Things always seem to happen with my clients in bursts, and recently, I have been working with a number of families on transitions to a new life stage. Whether this is the start of a new job, an addition to the family, a cross-country move, or a general upheaval in routine, my first recommendation is almost always the same thing: go back to basics.
Changes in routine are hard on everyone. For our pets, it often means that the predictability that we worked hard to provide is being interrupted for the establishment of a new routine, and that my friends, takes time.
But, that’s okay! When we return back to basics, we get to see how much these families have already done. They know their pet well, they know what their pet looks like when they are joyful and when they are stressed. They already trialed and evaluated enrichment options, so they already explored what is effective for their pet.
The funny thing though, is that just like our pets, when our routine changes, we may no longer have that information right at our fingertips. We need to go back, start at the “beginning” and practice establishing those skills and tools for ourselves in our new scenario.
So this month, we challenge you to create your pet’s enrichment menu, that way, all the work you’ve done to explore activities that meet their needs in healthy, safe, and appropriate ways are documented, easy to find, and at your fingertips for the time you need it.
So what is an enrichment menu?
It’s quite simple! It is a place where you can go back to pick out some activities that might be out of sight, out of mind. We keep a small notepad next to the dog’s feeding station, so I can write quick notes about activities, medications, symptoms we’re tracking…
That way, when I’m decision-fatigued or brain-foggy, I have a list that I can go and pick from instead of needing to recall from deep in my brain.
How do I make an enrichment menu?
A few simple steps will get you there:
Step 1
Take 5 minutes to reflect on the things you’ve already done with your pet.
For the fun of it, I’m going to use Laika as my example for this one! Here are some of the things that I know we’ve done with Laika in the past:
- Canine conditioning and fitness exercises
- Long walks at the park
- Short walks to get the mail
- Car rides to the store
- Frozen lickable
- Shreddables
- Dissectable soft toys
- Bully sticks
- Play with person
- Play with Griffey
- Scatter feeding
- Window watching
- Snuggle time
- Fetch
- Sunning
Write down the things that are effective at helping your pet participate in species-typical behaviors in healthy, safe, and appropriate ways.
Step 2
Take another 5 minutes and think about how your pet did with these activities and what the results were. It doesn’t need to be deep! You can always add to your menu as you discover new things.
Laika’s may look like:
- Canine conditioning and fitness exercises – improved movement, more rest
- Long walks at the park – needs stretching after, more rest later
- Short walks to get the mail – may be a little jazzed if other dogs come to greet us, or chickens – needs more after
- Car rides to the store – very playful when she gets back, will need additional activity after
- Frozen lickable – busy for 20 minutes + super rest after
- Shreddables – busy for 10-20 minutes, will need additional activity after, also clean up
- Dissectable soft toys – busy for 10-20 minutes, will pick up later on own
- Bully sticks – hard pass, big belly upset
- Play with person – generally done after 10 minutes, will rest afterwards
- Play with Griffey – needs supervision for 5-10 minutes, increased rest
- Scatter feeding – snuffle box works, needs trickle of treats for duration
- Window watching – doesn’t really do much, but is fun for me
- Snuggle time – meh, only when she initiates
- Fetch – requires me, done after 2-3 minutes and read to chew/dissect something
- Sunning – only available when sun is out, does rest more
Step 3
Take one last 5-minute round and think about the scenarios when each of these would be most impactful. As you may have noticed with Laika’s list, there are some that require me or another creature. Those are great when we can coordinate it, but it isn’t always possible.
Here’s what Laika’s may look like:
Good for when I’m on Zoom calls
- Frozen lickable
- Shreddables
- Dissectable soft toys
- Scatter feeding
- Fetch
- Sunning
Good for when she’s super amped
- Canine conditioning and fitness exercises
- Long walks at the park
- Shreddables
- Dissectable soft toys
- Play with person
- Play with Griffey
- Fetch
Good for when I’m available
- Canine conditioning and fitness exercises
- Long walks at the park
- Short walks to get the mail
- Car rides to the store
- Frozen lickable
- Shreddables
- Dissectable soft toys
- Play with person
- Play with Griffey
- Snuggle time
- Sunning
Step 4
Put it somewhere you can reference later! As I mentioned, we keep a notepad next to the dog’s feeding station, so I can jot down these ideas there. You may put it on your fridge, or in your digital care plan. What matters is that is it somewhere you will check when things get a little chaotic!
Now What?
- Create your enrichment menu!
- For all things nerd and enrichment, make sure to check out our Instagram. We have all sorts of ideas there!
- And if you want help trialing and evaling activities with your pet. We’re here to help you meet your goals!
Happy Training,
Ellen