DIY Enrichment Games and Toys

Enrichment comes in so many different experiences, from feeding, to scent work, to interactive games, to even chewing. There are a few specific items I suggest keeping in your little bag of enrichment tricks. I’ll describe below how you can use each item on the list:

  • Muffin Tins

  • Plastic Cups

  • Egg Cartons

  • Cardboard Boxes

  • Toilet Paper/Paper Towel Rolls

  • Empty Plastic Bottles

  • Towels (hand or bath)

  • Plastic Eggs

  • Twine

  • Newspaper

  • Fleece (some to cut into 5” squares, some to keep long)

  • Laundry Basket

Sometimes enrichment can be as easy as scatter feeding (toss their meal on the patio or kitchen floor, and let them gobble it up!) and sometimes it takes a little more initial prep work.

Here are some ways you can use the items mentioned above!

Muffin Tins

One very simple way to feed your dog without buying a slow feeder is to place a muffin tin upside-down and sprinkle their kibble around the muffin cups! 

Another is to fill the cups with their kibble and place balls or their toys on top of the cups. This way they have to move the toy to get to their food. This is a very remedial or early stage enrichment activity you can use with puppies or dogs just learning new things. You can work up to where they have to sniff out which cups have kibble in them even though there are toys/balls in all the cups.

Plastic Cups

Play the shell game! Start with two plastic cups, place a treat under one, and ask your dog to find it. When they choose the correct cup, praise and reward! Add a third cup and do the same. You can play variations of this game by at first not moving the cups and letting them watch you put the treat under one. Then place the treat under one, and shuffle them around. Then, place the treat under a cup when he’s not watching you, and ask him which one. So many options!

Stack them! Place kibble in a cup, stack another cup inside, repeat until all of their meal is stacked in the cups. 

(Never leave your dog unsupervised with plastic cups - remove them when they’re finished eating.)

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