We can’t get enough of enrichment here at Greyhound Rescue. It’s such a great tool for your hound. It challenges them, exercises their mind and body, and stimulates the senses. Enrichment activities can also help to reduce stress and therefore improve behaviour and increase their overall wellbeing. It doesn’t have to be expensive either! Keep your budget intact while providing your hound with the tools to thrive.
Here are a few low-cost ideas you can easily do with items lying around your home.
Things you can fill with treats for your hound to find:
- Toilet rolls! Simply place some treats in the rolls, make a pattern on the floor or fold them up and let your hound do the rest.
- Roll up a towel with treats layered in between.
- Empty boxes (no staples or sticky things please!) Simply place some treats in the box for your hound to find. To add a layer of complexity you could even add some toilet rolls, paper bags or rolled up towels.
- Treats in a plastic bottle with holes, so when rolled the treats drop out.
- Hide some treats underneath upside-down plastic cups, test your houndies senses and watch as they sniff them out!
Things you can put your hound’s dinner in:
- An empty egg carton.
- A paper shopping bag.
- Feed them their dinner as a laid-out enrichment obstacle course! This is a great activity for rainy days.
Other fun ideas:
- Use your lawn as a giant snuffle matt! Simply scatter some kibble or treats around. Your hound will have a ball sniffing them out.
- Hide treats around the house and yard (if you live in a multi-dog household, we recommend playing this enrichment game separately, or using low value treats).
- Fill a muffin tray with treats, and place tennis balls on top. Your hound will have to use his nose and mind to move the tennis balls and sniff out the treats.
We hope your hound enjoys these low-cost enrichment ideas!