enrichment

Buzzword: Enrichment (What Does That Mean?)

Enrichment; we hear this word everywhere in the dog world these days. But what does it mean exactly? And do some enrichment activities create a different mental state than others? What mental state should you be aiming for, for your dog? Why is enrichment important at all?

Enrichment is any activity more than required to exist, basically. It is the everyday actions that not only add quality to one’s life but enhance the mental stability of any sentient being. Being bored is bad for the mental state. Enrichment adds richness to life. For some dogs, it can often mean the difference between anxiety and a more relaxed mental state. There are many different types of enrichment that range from active to relaxing. They all serve a purpose and the goal with dogs is to focus on not only what an individual dog enjoys, but what would also improve their mental state. Some enrichment activities help give dogs healthy coping mechanisms.

Active enrichment activities consist of any kind of dog sports such as agility, lure coursing, flyball, disc dog, dock jumping, herding, etc. Active enrichment also includes simply playing with your dog with toys in such ways as fetch, tug, chasing games, etc. Visiting the dog park, doggy day care, running with you or even visiting relatives with you are also forms of active enrichment. How these types of enrichment, however enjoyable, differ from calming enrichment, is that they all raise the cortisol level versus lower it. Raising the cortisol level by doing something enjoyable is not a bad thing. Humans do this too. But humans are usually taught how to bring themselves down to a more relaxed state afterwards. Some humans learn this the hard way. We call these humans Type A individuals. If you fit into this category, you know that it’s “go go go” all the time. Learning to relax is a learned behavior for this group of humans. Same with Type A dogs.

Not only do Type A dogs also need calming enrichment that can help teach them self-moderated relaxation skills, anxious dogs who may not be interested in the “go go go” state of mind also need calming enrichment to learn effective coping skills. Calming enrichment can include nose-work of the more casual kind such as treat scatters in grass/yards/snuffle mats. Sniffing walks (“sniffari”) where not much ground is covered cardio-wise but rather every inch of scent is thoroughly investigated, is an incredibly calming enrichment activity. I call this “reading all of the articles” versus “skimming the headlines”. Lick mats or stuffed Kongs are another type of calming enrichment. Recreational chew toys and other non-edible chew toys, also fit into this category for some dogs. Every dog is different. It’s important to determine which calming enrichment is right for each dog. Every dog can be taught to do calm enrichment walks, given the right environment to do so. You can read some about that subject here, if your dog is reactive on walks.

Calming enrichment lowers the cortisol level, providing not only a more balanced state of mind but a reduced state of potential reaction. Why is that important? Well, because dogs can’t talk, and we expect them to deal with a lot of things in our human world without fully understanding how it appears from their point of view. So we often miss when they may be in this state until after the reaction happens. Let’s look at this from a human standpoint. If you are amped up from what might have been a really great day but a very busy and exciting day full of activities that were of the whirlwind variety and you are stopped at a store to get something before going home to relax, are you going to be more or less likely to react in a bad way if someone cuts you off on the way into the parking lot or or says something rude to you inside of the store? More likely is the answer. Why? Because your cortisol level is already high, not because you are stressed but because you haven’t yet had the chance to decompress. Now if before you stopped at the store, you stopped at the yoga studio and then went to the store, you’d be more likely to simply ignore these violations. Same with dogs. If they spent the day getting amped up on fun and you haven’t shown them how to come down from that state, they are still raring to go. Check this video out for a better understanding of active enrichment heart rate (and the cortisol rise that goes with it) and calming enrichment heart rate (and the cortisol decrease that goes with it).

There is a middle ground of enrichment that includes activities that may be calming to some dogs and active to other dogs. That category includes: treat balls, treat puzzles, cardboard box games, homemade treat dispensers, and short manners cue training games. One note on sniffing walks that I think needs mentioned is that while most environmental sniffing is indeed calming, a dog suddenly catching the scent of a less typically common in the environment member of the wildlife family such as a fox or coyote, can indeed be more cortisol rising and incredibly activating versus calming. That is the exception to the “calming sniffing walk” rule. Redirection is necessary in that context if your goal is calming.

Learning how to follow active enrichment with calming enrichment can save both yours and your dog’s sanity. For example, with clients whose dogs are more energetic in the evening, my questions to them usually reveal answers that tell me some sort of active play happens right before the over-stimulated state. Simply following that active enrichment, whatever it may be, with some several minutes of sprinkling of treats either in the grass outdoors or in the snuffle mat inside. Doing this for whatever short time for that individual dog, for the time required to decrease the heart rate and therefore the cortisol rate, will help the dog transition to the more desired by the human relaxed enough to not do zoomies around the house while the human relaxes scenario. For those of you with type A dogs, always following some sort of active activity with a small amount of calming enrichment will help not only the humans who live with these dogs but the dog in question to develop self-moderating abilities. Win/win. How do you add enrichment to your dog’s life?

Beyond the Myths: Facts Over Fiction

Dog trainers who have been working at their craft for a long time are generally very skilled in holding their tongues about the myriad of things that they hear when working with clients or even when out in dog centered locales, overhearing the general dog loving public. The source of these outdated myths are usually well-meaning family and friends trying to “help” the dog parent. But sadly, in far too many cases, the source is sometimes people actually working as “trainers”, who haven’t updated their dog behavior education in a very long time. And then of course, there is “the internet”, a source of both truth and fiction alike. I am here to bust some of those myths up with facts. Get comfortable!

