Hi I'm Adele I'm a canine behaviourist and training advisor here at Battersea and today we're going to teach you different ways to engage your dog's brain.
Just like it's important to keep your dogs physically stimulated with walks and playtime it's also important to exercise their brain. This should be a part of every dog's daily routine especially if they can't do as much physical exercise, for example, if they're a little bit older or recovering from an operation.
It also helps with self-confidence in puppies as they learn to play by themselves. A lack of stimulation can lead to unwanted behaviours developing due to boredom or frustration or simply as your dog has no outlet for that energy. We recommend using a portion of your dog's daily food for this to avoid over feeding. It's also fine to use treats but just don't give them too many.
One of the simplest things you can start with is scatter feeding or encouraging your dog to search for food as this encourages natural foraging behaviours. You can scatter your dog's food on the floor this can be in the house or in the garden. As your dog grows in confidence you can make the hiding-places a little more difficult by hiding food underneath or behind things. If your dog is finding it too hard and getting frustrated then give them a helping hand. Always be considerate of where you hide the food as you don't want to encourage your dog to rummage anywhere you don't want them to.
Next we're going to be looking at the different toys and interactive feeders that you can use with your dog. There are lots of toys on the market that are designed just for this purpose you can always get creative with items laying around the house. Whatever you use make sure you keep things easy to start off. Activity toys like this one can be filled with food and encourage your dog to move around in order to get the reward. Puzzle feeders are similar but they require your dog to do some problem solving. These can be a little trickier so you might have to show your dog what to do if they are struggling.
An example of something you can quickly make yourself is a destruction box simply fill an old cardboard box with scrunched up paper toilet roll tubes or anything safe for your dog's to tear. You can then scatter their food in the box but be prepared they're going to make a mess of this one.
Toy stuffing is another method to make mealtimes more engaging. These toys are usually made from rubber and come in different sizes to suit your dog. Filling the toy with dry food is a nice easy way to start. If you want to make things more challenging for your dog there are lots of different things you can try. You can take their food first or cap the ends with something soft such as tinned meat so it's harder for them to get out. You can even try putting the stuffed toy in the freezer. This will help to make it last longer and will be a nice treat on a hot day. Remember the tighter you pack the food the more challenging it will be for your dog.
If your dog shows unwanted behaviours around food such as becoming possessive and we recommend seeking advice from an expert first as you don't want to encourage this. If you have more than one dog you might want to separate them to allow them to enjoy their food on their own. We recommend you supervise your dog while using food toys to make sure that they don't swallow it or chew anything that they're not supposed to.
If you'd like to learn more about how to teach your dog The Battersea Way and visit our website or follow our channels.
