are happy sounds and not warnings.
The Flirt Pole
Many dogs go gaga over the flirt pole. It can be a very strong motivator during counterconditioning work outside, and also allows for exercise in the yard or even house.
Like tug, introducing and using the flirt pole properly is important.
Here is a great article: http://eileenanddogs.com/2013/04/24/dog-play-flirt-poles/
Not Just For The Herders—But Primarily For Them
Treibball - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFpH_WLC4qs
Dry Herding (no sheep necessary) - https://thetalkingdog.ca
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