Canine Enrichment is a term that often comes up when dog parents want to learn about their pup's wellness, training, and behavioral issues such as separation anxiety. It is a necessary and crucial factor in providing a healthy, thriving environment for your dog.
So, what exactly is Enrichment?
Enrichment is anything that encourages physical or cognitive activity while providing a safe environment to practice natural behaviors to satisfy a dog's physical and mental needs.
At HowlPet, we divide Enrichment into four main categories: Socialization, Physical Building, Cognitive Skills, and Sensory Experience. Let's dive deeper into each category.
Socialization
It is a well-known fact that dogs are social by nature and enjoy the company of others. Traditional daycares provide a safe environment for off-leash play, where dogs can meet new friends and learn acceptable social skills. Dogs have their own language to communicate with each other, humans, and other animals. Therefore, dogs can fulfill their natural needs by socializing in a guided space and learning to create healthy bonds with other dogs and people.
Most veterinarians advise puppy owners to start socialization as soon as possible, but it is imperative to avoid areas that may be exposed to unvaccinated dogs. That is why it is crucial to socialize your puppy at HowlPet or other daycares that require all dogs to be fully vaccinated and that place sanitation as a number one priority. Even if your dog is at an age with complete vaccination, most dog parks are not safe environments to learn acceptable social behaviors - especially for new dog parents.
What we do here at HowlPet goes beyond a safe socialization environment and off-leash play. We provide the optimal space for growth by analyzing each dog in play for their Critical Stress Point.
We coined the term Critical Stress Point to focus on the perfect Goldilocks zone where learning thrives and allows for the most efficient growth. Critical Stress Points are influenced by numerous factors, such as breed, age, and experience, but every individual will have different affecting stress levels.
When dogs enter an off-leash play zone, there is no doubt that their stress level will spike. If this is close to null, there will be no pushing factor to challenge them to grow. On the other end, if the stress level spikes too high, it will hinder and even impair their learning. Therefore, each dog must be in that perfect zone where they feel safe yet challenged to venture and grow.
Critical Stress Point is not only important for socialization but also crucial for the rest of the enrichment categories. Unlike other traditional daycares, we focus on building skills beyond just socialization for an all-around healthy dog.
Physical Building
Updated 05/27/2022.
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