Busy Dogs
Busy dogs are good dogs
Every dog—and every animal, in fact—has social, mental, and physical needs that must be met to ensure a healthy and happy life. Over the 13,000 years or more of domestication, dogs have been bred into a wide variety of sizes and shapes and for a wide range of tasks, such as hunting, retrieving, herding, and pulling sleds. The type and amount of mental and physical stimulation required by any dog will depend on age, breed, health, and individual differences, but all dogs are alike in that when their needs for physical and mental exercise are met, they make better pets.
Building a Positive Relationship
Dogs make wonderful family pets because of their social nature. Social times with your pet not only are important to meet mental and physical needs, but also can make your dog more content, improve your relationship, and help your dog learn what you want to communicate during training. When these needs are not met, a dog may exhibit undesirable behaviors,
such as raiding the garbage, digging, soiling inside the house, seeking attention, biting, and jumping up on people.
To help build a good relationship between you and your dog, always focus on rewarding what is desirable rather than punishing what is undesirable. If you focus only on trying to stop undesirable behavior, you might instead contribute to mental distress, abnormal behavior (such as excessive grooming and spinning), and stress-induced health problems. Reward-based training in activities such as fetching, agility training, and nose work has benefits on many different levels.
Keeping the Brain Busy
Reinforcement-based training is an enjoyable way to keep the brain busy. It will improve your ability to communicate with your dog as well as ensure multiple positive interactions. Food, play, affection, and even walks are important rewards that can and should be used to develop and reinforce desirable behavior. By predictably and consistently giving rewards only for behaviors that you want your dog to learn, your dog gains control and understanding of which behaviors earn rewards and which do not. Having your dog work for food, treats, and toys (for example, asking her to “sit” before proceeding with another activity like catching a ball or having her lead placed) helps satisfy the dog's need for mental stimulation, and allows you to use daily activities as opportunities for reward-based training. Teaching your dog a variety of tricks and games can stimulate your dog to use her brain. Clicker training (a way to quickly mark desired behaviors with a special sound) is a useful technique for teaching new skills and tricks. Games such as searching for food or toys encourage scenting, hunting, and foraging behaviors that are helpful for meeting the need for mental exercise. When you are not present, providing toys that your dog must learn to manipulate to get food is another form of environmental enrichment that stimulates the brain. Keeping the brain active has even been shown to delay or prevent the onset of brain aging—so, use it or lose it!
Keeping the Body Busy
Keeping the body busy is essential for maintaining good physical health and lean body weight. Choose games and activities that are fun and practical for you but also designed for your dog to use the behaviors for which her breed was developed. For example, herding dogs may most enjoy games that involve running and chasing or training with livestock; hound
dogs may enjoy searching and scenting games; hunting breeds may benefit from retrieving games; terriers may enjoy having a pit in which to dig or engaging in “barn hunt” competitions; and sled dogs may enjoy pulling a cart. Agility training, herding trials, and flyball, disc dog, and nose work competitions are just a few of the fun and positive ways to provide
physical and mental stimulation. Due to health or age, some dogs may be less able to perform strenuous physical activities. Medication or diet for any underlying pain and alternate activities such as shorter walks, swimming, tracking, nose work, and food puzzles may be easy ways older dogs can keep their brains and bodies enriched.
Play and exercise also provide important social time together and can be used to improve training. Walks, jogging, chase games, retrieving, playing with food, playing hide-and-seek with pieces of food, and gently playing tug or take it/drop it are all wonderful interactive games for dogs and humans. Dogs can also expend energy and improve their social skills by
playing with other pets.
Alone Time
There are times when your dog will need to spend time on her own. Dogs who have a regular and appropriate social enrichment program may use these times to nap and rest. Learning to relax and settle is an important skill for dogs. Provide your dog with her own space—a room with a dog bed, a crate (open or closed) with a bed and water—for resting and “alone time.”
Some dogs may still be energetic and want to engage in further play at times when they need to be left alone. These dogs can be given an opportunity to occupy their alone time by playing with toys that require them to work at getting some of their daily ration of food and calories, as in a puzzle or food-dispensing toy. These toys are not a replacement for social interaction, but they can provide a calm transition for active dogs. If your dog seems stressed when left alone, consult your veterinarian.
Other Tips
Providing social and mental engagement for dogs can involve more than just exercise, training, puzzles, games, or sports. Grooming sessions (teaching a dog to offer one paw or a specific side of the body at a time), massage sessions, and just calm
quiet time together where you watch and talk softly to your dog help build a positive relationship and meet the need for social and mental interactions. These calmer interactions also work well for high-energy dogs who may need cool-down or relaxation periods throughout their day.
