Shelter Dog Enrichment

I have been somewhat obsessed about 'enrichment' since I first heard about it years ago when Zoos where feeding bears in cardboard boxes and giving monkeys hammocks and toys.Thank god the days of barren cages are long gone! This past spring Bill and I visited the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and were so happy to see that every animal had some form of enrichment in their enclosures. Our favorite was an orangutan who was playing with a big blanket and several boxes. We could have watched him forever.

At the shelter, once the dogs are walked, fed and the cleaning is done, the staff works on enrichment. This is a dream come true for me! This week I did noseworks with a happy-go- lucky pit mix who decided that destroying the cardboard box was too much fun. I also made various Kong's and placed food in empty cereal boxes using all kinds of ingredients.



Now I have been introduced to you tube videos of what other shelters are doing for enrichment and I am hooked! Here is the latest video, and one of the volunteers is picking up the supplies so we can add this extra fun for the dogs.