What if those “naughty behaviours” weren’t really misbehaviour at all, just needs that never got met?
Just like people get snappy, restless or overwhelmed when something’s off – not enough sleep, too many tasks, too little time to breathe – dogs do too. Especially when they’re bored, overstimulated, or stressed in ways we might not see at first.
Enrichment is important for dogs because it helps meet their physical, mental, and emotional needs. When those needs go unmet, dogs are more likely to develop stress-related behaviours like chewing, barking, or reactivity. Thoughtful enrichment reduces stress and supports behaviour change, not by “fixing” the dog, but by helping them feel better in their environment. When we start meeting our dog’s needs, things change. Sometimes dramatically.
But what actually is enrichment? (Spoiler: it’s not just food puzzles). And how can we use it in real life — not Pinterest life — to help our dogs and ourselves?
What is Enrichment, and Why Does It Matter?
We’ve all heard the advice: give your dog something to do while you’re on a Zoom call or leaving the house. Stuff a Kong, give them a chew, scatter some kibble.
And yes, those things can be helpful. But real enrichment? It’s so much more than a distraction.
At its core, enrichment is about meeting your dog’s physical, mental, and emotional needs — not just keeping them busy so they don’t get under your feet (though let’s be honest, sometimes, that’s a bonus). It’s about offering choices, giving them control, and creating opportunities to engage in behaviours that feel good and natural to them.
It’s not about what’s trending. It’s about what your dog needs. And that might take a little curiosity and some trial and error.
How Enrichment Supports Behaviour and Emotional Health
When your dog’s needs aren’t being met for physical movement, emotional safety, cognitive challenge, social interaction, or rest, their stress levels rise. And the higher the general levels of stress, the less capacity they have to respond calmly to everyday life.
You might see:
- Barking at the window every time a dog walks past
- Chewing the furniture
- Pacing or whining at night
- Reactivity on walks
- Jumping up and mouthing visitors
Sometimes these behaviours come directly from unmet needs (like chewing because their jaw needs an outlet). it’s the emotional overflow effect. Their stress bucket is full, and it only takes one drop for it to spill over.
When we meet their needs, that bucket starts to empty. Their nervous system finally gets a bit of breathing space. And the behaviours? They often shift — not because we taught something new, but because the dog just feels better.
Why Management is Part of a Complete Enrichment Plan
One of the first things I often suggest to clients is a simple change to the environment – like using a baby gate to stop a dog charging the front door when visitors arrive.
At first glance, it doesn’t seem like enrichment. But when we reframe enrichment as creating a life where your dog feels safe, calm, and able to use their thinking brain, it absolutely counts.
Environmental management can reduce stress and prevent behaviours we don’t want from being constantly rehearsed. It might not teach a new skill, but it sets the stage for learning to happen. Calmly, safely, and without overwhelm.
And often, before we’ve even done a single bit of “real” training, clients notice: the barking reduces, the resting increases, the walks feel easier.
The 14 Categories of Enrichment
(based on Pet Harmony’s framework)
Enrichment isn’t a one-note concept. It’s a broad, whole-life approach. Here’s a breakdown of the 14 categories that help you spot which needs might be under-met for your dog.
Health & Veterinary
Regular checkups, pain management, disease prevention. A dog with untreated arthritis may seem “grumpy” but is just in pain.
Hygiene
Cleaning and grooming. Keeping ears clean, nails trimmed and teeth sparkling. For dogs sensitive to handling we can get creative. Grooming wipes instead of baths, scratch boards instead of nail trims, dental chews instead of a toothbrush.
Diet & Nutrition
Includes treats and edible chews as well as their food for meals. What preferences do they have? Crunchy or soft? Chicken or fish?
Foraging
Opportunities to search for and find food. E.g., snuffle mats, “find it” games, food hidden in boxes, simple scatter feeding are all options.
Sensory Stimulation
Not just scent (though that’s a big one), but sight, sound, taste and touch too. Too much noise or visual input can be just as draining as too little. Do they need a quieter environment sometimes? What about giving them a squishy bed made from your (or friends’) old t-shirts?
Physical Exercise
Movement appropriate to age and breed. Not every dog needs a 5-mile run — but all need to move. Not just walks but tugging, playing fetch, flirt poles, physio exercises. Anything that is about purposeful movement.
Cognitive
Mental challenges that match their skill level. E.g., teaching tricks, shaping games, scentwork, yes those puzzle games, even foraging as a 2 for 1.
Safety
Being physically safe regardless of how they might feel about a situation. It might be considering where you are keeping the poisonous chemicals or medications, safe plants in the garden, using a lead in busy areas or near roads. Or it could be making changes so that your dog can move without risk of injury like having mats down on slippery surfaces or steps to help them get onto furniture.
Security
Feeling safe, regardless of whether they are or not. This is often the area that needs attention when you wonder why your dog seems afraid of you even when you’ve never done anything to hurt them. It might mean setting up safe spaces and allowing them to access them at will, or working through your dog’s fears at their pace.
Species Typical Behaviour
Dogs dig. They chew. They bark, shred, and sometimes joyfully eviscerate things. Often species typical behaviour is the stuff we don’t like so much, but we still need to give our dogs an appropriate outlet for them. It doesn’t mean they get to rip up all the cushions on the sofa, but it may mean we need to provide soft toys or DIY destructible items for shredding.
