1. Provide Toys: The easiest way to ensure that your pet has adequate enrichment is to provide toys. Toys can be purchased or made at home. Toys can be interactive, such as stuffed animals, squeaky balls and frisbees, or non-interactive, such as rope pullers, chew toys, and ‘Kong’ type toys filled with treats. Switching the toys up every few days encourages exploration and helps to avoid boredom.
2. Spend Time with Your Pet: Spending quality time with your pet is one of the best ways to provide enrichment. Spending time playing, brushing, walking and teaching your pet tricks, helps to create a bond between you and your pet, and also encourages mental and physical stimulation.
3. Provide Different Environments: Providing different environments for your pet to explore helps to keep them engaged and stimulated. For example, if you have a cat, providing different boxes or hiding places around the house, as well as different surfaces to explore, such as carpet and tile, can help to keep your cat entertained. For dogs, taking them to different walking routes or parks, or providing a different area in the house that they can explore, can help to keep them from getting bored.
4. Change Up Routines: Changing up routines can help to keep your pet from getting bored and ensure adequate enrichment. For example, if you always feed your pet at the same time each day, try changing the time of day so that your pet has something new to look forward to.
5. Train Your Pet: Training your pet is an excellent way to provide enrichment and help them learn important skills. Training can help your pet learn how to respond to commands and other behaviors, which can help to keep them safe and make them a better companion. Training can also help to keep your pet’s mind active, as they must think and problem-solve in order to learn new behaviors.