Humans should eat before dogs to establish dominance:
No, just no. This came from some outdated idea that alpha wolves eat first. In reality, wolf families share meals and in times of scarcity, they make sure that the pups are fed first. In a human run household with dogs, regardless of their age, the dogs are the pups. Feeding them first will not cause them to believe that they are dominant. It will make mealtimes for the humans much more pleasant as the dogs will not be annoying the humans while they eat, as they are already satisfied. I generally recommend to my clients that they plan both meals to be ready at the same time so that they can offer the dogs their meal as they are about to sit down to their own meal. Win/win.

More on that here: Pack leadership is not a thing!

Koro is done with the myths. Can you tell? Photo courtesy of Ariel McCray.

More dominance nonsense. Dogs like cushy places like couches and human beds because they are exactly that, cushy places. They have no illusions of control being on such cushy places except if they are resource guarding such spaces. This is not dominance related at all. It’s a behavioral issue that can be somewhat hardwired in as a survival instinct, but can successfully be worked with to improve those nerve patterns. So, if your dog resource guards raised surfaces from either the humans or other animals in your household, then get yourself a quality modern methods rewards-based behavior consultant so that you can resolve that issue the right way. In the meantime, provide plenty of soft surfaces for all dogs at floor levels. Read Sleeping with your dog has benefits! for how it improves the relationship to have your dogs sleep with/near you. Additionally, in a similar context, you can safely sit on the floor with your dog without them thinking that you are now a sibling/toy. But do realize that many dogs are soooo excited to have their humans on the floor with them that those who have not developed great impulse control skills yet will be super excited and possibly be all over you. This does not translate to “being dominant”. This translates similarly to being on the floor with an excited toddler. Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Dogs should never walk in front of a human:
That’s silly at best. Personally, I want my dogs walking in front of me on walks, as I hate the feeling of the leash slapping at my legs. “Heeling” is an outdated concept better practiced in competition “obedience”. If you aren’t doing such, then just worry about leash manners versus heeling. Will you need your dogs to walk by your side briefly in certain contexts? Absolutely! Two examples: you have a large dog and there are others headed your way and you need to give them space; you are walking into the vet’s or the groomer’s facility, and you want to maintain control in case someone else isn’t doing so. Both of these are perfectly acceptable reasons for “heeling”. But I don’t call it that and I teach it as a “stay with me” type of scenario that a dog is lavishly rewarded for and cued for in advance of need and then released as soon as safe to do so. “Heeling” on leash on a walk is B.O.R.I.N.G. for your dog. The walk is for your dog. Let them explore their environment and check their pee-mail as well as “read the landscaping” for critter activity. This is far more mentally tiring than walking in a military style protocol by your side will ever be. Tiring your dog out mentally so that they will be more relaxed at home is your goal with walks, right? Didn’t you ever wonder why your dog returns from a “heeling” walk just as amped up as when you left? Well, now you have your answer. Read both of the following for what a quality walk consists of: Your dog needs walks for enrichment purposes and How to mix up your dog’s walks

Humans should go out of doorways first:
Same theory though not as militantly expressed. Generally, as long as you cue your dogs to exit said doorway/vehicle opening, it’s all good. The key is the cue. Teaching your dogs some impulse control so that bad things don’t happen because of excited exits is the goal here, not some outdated theory that your dogs see you as “alpha” if you go through that doorway first. Dogs don’t think in those terms. They just think you want out more than they do. Personally, I find it easier to exit after them, as long as I am sure that the coast is clear. Obviously, exiting after them applies to doorways, not vehicles. Practicality and all.

Alpha Rolls, just don’t:
This seems to be a thing that just won’t die with some “professionals” insisting that this places you in a “dominant” position. No, it doesn’t. Wolves in the wild never did this. It was disproved decades ago. Read here: Alpha rolls are dumb . Dogs will voluntarily roll on their backs when other dogs scare them or to appear non-threatening when trying to make friends. That is a gesture that means “please don’t hurt me” or “I won’t hurt you”, the first often referred to by trainers in the know, as a tap out. Tossing a dog on his or her back with force or at all, just causes the dog to think that you are unpredictable and not to be trusted. Is that the kind of relationship that you want to forge?

Some breeds need a heavier hand:
No, not at all. All sentient beings learn by both classical and operant conditioning as well as observation. How you implement modern rewards-based methods will differ with each individual dog. But all dogs can be trained/have their behavior modified without a “heavy hand”. Read these for more on this subject: No breed needs a firmer hand and Each dog (not breed) is an individual and also Positive training works on all dogs .

Pack hierarchy is a thing:
Don’t allow anyone to tell you to reinforce a mythical status of one of the dogs in your household. You are the parent in this equation. None of the dogs are “in charge”. The humans set boundaries and enforce safety protocols. The dogs don’t decide who does what, any more than you would allow your children to decide “status” in your home. Be a benevolent parent. Fairness is important, as is making sure that all dogs know that the adult humans in the home are the ones who provide safety. Read more on that here You do not have a pack! and here Dogs notice fairness and here How to effectively parent your crew!

Now go forth and educate your fellow dog parents who might be listening to the wrong crowd please. Their dogs will forever thank you for busting those myths!

Tags: alpha, alpha dog, alpha roll, dog myths, dog pack, dogs on beds, dogs on couches, dominance, enrichment, enrichment walks, heavy handed dog training, heeling, multiple dogs, obedience, positive training, sleeping with your dog

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