WEEK OF ENRICHMENT DAY FOUR: DIY AND RECYCLED FOOD PUZZLES

DIY & Recycled Food Puzzles:

In yesterday's Week of Enrichment post about store bought feeder and puzzles toys, I mentioned that there are SO many different food enrichment and puzzle toys available for dogs - the pet supply industry is saturated with them, and sometimes the options can be overwhelming.
 
The good news: you don't have to go out and buy every puzzle toy available in order to effectively provide daily enrichment and food puzzle opportunities for your dog! There are so many ways to repurpose items already in your home (and especially in your recycling bin!) to make low cost DIY enrichment food puzzles for your dog to enjoy.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Finished using a plastic two-liter soda bottle? Wash it, dry it, and then fill it with pieces of kibble. It acts as a cheap, super easy dog food puzzle, and your dog can bat it around working to extract the food pieces. Use it in place of your dog's bowl for a meal!
  
  
• Finished using a plastic jar of peanut butter with only thin smears of peanut butter left on the inside walls of the jar? Give it to your pup to lick clean (and maybe for a bit of supervised chewing, depending on the dog).
  Note: Make sure any peanut butter you are giving to your dog does not contain xylitol, an artificial sweetener toxic to dogs.

 

• Finished using an empty egg carton? Fill the empty egg slots with pieces of kibble or other food and use it as your dog's "bowl" for a meal or too. If your dog is a food puzzle pro, increase the challenge by wrapping the egg carton in a paper bag or covering it with a towel.

 

• You can also use a standard muffin tin with pieces of kibble or other food in the empty muffin slots. Place tennis or rubber balls ion top covering the food to increase the challenge for your dog if they are enthusiastic and confident about working through food puzzle challenges.

 

• Hide food inside brown paper bags, empty cardboard tissue boxes, and cardboard toilet paper or paper towel roles. The idea is that your dog will need to "shred" to get to the food inside - this is doggy bliss and a great way to let them rehearse normal "dog" behavior in an appropriate way that doesn't mean damage to your pillow or shoes!

 

• Many dogs really enjoy wet dog food (or some peanut butter) spread around the inside all of the squares of an empty plastic ice cube tray, or spread across a silicone baking sheet.
  There is a product available called a "LickiMat" marketed specifically for dogs, but if you already have a silicone baking pan at home it will work the same way!). These items encourage licking as the dogs work to get up all the food spread onto the ice cube tray or silicone mat. Some dogs prefer to lick instead of chew, and this is a great way to help fulfill that urge and encourage licking on "appropriate surfaces" during active enrichment sessions or meal time. You can also freeze the silicone mat with the wet food spread out on it for a longer lasting activity for your dog.

 

• You can even make your dog's regular food bowl a bit more challenging/ enriching by simply stacking some dogs toys and other items on top of the bowl filled with food. This is a great way to slow down a food gulper, and also requires the dog to "work" a bit to get all of the food out. It encourages some problem solving, which can lead to some easy additional mental enrichment for your dog.

 
Things to Note:
 

• Remember, our goal with providing enrichment is to give our dogs the opportunity to do fulfilling "normal stuff for dogs." Consistently giving our dogs these outlets and meeting their behavioral needs makes for a calmer, more relaxed, and more fulfilled dog who is much less likely to exhibit undesirable behaviors. Once again, dogs are a hunter-scavengers at their roots; they want to search, forage, and eviscerate!
  
  
• It might seem counter-intuitive to us, but giving dogs "appropriate" items to shred and destroy (in pursuit of the food inside!) fulfills a very basic need and actually makes it less likely they will exhibit destructive behaviors with other items in the house. Remember, your dog didn't "read the label!" They do not know the difference between a food enrichment puzzle you bought at the pet store versus a shred and destroy puzzle you made with recycled materials at home. They enjoy them all, and both types of food puzzles can have a place in your enrichment routine with your dog!

 

•  Obviously some of the DIY suggestions above involve your dog making a bit of a "mess," especially if you are giving them something like a cardboard box to shred and destroy to get to the food inside. Think of it as similar to how maybe you would throw some old drop cloths down on the kitchen table before letting your kids play with play dough or finger paint - you know there will be a small amount of clean-up involved, but it is worth it to you to give your kids something enjoyable and enriching to do. Same goes for some of these enrichment puzzles with our dogs!
  
  
• You can minimize mess by using a crate, baby gates, or an exercise pen to confine your dog to a smaller area (or a section of the house with tile or linoleum floors), or bring the enrichment activities outside to the backyard. It is worth putting a little thought into so you can provide your dog ample opportunities for mental and physical enrichment. This way you won't have to worry about also coming home and having to clean up a shredded couch cushion - a win-win for you and your dog!
  
  
• As has been the theme for all of the enrichment items I have recommended so far during our Week of Enrichment, it is important to supervise your dog closely when they are using the above DIY food puzzles to make sure they aren't chewing on/ destroying/ consuming the puzzle itself (or pieces of plastic, cardboard, etc).  
  Every dog is different, and if your dog has a tendency to consume "inedible" objects, you will need to supervise closely and be mindful of what items you give to your dog. If you need some ideas on what might be appropriate for your dog and your situation, feel free to reach out with questions or for suggestions!
  
  
• If you have multiple dogs and have any concerns about resource guarding between dogs, unless you are specifically working on behavior modification with a professional trainer or behavior consultant, it is best practice to separate dogs when offering them food puzzles and DIY enrichment items.  
  
  
• Remember, if you are using components of your dog's normal daily diet to stuff them, these DIY food puzzles, it can be their meal in lieu of a boring meal in a dish that is gone in 30 seconds.  
  
  
  

The sky really is the limit when creating different exciting food puzzles and enrichment activities for your dog. Remember, simply getting rid of bowls for at least one meal a day, and giving dogs long lasting food enrichment projects has a tremendous effect on the overall behavioral health of the dogs in question.

Now go make a puzzle for your dog, and check back tomorrow for Day Five of our Week of Enrichment!