title. It's #nobowlNovember!
date. November 2017
about. Canine Enrichment!
for. Dogs of every age, size, temperament, and disposition
#NoBowlNovember is in full swing around my house and at the Mount Vernon Animal Shelter.
Here's Bloo looking for treats inside an about-to-be-recycled box. I folded some towels, scattered treats on top of the towels and shook them down a bit. It took Bloo 15 minutes of happy searching to get all of the treats out. A great DIY project!
Each dog living at the Mt Vernon shelter gets a stuffed Kong a day while they are there. When I have interactive toys with me, I'll share them with the shelter dogs. Here is Beeline (now adopted!) opening a drawer of a Nina Ottosson "Dog Casino", a great toy for intermediate to advanced players. I didn't put in the dog bone shaped blocks into the top of this toy - you can train your dog to remove the bone blocks and *then* get the treats in the drawer. Such fun! These toys come with an instructional DVD that shows you how to put it all together for your dog.
Trigger with her size Large Busy Buddy. This tough toy holds enough food for about half of her meals. She can unscrew the top from the bottom half with a little effort. Trigger is 11 years old now, and still delights in excavating treats and food from these kinds of toys, as she did when she was a puppy.
To the right : Hamilton with the toy that all dogs seem to be wild about. In the US, these "Trixie" snakes are available here. You can see that Hamilton is a fairly serious chewer, but he was unable to make a dent in this tough toy. I like that the snake is very easy to load up with wet or dry treats and food, and it takes dogs quite a bit of time to get the treats out. Great bang for your buck! I may be gifting some of these to clients in the coming months...
I found out about this toy from the very prolific and active "Canine Enrichment Group" on Facebook. There's a great mix of DIY projects (like Bloo's box, up top) and toy reviews from pet parents eager to enrich the lives of their dogs. Well worth the time to sign up.
Enjoy!
