Why Activities and Enrichment Are so Important to the Daycare Experience!

It’s no surprise that the Oodles daycare day revolves around numerous activities and enrichment for our daycare visitors…so, what is enrichment and why is it that we choose to incorporate such so extensively into our program?

What is enrichment?

Enrichment is an activity given to a dog offering them the ability to work either their mind, or their bodies to complete a particular task, or achieve a desired result. It’s the canine equivalent to Sudoku puzzles, baking cupcakes, or reading a book. Enrichment ignites a dog’s canine senses, offering them a new experience to provide an alternative to the mundanity of a boring daily routine. Enrichment activities can be offered to dogs in five different ways; occupational, physical, sensory, nutritional and social.

While occupational enrichment may include playing fetch, sensory enrichment may include sniffing lavender or basil.

Why is it beneficial?

Enrichment is used with dogs as a way to relieve boredom, decrease stress, and help them gain control over their environment so they feel comfortable, confident, and engaged.

Enrichment offers dogs the opportunity to use their brains, and their bodies to maximise stimulation in a positive and valuable way. It can help distract anxious and destructive dogs from their negative behaviours, by providing them with a constructive and satisfying alternative energy focus.

For dogs lacking in behavioural issues, enrichment activities work to enhance their mental and physical capacity and provide them with the stimulation required to be their happiest and most confident selves. Just like us, dogs reap confidence and satisfaction through task completion.

Enrichment helps dogs live their very best lives and helps to break up their day by offering new and exciting experiences.

Why do we use enrichment activities in daycare?

Most doggy daycares will leave dogs to entertain themselves, without providing them with an environment that is based purely on supervision. This can however be problematic for the following reasons:

  1. Dogs become bored and spend their day at daycare sleeping
  2. Dogs respond to the daycare environment by going into sensory overload and start becoming destructive either to staff, to other dogs, to objects or to themselves
  3. Shy and anxious dogs remain so throughout their entire daycare experience as they have no chance to build their confidence, or interact with other dogs on a smaller scale

At Oodles, our mission is to provide a fun environment for all of our pups that doesn’t involve dogs responding in any of the above ways.

By implementing enrichment activities into our program, we find that anxious dogs come out of their shells, over-stimulated or otherwise destructive dogs calm down and focus on something a positive, and dogs who would otherwise be bored, or may need more stimulation than just playing with other dogs, are engaged and able to use their minds and bodies to have a fun and fulfilling day at daycare.

Enrichment at daycare greatly decreases the chances of dog fights, as dogs are focussing on achieving an outcome, instead of on another dog or their behaviour. By using their minds and bodies throughout our activities, our pups also go home tired (in a good way) and show less signs of destructive or anxious behaviours in the home.

From inception, enrichment has been an integral part of the Oodles daycare experience, and will continue to be our most valued part of our program due to the highly positive outcomes it provides, to our pups both during their day at daycare, and in the home. Our enrichment activities not only enhance a dog’s day at daycare. They work to build confidence to enhance a dog’s life so that they too can be their very best versions of themselves.

Tips to raising an anxiety-free dog!

A common concern for new puppy parents is ensuring they raise a happy and healthy dog who lives a fun-filled, stress-free life.

This ensures that our fury friends are confident spending time away from us, can enjoy and embrace the fun that surrounds them on walks and plays in the dog park, and doesn’t feel frightened when faced with situations of differing circumstances.

While just like us, a dogs personality and disposition to anxiety is a mix between both nature and nurture, there are plenty of steps you can implement into your dogs routine to give them the best possible chance to protect them from developing anxieties.

Try to limit your own anxiety around your dog

the most anxious dogs at daycare often are the dogs of very anxious owners. While it’s of the utmost importance to show our dogs the highest level of care that we possibly can, it is also equally important to remember that they are also living animals that will from time to time have an upset stomach, will from time to time be presented with situations that will take them out of their comfort zones, and will from time to time come into contact with dogs that make them feel unsettled. Dogs pick up on and carry around the energy of their owners, in fact, recent studies have found that neurotic dog owners raise neurotic dogs. If you live in fear of your dog experiencing somewhat stressful situations during their lives, your dog is going to carry that burden and stress around also.

Visit fear free vets and groomers.

Both vet and grooming visits can be stressful for the most confident dog which is why the number of vets and grooming salons offering fear free visit experiences are gaining in popularity. Fear Free is a certification achievable by any animal practice that works to reduce or remove anxiety triggers that can cause pets to become fearful while in their care, allowing pets to feel safe and secure. This allows for dogs to have a positive experience during their visits and significantly reduces the risk of dogs developing anxiety about vet and grooming visits. Ask to confirm whether your vet or groomer is Fear Free certified for your next visit.

Lots of socialisation.

Dogs are social creatures that are used to living, playing, and achieving together in packs, thus its important not to isolate your dog from other dogs. After puppies have had their relevant vaccinations they will be eager and excited to learn, sniff, play, and share in the company of other dogs. Start taking your dog to puppy school, socialisation classes, on walks, to the dog park (be sure to watch carefully), or to doggy daycare to ensure that they are getting the time needed with other dogs to develop appropriate play manners and behaviours.

Familiarise your dog with different surfaces and sounds.

Quite often, dogs react poorly to people wearing hats, people carrying umbrellas, the sound of the blowdryer, the sound of the vacuum cleaner, or the surface floor of an escalator. To get your dog used to different sights, sounds and surfaces, it is beneficial to test them with different objects (offering a treat as a reward and positive recognition) as early as you can. Think opening and closing an umbrella in front of your dog, gifting a small treat after each try, taking them for short drives in the car, walking on grass, different cements, plastics etc, and offering a treat at the sound of a rubbish collection truck or cyclist passing by. This will ensure that your dog doesn’t react negatively to different stimulus presented in everyday life, and allows them to remain calm, in control and anxiety free when faced with different situations.