Enrichment is a Word

 

by Jane Aten

Enrichment is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the dog behavior world. When dog people hear the word enrichment, the first thing that often comes to mind is food puzzles—slow feeders, Kongs, lick mats. By definition, enrichment is the action of improving or enhancing the quality or value of something.

I often think about choice and hierarchy of reinforcers in behavior modification. What does the dog in front of me find reinforcing? What does he find enriching? What does he find valuable? For my Boston terrier-Cairn terrier, Rugby, the most enriching activity is sunbathing. A close second is terrorizing rats under the shed. My other dog, Cricket, finds Thursdays and Fridays highly enriching. Thursday is when I roll the trash bins out to the sidewalk. Friday is when I roll them back in. Cricket is a mostly-solid black Border Collie-Belgian Malinois-Whippet mix. She’s loved stalking since she was a puppy. Since Rugby (her main target) hates being stalked, I spent much of Cricket’s first few months teaching her alternative behaviors to what her genetics told her was the best game ever.

One dark Thursday night in the winter, I rolled my garbage bins from the side yard to the curb. As I walked back around through my backyard, something bolted out of the dark and charged straight for me. First I screamed, then I laughed as I realized it was baby Cricket. Cricket thought this sequence of events was amazing! She successfully stalked her first victim. When she caught her prey (me) it screeched. Then it was followed by a laughing, presumably happy human. That’s a seriously reinforcing sequence for a Border Collie-Malinois-Whippet. Now every time I walk to the side yard, Cricket finds a hiding spot. She waits for me to come back around. Then she chases me down. In the beginning, her hiding spots weren’t very good. She’d lay down, out in the open. Then she’d hide behind a tree, obviously peeking around the side. I was impressed the first time she dug a divot to lay in. I was less impressed when she tried hiding behind a rock that was smaller than her. Her current favorite hiding spot is under the hammock behind a rosebush. I’ve started playing my role in this game, The Human Sheep. Sometimes I pretend like I don’t see her, then get startled when she pops out. Other times I slowly, cautiously creep back to the house. Occasionally, I’m “forgetful” and start to walk towards the house only to turn around and walk back to the side yard just before Cricket is about to pop up. Sometimes I’m a savvy sheep. If she pops up, I freeze. If she lays back down in a stalking position, I’ll continue creeping around. Other times I’m a less-savvy sheep or maybe a squirrel. If she pops up, I’ll run until she “catches” me. Often I’ll hide a tug toy in my pocket while I’m taking out the bins. So when Cricket runs up to catch me, she can have the satisfaction of biting her prey.

The principles that lead to me becoming The Human Sheep are the same principles that guide the enrichment programs at Marin Humane. Our kennel enrichment program focuses exclusively on food puzzles. Shredding, licking, chewing. Every day, each dog gets a food puzzle in their kennel.

We also have out-of-kennel enrichment activities midday Mondays through Fridays–playgroups, scenting, and “Enrichment Room,” depending on the day of the week. Volunteers are also welcome to take a dog on a hike, sit in the sun and read a book–whatever they think the dog would enjoy. Our Thursday activity, “Enrichment Room,” expands on that idea. Enrichment Room is all about autonomy and allowing dogs to do what they find most enriching. We have a space, also called the “Enrichment Room,” which we mostly use for shelter dog supplies–treats, harnesses, leashes. There’s also a comfy loveseat where volunteers can hang out with each other or a dog. For clarity, I’ll call the location the Enrichment Room and the activity “ERoom.” ERoom is hosted by two volunteers, Rosemary and Emma. Rosemary and Emma set up the Enrichment Room with puzzle toys, stuffies, wobble boards, platforms, cozy beds, music, a bubble machine with bacon-flavored dog-safe bubbles, etc. Every week has a new set up for the dogs. Our dog walking volunteers bring one dog at a time. When the handler arrives at ERoom with their dog, they take off the leash and sit down. The room is scattered with treats to encourage each dog to investigate. Some dogs forage for all the treats. Other dogs explore the room, looking for what’s new and exciting. Some dogs find the nearest human and solicit snuggles.

Sometimes we get in under-socialized, almost feral dogs. ERoom is the perfect activity for those dogs. It’s a relatively quiet space where a dog can spend time in the presence of humans who won’t touch her if she doesn’t want to be touched. A shelter is a hard place for a dog who isn’t used to humans. At the bare minimum, a shelter dog has six different people per day coming into her space: The morning walker, the morning feeder, the midday walker, the kennel enrichment volunteer, the evening feeder, and the evening walker. Once a dog becomes available for adoption, we expect her to tolerate being handled by even more people and spend a few hours on weekends being stared at by visitors walking through the shelter. That’s a LOT of social pressure for a dog who interacted with maybe one human a few times before arriving at the shelter. We use ERoom as a bridge for those dogs. It’s desensitization to people with no direct social pressure on the dog.

The only social pressure comes with the handler bringing the dog to and from ERoom. With regular visits to ERoom, we see dogs who were once afraid to explore the room or eat in the presence of humans, now confidently trotting in, visiting with the humans, and searching for snacks.

Next time you see your dog enjoying life, examine it. Yes, enrichment can be food puzzles. But it’s so much more! If it enhances the quality of your dog’s life, it’s enrichment.