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DIY Dog Enrichment Activities to Make Your Backyard Fun
Playing fetch with your dog in the backyard is wonderful, but smelling the same grass all afternoon might grow tiresome. Enhance their playtime with mentally and physically stimulating activities!
Dog enrichment exercises provide some variation to your dog’s daily routine by encouraging problem-solving skills and physical exercise. This implies that your dog will be content, joyful, and prepared for a very long snooze thereafter! The best part is that you can make your own enrichment activities in your backyard while lounging on your lawn chair and watching your dog go wild.
Safety tip: Make sure your dog is leashed or safely caged in, and never leave them alone while they play.
Here are five simple canine enrichment exercises you may do in your backyard:
#1. Treasure Hunt
A backyard treasure search will allow your dog to use their keen sense of smell and will provide them with all the excitement of a traditional scavenger hunt! To start the hunt, all you need are some of your dog’s favorite goodies.
Take a handful and start concealing them in your yard, behind your patio chairs, behind shrubs, and in the grass. (Just make sure your garden is filled with pet-friendly plants before using it as a hiding place.) After that, let your dog to go get their delicious rewards!
This game is easily customizable to your dog’s ability level. To help your dog learn the game, you may wish to hide a few goodies for them to see the first time you play. You may hold them inside as they get closer so they can enter blindly until you’re done concealing the sweets! Make adjustments to your hiding spots to keep them guessing, and if they’re having trouble finding the goodies, switch to snacks with stronger scents.
#2. Puppy Pool]
Given that kiddie pools are widely available, why not get your dog their own puppy pool? Your dog will love having a pool as their new favorite summer hangout, so dig out that old kiddie pool from storage or get a good deal on one. (Those dog nails will pop anything made of soft plastic or inflatable, so avoid those options!)
Take your hose and add a few inches of water to watch how your dog responds. All your dog needs to benefit from the cooling effects of the water on a scorching day is to soak their feet and allow them to lie down and wet their stomach! Fill it to the brim with water if your dog enjoys splashing about in it. P.S. For wet days indoors, check out our additional pet enrichment activities!
P.S. For wet days indoors, check out our additional pet enrichment activities!
To truly start fun, add some floatable toys and waterproof dog balls! That’s it! You now have the ideal water activity for every occasion, whether it’s a boisterous canine birthday celebration or a peaceful bath by yourself.
#3. DIY Agility Course
Have you ever thought, “My dog would love to do that,” while you watched professional agility dogs perform an agility course? To enjoy their own homemade backyard dog obstacle course, they don’t need to be pros!
Make a ridiculously entertaining backyard playground using materials you probably already have lying around the home. Although cardboard boxes also work well for one-time usage, PVC pipes are quite affordable and ideal for creating your own jumps! Your dog may enjoy their own playtime with any playground equipment that you currently have in your backyard, such as a seesaw or balancing beam.
Your dog may need some practice and plenty of goodies to get used to all these new obstacles, but in no time at all they’ll be leaping over your makeshift jumps like a pro—or at least a semi-pro.
#4. Human-Approved Shredding
Does your dog have an inclination to destroy everything? We feel sorry for their ragged stuffed animals, but you may use that tendency at a place where it’s acceptable to get really messy! Cabbages and cardboard boxes are the items our dogs love to rip. (You read correctly—cabbages.)
Since most of us have excess cardboard boxes from our most recent internet orders lying about, make use of them by filling them with dog treats, folding the box shut, and then letting your dog rip it to pieces to get to the sweets! To extend the game even further, you may nestle progressively smaller treat-filled boxes inside of one another to take it to the next level.
Have you ever tried giving your dog a full cabbage as a snack if you want them to eat something a little greener? Many dogs like tearing them apart layer by layer and enjoying wholesome, safe-for-dog greens as a snack in the process. Even for puppies with sensitive teeth, this is a safe enrichment exercise because of how soft cabbage leaves are. (Just make sure to interrupt them before they eat more cabbage than their tiny stomachs can tolerate.)
An extra benefit of composting is that you may put the shredded cardboard or cabbage scraps straight into your compost container!
#5. Digging Pit
Redirect your dog’s energy to a spot you want them to dig if they have ever attempted to dig up your flower beds! All you need is some play sand (or soil, but that gets messy faster) and an abandoned garden bed, sandbox, or kiddie pool.
Sand up your preferred digging area (being careful not to disturb anything valuable in the nearby splash area), and then bury some candies or cherished toys there! The aroma of your dog’s favorite toys or tasty proteins should reach their noses right away, leading the way as they dig up their new favorite play area.
A more interesting yard and a fantastic hour (or twenty) for your best friend the dog are guaranteed with any one of these outdoor activities! After you’ve completed their list of things to do, which includes mental and physical stimulation, take your tired dog to your cooldown area in the shade with lots of fresh water and relax.
P.S. For wet days indoors, check out our additional pet enrichment activities!
Man and his dog doing renovation work at home, assembling furniture, Moving in new House