Every dog—and every animal, in fact—has social, mental, and physical needs that must be met to ensure a healthy and happy life. Over the 13,000 years or more of domestication, dogs have been bred into a wide variety of sizes and shapes and for a wide range of tasks, such as hunting, retrieving, herding, and pulling sleds. The type and amount of mental and physical stimulation required by any dog will depend on age, breed, health, and individual differences, but all dogs are alike in that when their needs for physical and mental exercise are met, they make better pets.
Building a Positive Relationship
Dogs make wonderful family pets because of their social nature. Social times with your pet not only are important to meet mental and physical needs, but also can make your dog more content, improve your relationship, and help your dog learn what you want to communicate during training. When these needs are not met, a dog may exhibit undesirable behaviors,
such as raiding the garbage, digging, soiling inside the house, seeking attention, biting, and jumping up on people.
To help build a good relationship between you and your dog, always focus on rewarding what is desirable rather than punishing what is undesirable. If you focus only on trying to stop undesirable behavior, you might instead contribute to mental distress, abnormal behavior (such as excessive grooming and spinning), and stress-induced health problems. Reward-based training in activities such as fetching, agility training, and nose work has benefits on many different levels.
Keeping the Brain Busy
Reinforcement-based training is an enjoyable way to keep the brain busy. It will improve your ability to communicate with your dog as well as ensure multiple positive interactions. Food, play, affection, and even walks are important rewards that can and should be used to develop and reinforce desirable behavior. By predictably and consistently giving rewards only for behaviors that you want your dog to learn, your dog gains control and understanding of which behaviors earn rewards and which do not. Having your dog work for food, treats, and toys (for example, asking her to “sit” before proceeding with another activity like catching a ball or having her lead placed) helps satisfy the dog's need for mental stimulation, and allows you to use daily activities as opportunities for reward-based training. Teaching your dog a variety of tricks and games can stimulate your dog to use her brain. Clicker training (a way to quickly mark desired behaviors with a special sound) is a useful technique for teaching new skills and tricks. Games such as searching for food or toys encourage scenting, hunting, and foraging behaviors that are helpful for meeting the need for mental exercise. When you are not present, providing toys that your dog must learn to manipulate to get food is another form of environmental enrichment that stimulates the brain. Keeping the brain active has even been shown to delay or prevent the onset of brain aging—so, use it or lose it!
Keeping the Body Busy
Keeping the body busy is essential for maintaining good physical health and lean body weight. Choose games and activities that are fun and practical for you but also designed for your dog to use the behaviors for which her breed was developed. For example, herding dogs may most enjoy games that involve running and chasing or training with livestock; hound
dogs may enjoy searching and scenting games; hunting breeds may benefit from retrieving games; terriers may enjoy having a pit in which to dig or engaging in “barn hunt” competitions; and sled dogs may enjoy pulling a cart. Agility training, herding trials, and flyball, disc dog, and nose work competitions are just a few of the fun and positive ways to provide
physical and mental stimulation. Due to health or age, some dogs may be less able to perform strenuous physical activities. Medication or diet for any underlying pain and alternate activities such as shorter walks, swimming, tracking, nose work, and food puzzles may be easy ways older dogs can keep their brains and bodies enriched.
Play and exercise also provide important social time together and can be used to improve training. Walks, jogging, chase games, retrieving, playing with food, playing hide-and-seek with pieces of food, and gently playing tug or take it/drop it are all wonderful interactive games for dogs and humans. Dogs can also expend energy and improve their social skills by
playing with other pets.
Alone Time
There are times when your dog will need to spend time on her own. Dogs who have a regular and appropriate social enrichment program may use these times to nap and rest. Learning to relax and settle is an important skill for dogs. Provide your dog with her own space—a room with a dog bed, a crate (open or closed) with a bed and water—for resting and “alone time.”
Some dogs may still be energetic and want to engage in further play at times when they need to be left alone. These dogs can be given an opportunity to occupy their alone time by playing with toys that require them to work at getting some of their daily ration of food and calories, as in a puzzle or food-dispensing toy. These toys are not a replacement for social interaction, but they can provide a calm transition for active dogs. If your dog seems stressed when left alone, consult your veterinarian.
Other Tips
Providing social and mental engagement for dogs can involve more than just exercise, training, puzzles, games, or sports. Grooming sessions (teaching a dog to offer one paw or a specific side of the body at a time), massage sessions, and just calm
quiet time together where you watch and talk softly to your dog help build a positive relationship and meet the need for social and mental interactions. These calmer interactions also work well for high-energy dogs who may need cool-down or relaxation periods throughout their day.