Is it a matter of stripping a store of all their toys, of offering Doggy all sorts of stuffed animals, puzzles, ropes, etc.? Is it a matter of registering him and having him participate in many activities (canicross, agility, mantrailing, etc) ?
Looking at what some zoos put in place, we figure it out that enriching an animal's environment means something quite different than accumulating objects by them. They study the species whose environment they wish to enrich. They aim at making their daily life more comfortable, which meets the needs of the species better. It would make no sense to put perches in a park with elephants, while adding them in that of the jaguars has (they sleep in height). Training them to cooperative care (do try to use coercion with a 5-ton elephant or a hyena !) brings an extra stimulation and a bound with the beings that share their daily life.
Enriching your dog's environment aims to make his daily life as close as possible to his needs. Our doggies live in homes that are not always able to fulfill what they were selected and developed for.
A few examples :
- a jack russell
those I train love chasing things and digging ; so we initiate them to run and offer them a bin with things hidden in it to dig them out.
- an American Shepherd
those I train are often checking that all group members are together ; so by teaching them to collect their scattered toys, we meet their typical behavior.
- a cocker spaniel
the one I train loves sniffing out treats, no matter where ; so by offering him various possible hiding places (dead leaves, puzzles with boxes to move, upside-down cups, etc.), we fulfill this need.
- a beagle
those I train are very different from each other : for one, contact with his fellows represents an important part of his needs ; for another, having his nose on the ground represents the essence of his desires ; so we vary the enrichment to satisfy each one.
Appropriate enrichment increases their well-being and wards off undesirable and/or stereotyped behaviors. It involves knowing the species, the race, and even more the individual in front of us.
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