Easy Enrichment Activities for Busy Pet Parents

In today’s article, we’ve listed some recommended enrichment activities for busy pet parents!

As pet parents, we work hard to provide our pets with their basic needs: food, water, shelter. But with everything that we have going on, we often overlook a crucial pet essential: their enrichment. 

Vets define enrichment as activities that mentally stimulate your pet and encourage their natural behaviors. A cat tree isn’t just a simple toy for your cat. Having a structure like this in your home can give your cat a healthy outlet to exercise their natural climbing instincts. 

In today’s article, we’ve listed some recommended enrichment activities for busy pet parents! 

1. Frozen treat toy 

Giving your dog an iced treat can actually be very enriching for them! First, your dog gets sensory enrichment from the treat’s cold temperature and smooth texture. Second, dogs can create their own little game by pushing and sliding the ice treat around. 

2. DIY Box toy 

By nature, cats love seeking dens or hideouts to hide. Having a box they can play with and retreat to can help them exercise this behavior and also help them feel safer. 

3. Lick Mats 

To our eyes, a lick mat might not look so exciting, but your pets can actually spend so much time with these things! If you spread your pet’s food across the grooves of the mat, your cat and dog would have to “work” for their food. 

Tip: You can purchase a lick mat like this from your nearest Pet Express branch!  

4. Short training drills 

Experts actually advise to train your pets in short bursts rather than prolonged hour-sessions. For puppies and cats, 2-5 minutes might be the most they can take too with their attention spans. 

Take some time out of your day, maybe while you’re waiting for your coffee or your meal to cook, to practice a few tricks with your pet. Even a few minutes of your cat chasing a laser pointer can help keep them agile and alert. 

5. People (or world) watching 

Did you know that watching people can already keep your pets engaged? A great tip to provide your pets with regular enrichment is giving them a spot next to a window in your home. This can also help your shy pet be more comfortable with strangers or new environments in the future! 

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