Mental Enrichment Dog Games - Start Here

Congratulations for taking the step to bettering your dog's life! I can't wait for you to start this journey.

 *Disclaimer: mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise. BUT it's also important for your dog to learn the skill to be calm, or to have an off-switch. Try to keep a balance of all 3 types of activities in your dog's life.

 

How to:

This deck of cards is meant to help you easily add mental enrichment into your dog’s life.

Simply draw a card each day you want to mentally stimulate your dog.

Each card has a different activity with directions on one side and a QR code on the other side that links you to a demo video.

 

Important rules of mental stimulation activities:

  1. Encourage fun not frustration. The goal is to provide fun and positive stimulating exercises, not to frustrate your dog. We want to challenge our dogs so they learn and grow. But we don’t want to push them past the point of enjoyment. Watch your dog’s body language closely when
    doing any activity
  2. Mental stimulation activities are not a babysitter. While these activities can keep your dog occupied they are not meant to “babysit” your dog. Always be present during mental stimulation activities to monitor their safety. This allows you to watch their body language and adjust things as needed to
    prevent frustration.
  3. Everything is training. Remember to use everyday moments as a way to train your dog. Everything can be a teachable moment for both you and your dog. Praise and reward your dog during enrichment activities. Track their progress and track what works for them and what doesn’t

 

Supplies list:

Here is a list of supplies that will be helpful for the activities. These exact supplies aren't required, you can easily replace them with things you do have on hand.

I have linked a few of the products so you can easily see what they are. I may receive a commission if you purchase the products linked below but it doesn't cost you anything extra.

  • at least 10 empty water bottles or empty toilet paper rolls 
  • an empty jug like a milk jug or jug of juice
  • an empty pulped paper egg carton
  • at least 1 empty small cardboard box
  • packing paper
  • old towels
  • kiddie pool or large storage container or something similar
  • scrap fabric or fleece
  • 3-10 plastic cups
  • hol-ee roller ball or something similar
  • flirt pole or something similar
  • 4-6 plastic bowls or plates
  • empty paper towel roll
  • disc cones
  • at least 4 bowls
  • muffin tin
  • small blank canvas or piece of white cardboard
  • craft paints
  • lick mat
  • snuffle mat or snuffle ball or snuffle toy

 

Learn how to read your dog's body language:

  

Join the community:

If you aren't already, I highly recommend you join the community to connect with other dog obsessed people who celebrate dogs being dogs! 

 

Share:

Record videos of your dog playing the games and share on social. Tag us @mywoofsie so we can see and share them!