4 Easy DIY Enrichment Ideas!
Enrichment toys are fuelling a large part of the dog product-market boom right now, and although I’m a huge fan of the amount of options available in pet shops and online and lots of specific products and brands, it can’t be ignored that many of the best enrichment products come with a hefty price tag attached!
In this blog post, I want to give you some easy DIY enrichment ideas to try out with your dog - have a go and see what you think! These games target natural instincts that your dog will enjoy expressing such as tearing and dissecting, sniffing, licking, and tugging. For further enrichment ideas using bought items, check out my blog post ‘Getting Started with Enrichment’.
Destruction Boxes
What on earth is a destruction box?! As the name (hopefully) suggests, this is something you can put together to allow your dog to express those instincts that involve tearing, ripping, and otherwise destroying things like toys or sticks. You can make a destruction box from any packaging you have lying around the house - amazon boxes, thin cardboard packaging from the shops, newspaper or magazines, anything like that!
How to make it
Gather together some supplies. You’ll need at least one box, but you can also choose to layer your destruction box to increase the challenge and longevity of the activity for your dog. Think pass the parcel!
Once you’ve collected up your box/es and newspaper/magazines, begin to assemble the box. You need it to be sealed on one side and open at the top, so that your dog has a fighting chance of getting in!
Pack your box with crumpled up newspaper or similar, and if you want to add more boxes, begin to add them inside the first box. You could add in several smaller boxes, or go russian-doll style and keep placing smaller ones inside each box, each time layering around it with your filling.
Scatter treats throughout each box - this can be whatever you like, but dry treats tend to work best! You want to mix these in with the newspaper filling to allow your dog to sniff and search them out, and to tear up the filling to access them. They will then be able to move on to the next box and have fun ripping into that to repeat the process!
That’s it! Now all you need to do is find a suitable space, and let your dog have their fun. Be aware that this is going to create a fair amount of mess in the form of shredded up cardboard and paper, so have a broom ready!
You should always supervise your dog when giving them a destruction box, to ensure they don’t ingest any of the cardboard or paper, and that they don’t get themselves into any other difficulties when navigating the boxes!
Don’t worry that this sets a precedent for tearing up your packages - give this to your dog in a specific spot away from the front door and cue them to engage with it (“what’s this?” “look at this!” “find it!” etc), and in doing so you’ll be creating a distinction between this as a game for them versus normal packages coming in through the front door for you.
Check out a demo video of Bonnie enjoying a destruction box below!
Toilet roll Search & Destroy Game
Maybe you’re not the sort of person to have a lot of shipping boxes or newspaper lying around the house, but you’ll surely have a steady supply of toilet roll inserts which could be used for this game!
This game uses similar elements of tearing and dissecting, but also engages your dog further in the Scentwork portion of the game, ie. the part that gets them using their nose to find things. Scentwork is extremely mentally stimulating for dogs, and can be a great way to provide enrichment and engagement on days when you have less on for your dog, including times when they can’t walk eg. due to injury or high temperatures.
How to make it
Collect up a few empty toilet roll tubes - the more you use, the longer the game.
Push one end of a toilet roll tube closed - you may want to twist it, or simply fold it inward, whatever works best for you.
Select treats of your choice, and place a few inside the toilet roll tube before pushing in the open end.
Repeat this for all of your rolls!
In terms of treats, it’s up to you what you want to use. Smellier treats like cheese, cooked meat or fish, or anything similar are good if you’re just starting out with this, as this will make it easier for your dog to track them down. For seasoned pros, you can mix in kibble or other dry treats.
How to play
Hide the prepared toilet roll tubes around a room. To start with, keep it simple - place some in view, and make sure that they’re ALL easily accessible. As your dog gets the hang of this game, you can begin making it harder, and indeed can start spreading out into other rooms as well.
Once you’re set up, you can bring your dog into the room and instruct them to '“Find it!”. Supervise them as they navigate the room searching for their prizes. Remember to keep a count of how many there are to find so you can clearly tell them when they’re “all done!”.
If your dog is new to the cue of “Find it”, check out my video on how to get them started here:
Ice Cube Licky-bowl
Lickmats are a great tool for reducing stress and for keeping your dog occupied, and although you can purchase them pretty cheaply online, here’s an alternative that just requires an ice cube tray and a few ingredients!
How to make it
Prepare your ingredients - you could use plain chicken broth, salmon oil, blended fruits mixed with water (check for suitability of different types of fruit!), or plain yoghurt. Dilute your chosen ingredients as needed, fill an ice cube tray with the resulting mixture, and pop it in the freezer for later.
Once the cubes are ready, you can place a number of them into a bowl. It’s up to you to choose something appropriate - you could use a plastic mixing bowl, or your dog’s food bowl, but be mindful of potential breakage. Portion out cubes based on your dog’s size and the quantity of ingredients present in the cubes.
Place the bowl down for your dog to enjoy! Be sure to supervise your dog to ensure they don’t choke on a cube or get into difficulty with the bowl. They may prefer to crunch up the cubes which is alright, but ideally there will be some licking activity going on too which is great stimulation and enrichment for them.
This is also a nice way to help your dog stay cool on hot days!
Tea-towel Tug and Retrieve
Anyone who has attended a class of mine will be able to tell you that I’m a huge fan of the simple knotted tea-towel as a dog toy. You can buy them very cheaply in discount stores and online, or give some of your older tea-towels a fresh start by repurposing them.
Tug-type play can be really fun for dogs, and you can easily incorporate chasing and retrieving as well as search games all using one toy.
How to make it
Take your tea-towel in two hands, and gently twist it as though you’re wringing it out.
Move your hands down to one end, and tie a knot. If you need to re-twist the towel to make tying easier, do so! There should be a small amount of material left on the outside of the knot.
Repeat this process on the other side. You should end up with a toy that has a nice space in the middle for your dog to place their mouth during play, and enough room for you to hold onto the very ends on the outside of the knots, like handlebars! If you need to re-tie the knots to make the balance better, do so.
How to play
To engage your dog with the toy, try starting with it cupped in your hands and held away from them, as though you’re holding something really precious and interesting and not letting them see it. Coo over it, and gradually allow them to peek and sniff at it, all the while building interest. Once they’re really fascinated with whatever it is you’re holding and they absolutely HAVE to see it, you can introduce it to them and offer them the middle portion to place their mouth on.
Holding onto your ‘handles’, begin to move the toy gently from side to side. The motion should be slow and gentle to avoid causing damage to your dog’s head and neck, and this also helps to keep the game a little more calm.
If you want to practice a release, simply freeze the toy by pulling it taught to prevent movement, and as soon as your dog’s mouth comes off the toy, tell them ‘Good!’ and re-engage with the toy as a reward. You could start tugging again, or throw the toy out for them to chase and retrieve.
The world is your oyster with this one, you can use it for anything! Shape the games as you like, and use your knowledge of your dog to choose which play types suit them best; tug, chase and retrieve, search games - or a combination of all 3!