Environmental Enrichment (Part 2) Implementation

This is part 2 of the environmental enrichment for dogs from our upcoming book on dog aggression.  Part 1 talked about why environmental enrichment is important in trerating aggression in dogs.  In part 2 we will talk about some of the ways you can implement this.

To start, think about what dogs typically do. Some of the areas that you can start to think about are:

• Introduce experiences that make use of the five senses:

• Novel objects
• Novel sounds
• Allow them to explore parts of your home they don’t ordinarily get to, such as the basement or a closet or cupboard
• Take them to a new location they have never explored
• Positive based training
• Social enrichment (provided the dog is comfortable with who ever he is socially interacting with)

A couple points to remember:

• Nothing should frighten your dog or make them more anxious
• It should be something they want to interact with on some level
• All toys and objects can break, splinter or fall apart.  If your dog swallows something he shouldn’t, it could be a trip to the vet or worse, so always make sure you supervise

This article has been adapted from The Dog Aggression System Every Dog Owner Needs book.