How Toys and Other Items Can Occupy Your Puppy and Boost its Mental Development

quests-pen-enrichment

When a puppy or adult dog is bored, the chances of it getting into trouble go up exponentially. Adding toys or things to an animal’s living environment to keep them occupied is called Enrichment.

Not only can these items keep your puppy occupied, many studies show that they can help stimulate brain and cognitive development.

If you walk the isles of any pet store, you will see countless toys and items; but which are right for your pup? Part of it is based on your dog’s breed, part on its energy level and also its size.

Small breeds like a Chihuahua, Toy Poodle or a Yorkie have very different play needs than larger breeds like a Dalmatian, lab etc.

I have a lot of Enrichment in Quest’s play pen. In this video I group them into categories and go though them with you.

That’s a whole lot of Enrichment! You don’t need to get as many items as I have, but make sure there is enough to keep your dog interested. Id say 12 different toys would be the minimum you should have on hand at any one time.

As I mentioned in the video, rotating in different toys every few days or week can help your dog stay interested in them a little longer.

But toys are not the only way to go. There are a number of other Enrichment options you can add. Obstacles like ramps, tunnels, stairs, etc can give your dog something to do if you use a play pen like I do for Quest.

But if you don’t want to go that way, crate your puppy or are looking for other, more-interesting Enrichment, there is one final group of things you can add. I call them Injestibles as they are things your dog can eat, but these are not treats or food.

To show you a bunch of Injestible options, I headed to one of my favorite dog stores in Omaha, the Green Spot.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply