Episode #116 - Try It:
Budget-Friendly Enrichment from Everyday Items
May 26, 2025
TLDL (Too Long, Didn’t Listen):
1️⃣ Don’t Give Up Too Easily – Pets may not immediately take to a new item or activity—and that’s okay! Sometimes, a little guidance or tweaking can turn a flop into a favorite.
2️⃣ Futz Around and Find Out – Safe experimentation can be your best enrichment strategy. Give your pet something new (and safe) and see what they think—it just might become a hit!
3️⃣ Ask Your Pet – Ultimately, enrichment is about their experience. Observe their response and let that guide what you do next.
Episode Overview:
When it comes to enrichment, we often think we need fancy tools, expensive toys, or complicated activities—but what if the best enrichment was sitting in your recycling bin? In this episode of Enrichment for the Real World, Emily Strong shares how you can use everyday household items—yes, even your trash—to bring joy, engagement, and behavioral diversity into your pet’s life.
You’ll learn why pets might ignore new enrichment items at first (hint: it’s not personal!), how to safely experiment with new objects, and why a little patience and creativity go a long way. Emily offers practical tips for encouraging interaction, assessing risk, and making adjustments as needed, all while sharing real-life examples of budget enrichment in action. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to spice things up, this episode reminds us to be curious, flexible, and open to futzing around and finding out.
Links & Resources from the Episode
- Looking for a transcript? Go here for Arial | Go here for OpenDyslexic
- 🔗 #109 – Assessing Risk for the Safety Enrichment Category
Going Down a Rabbit Hole?
Dive deeper into the world of enrichment, behavior, and building harmony.
- 📚 Budget-Friendly Enrichment Options Blog – More DIY ideas and guidance for creating fun on a dime.
- 📦 July 2022 Training Challenge: Explore Variety Through a Cardboard Box – Who knew a cardboard box could be so enriching?
- 🗑️ Trash to Treasure: How We Use Recycled Enrichment to Support Natural Pet Behaviors – The whole Pet Harmony team shares how they use trash in their enrichment plans for their own pets!
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Meet the Hosts
Allie Bender, CDBC, CPDT-KA, SBA
Allie Bender is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Certified Professional Dog Trainer- Knowledge Assessed, and a Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 2006 and professionally training since 2012. She is the founder and co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.
While in the animal sheltering industry, Allie realized that her passion lied in helping pets with maladaptive behaviors. Specifically, she wanted to help prevent animals with rehabilitatable problems from being euthanized. She loves working with dogs and cats displaying stranger danger, resource guarding, and leash reactivity. Her favorite thing about working with pets and their people is seeing relationships grow and seeing harmonious households develop.
Emily Strong, CDBC
Emily Strong is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and Shelter Behavior Affiliate. She has been in the animal welfare industry since 1990 and has been a behavior consultant since 2008. She is the co-owner of Pet Harmony, co-author of Canine Enrichment for the Real World, and a national speaker.
Emily started working with animals at a young age and struggled with the notion that you have to hurt, scare, or intimidate animals to help them. When she discovered the behavior sciences and learned that it wasn’t necessary to do so– that we can care for emotional, mental, and physical health simultaneously– she plunged headfirst into animal behavior. Emily loves helping current and prospective behavior professionals and working with pet parents through our in-depth services. She enjoys working with all species.
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