Social Interaction
Dogs are social, but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily social with other dogs. They might care much more about humans than canines. So while dog-dog interaction counts, it’s not the whole. Hanging with their humans may be more their speed. And again the amount is tailored to their specific needs. Sometimes they may need less social interaction, not more.
Independence
Being comfortable on their own, but also able to make their own choices and not rely on others for everything. Comfortable to explore, play, generally mooch without being micromanaged. You can encourage their independence by having things like toys and chews available for them to access at any time. Rotate them to keep it interesting.
Calming
Goes hand in hand with environment often, but tends to be important for dog owners. Rest and relaxation are just as important as mental and physical exercise. Anything that promotes a calm relaxed state can go here. Including things covered in other categories like safe spaces, massage, chewing etc.
Environment
There’s overlap with many other of the categories like sensory stimulation, calming and even safety. What environmental setups will help fulfil your dog’s needs? Maybe it’s quiet areas to retreat to, safe off lead space, covering some windows to reduce sightlines of traffic or people.
Agency
It’s not really a category because it’s intrinsic to living with our dogs as a whole. Agency means an individual has the ability to make decisions that result in desirable outcomes for them. Our dogs need to willing engage with activities for us to count it as enrichment.
Each category plays a role in reducing your dog’s stress, increasing their resilience, and allowing them to be more flexible in the face of everyday life. But not every dog needs the same balance.
Enrichment isn’t optional. It’s how we help our dogs feel better — physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Tailoring Enrichment: Every Dog is an Individual
I know what you might be thinking: “That’s a lovely list… but I’m already stretched.”
Fair. Me too.
Which is why the things I recommend to clients are small. Achievable. Repeatable. Designed to be done for the long term, sometimes for the lifetime of the dog.
Because you shouldn’t have to live in a constant loop of dog-managing chaos. And you shouldn’t need 100 different tasks each day just to keep your dog stable.
You deserve a life that works for you, too.
One or two thoughtful tweaks, things that actually help, not just add to the mental load, can shift everything. Putting up a visual barrier at the front window, or feeding meals in a sniffable format, can reduce stress enough that everything else gets easier.
And that’s the kind of change that sticks.
Enrichment Isn’t One Size Fits All: Test and Tweak
Even with all my experience, I don’t always get it right first time.
Enrichment isn’t plug-and-play, it’s an iterative process. We try something, observe how it affects our dog, and adjust.
Sometimes it works beautifully. The humans are delighted. It’s easy and it works.
Sometimes it works behaviourally, but turns out to be a massive faff and just isn’t sustainable.
Sometimes it doesn’t work at all. And that’s okay.
We try something else.
Because for enrichment to really work, it has to work for both the dog and the humans. We don’t chase perfection. We chase progress that feels sustainable.
How to Get Started with Enrichment
If you want to try this with your dog, here’s where to begin:
- Pick one category, just one, that feels most relevant right now.
- Do a tiny thing. Not a life overhaul. Just a tweak.
- Observe. Is your dog more relaxed? Settling more? Less barky? More interested in interacting with you?
- Tweak as needed. If it’s not working, try a different version. If it’s working but too much effort to be sustainable, simplify.
- Build slowly. You don’t need to cover all 14 categories every day. Think of this as long-term life design, not a checklist.
How to Tell If It’s Working: Assessing Behaviour Change
Before you introduce a new enrichment activity or management strategy, it’s helpful to pause and ask:
“What behaviour am I hoping to change — and how will I know if it’s changing?”
Maybe you want your dog to:
- Bark less at everyday noises in the home
- Settle more quickly after walks
- Be less reactive to dogs outside the window
- Chew less furniture
- Engage more with you during training
Clarity is key. Instead of saying “less barking,” try:
“Barks at the window 6–8 times a day, each episode lasting 30–60 seconds.”
That’s your baseline. Once the intervention is in place, you can track whether the frequency or intensity changes.
Try Using a Behaviour Scale
Sometimes it’s hard to track behaviour in detailed notes every day, and who wants that kind of chore? That’s where a behaviour scale comes in.
You create a simple numbered scale for a particular behaviour, with clear definitions for each level. For example, a reactivity to noise scale might be:
| Score | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | No reaction — dog doesn’t notice the noise or stays completely relaxed |
| 1 | Ears perk, brief glance or alert but settles without intervention |
| 2 | Startles or barks once, then settles within a few seconds |
| 3 | Barks multiple times, paces or checks windows, needs help to settle |
| 4 | Long barking episode, pacing or whining, struggles to calm even with support |
| 5 | Full meltdown — barking, lunging at windows/doors, unable to settle for a long time |
This isn’t just data for data’s sake.
It’s a way to see that what you’re doing is working — even when it feels slow or messy.
Use this to summarise the day with a single number, or rate specific events (e.g., when the post arrives).
Over time, you can track whether your dog’s typical number is decreasing — and that’s your cue the enrichment is helping.
And if it creeps back up? That’s your early warning sign that something needs adjusting.
Helping Dogs Thrive, Not Just Cope
When we stop viewing enrichment as “extra” and start treating it as essential, everything else falls into place.
Your dog doesn’t need a Pinterest-perfect routine. They need a life that feels good, where their needs are met, their voice is heard, and they are supported as the unique individual they are.
That’s not just behaviour change. That’s holistic wellbeing, behavioural, emotional, even relational. For them and for you.
And if you’re ready to explore what that could look like for your dog (and for your daily life), I’d love to help you get there.