10 Enrichment Activities To Do With Your Dog

Just like humans, dogs need mental and physical exercise to stay happy and healthy. These 10 enrichment activities will provide you and your pup with a stimulating and fun experience. Enrichment activities can help reduce anxiety, boredom, and destructive behaviors while providing opportunities for human-dog bonding.

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1. Interactive Puzzle Games

Puzzle games are one of Ripley’s favorite activities. These toys require dogs to navigate a puzzle to find hidden treats or kibble. Puzzles provide opportunities for confidence building and reducing stress. Many dog parents use them as a way to engage their dogs while they do something else, but we love to join Ripey in the experience. Cheering him along the way and helping him use the puzzle appropriately are all opportunities to build our relationship. You can find some of our favorite puzzles in Ripley’s Amazon Store.

2. Take A Class

Find a local dog trainer and take a class with your pup. From basic obedience to trick classes to dog sports like agility and flyball, classes allow your dog to explore something new and build confidence through new skills. You’re not just restricted to local opportunities either - many trainers offer online classes and courses!

3. Sniffari

A sniffari walk allows your dog to explore their natural curiosity and superior sense of smell. Instead of focusing on physical exercise and maintaining a heel or steady pace, allow your dog to take the lead and explore the different scents. This could look like stopping every few feet or tracking a scent trail. Dedicated sniffing walks enable dogs to indulge in their natural instincts and interact with the environment in a fulfilling and profound manner.

4. Hide and Seek

We love playing hide and seek with Ripley. It’s a great way to work on recall training, spend time together, and provide your dog with a fun and engaging environment. Start by asking your dog to sit and stay while you hide. Once hidden, call for your dog in an exciting way. If they are having trouble finding you, you can encourage them as they get closer. Reward them and play again.

5. Learning Tricks

Training doesn’t have to be just about obedience. You can also spend time together learning new tricks. It’s a fun way to strengthen your relationship with your dog, build their confidence, and maybe even teach them a valuable skill - like putting away their own toys!

6. Food Dispensing Toys aka LICKIES

One of Rip’s dinners in a West Paw Toppl

Buttons helped us to learn that Ripley doesn’t usually like to eat out of a bowl. He prefers a slow feeder, puzzle, or his favorite…West Paw Toppls. Known as ‘LICKIES’ in our house, these enrichment toys help to prolong meal time and provide mental stimulation for your pup.

Save 10% off with code WESTPAW10.

7. Homemade Obstacle Course

This is a fun and great way to provide a novel and enriching opportunity for physical activity. Set up your yard or open area of your house with obstacles and then guide your dog through it, rewarding them with praise and treats along the way. You can use boxes, hula hoops, kids toys, cones, or even purchase a home agility course online. We regularly keep an eye out at yard sales and thrift stores for things that can be used for dog obstacle course pieces

8. Make Dog Art

Helping your dog to create their own masterpiece is a fun way to keep a little piece of them with you forever. You can use non-toxic paints, paw print sets, or activities like this one. Ripley loves making art and giving it to Grandma.

Ripley, Cooper, and Stanley’s paw prints for Grandma’s Mother Day Card

9. Learn to Talk with Buttons

Teaching your dog to talk with buttons is rewarding in so many ways. Allowing for deeper communication, buttons are a great way to strengthen your relationship with your dog while reducing frustration, anxiety, and boredom. Save $ with Code LETSGORIP at Fluent.Pet.

10. Scent Games

It’s estimated that a dog’s sense of smell is 10,000 to 100,000 times ours. Recent science shows that their sense of sight and smell are connected, experiencing the world around them in a way that’s difficult for us even to comprehend. Scent games engage your dogs natural instincts and abilities. You can start with a kit like the Nosey Nose or hide treats around the house and have them find them. Ripley loves The Nosey Nose and calls it SMELL + PUZZLE.

Remember, every dog is different.

Some of the activities that Ripley loves, our other dogs, Stanley & Cooper, would never want to participate in. You can try a few options and see which your dog likes the most. Let us know how it goes for you in the comments!