Grantham pet expert writes about enrichment activities for animals

All pets whether they are dogs, cats, or small furries (hamsters, gerbils, rabbits) can benefit from adding some enrichment activities to their lives, writes Sara Barnes of Who Let Your Dogs Out? In Grantham.

If done correctly it will help to tire your dog both mentally and physically.

It can be as simple as changing how you feed them, change their standard bowl for a puzzle bowl/feeder, scatter feeding or using their normal food in a game of hide and seek.

Another simple zero cost option is to change where you walk your pet (assuming it’s a dog), this could be a new or less walked area or just walking in your normal area on a different route or your normal route in reverse.

In the home you can switch up their toys putting them on a rotation so they get 'new' toys every few weeks, change their bedding choices (a different blanket, cushions etc). Even just introducing new furniture to your home can be an enrichment activity for your pet as they learn what it smells like, feels like etc.

Giving your pet chance to do their natural activities, digging, foraging, hunting and retrieving, which we might normally consider undesirable, in a controlled manner which is acceptable will give them chance to exercise that natural urge and hopefully reduce its occurrence in the undesirable occasions.

Their enrichment preferences may change with age, and it is important to that anything you ask them to do is both not too easy or too difficult.

If it all seems too much then you might consider sending them out on a walk with a dog walker for a change of scenery, or send them to daycare on occasion, or even them sending them to friends and family for a sleepover can be enrichment as long as they are comfortable.