A pet expert has shared a valuable habit you can do with your dog to enrich their lives and improve their mental well-being.
We all know the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise for our four-legged friends. Most dogs require a daily walk, while lots of owners choose to feed their pooches specially-formulated food to make sure they’re getting all the nutrients they need.
But many of us don’t realise we also need to give our dogs regular mental stimulation to make sure they’re leading happy, fulfilling lives. What’s more, giving our dog brain exercises can also tire them out, meaning they’re less likely to wreak havoc on our homes during random bursts of energy.
According to the Centre of Applied Pet Ethology (COAPE), mental stimulation is as important for dogs as physical exercise. The educational body stresses that giving your pets problem-solving activities can not only stop them from being bored, but it can also limit bad behaviour.
“Like humans, pets benefit from mental exercise to keep their brains sharp and active,” the organisation’s website said. “Engaging in mentally stimulating activities helps improve cognitive functions, enhance memory, and promote problem-solving skills.”
“This is particularly important for young pets, as it contributes to their overall cognitive development. This does not however mean that it is only limited to younger pets. Providing the right kind of stimulation, congruent with the life stage of an animal, can enhance cognitive abilities regardless of age.”
Giving your dog a good brain workout also doesn’t need to be expensive – you can even create puzzles for them to solve using things you already own. Taking to TikTok, pet owner Utah Doodles revealed four easy ways you can get those canine cogs turning.
Explaining the first tip, they said: “Spread kibble or treats on a towel. Roll diagonally and tie a knot. Unleash the pup!” The video then panned to a clip of an adorable doodle trying to work out how to access the treats.
Other tips included freezing lick mats covered in peanut butter, which encourage dogs to explore the item’s crevices to access as much of the spread as possible. The user also suggested owners “have a treat hunt” with their pets by placing their favourite food under one upturned bowl, while leaving two more empty and shuffling them before getting your pooch to sniff out the snack.
Another tip recommended by the TikToker is letting your dog’s nose lead the way on their next walk – something they dubbed a “sniffari”. And this suggestion is backed by experts. Sniffing can give your dog lots of mental stimulation, and is also great for their welfare in general.
A play expert from Tug-E-Nuff said: “As humans, we are very visual, but for dogs smells are everything. It’s tempting to hurry our dogs along when time is short, but giving them time to sniff is almost as important as the physical exercise they get from a walk.
“Sniffing is your dog’s way of making sense of the world around them – and it provides lots of mental stimulation, which can help keep their brain healthy as well as their body.”
