Dogs and Wolfdogs Socialization: Enrichment

I’ve mentioned specific enrichment activities many times, but I never talked about what enrichment is and why it’s so important for the mental health and socialization of dogs and wolfdogs.

Enrichment activities stimulate an animal’s mind by giving it obstacles to overcome, problems to solve, and physical challenges. Enrichment can alleviate boredom, curb destructive behaviors, and improve the quality of life of contained animals. Enrichment also helps animals adjust to new situations and sensations.

The activities are always designed to simulate the natural behaviors and activities of specific animals. For example, enrichment activities for a parrot would be very different from a robin, since one finds fruits and nuts in trees and the other searches the ground for grubs and worms.

For dogs and wolfdogs, activities may cater to such things as:

-The Prey Drive (without a kill… as in the poster)

-The Senses (scent marking and rolling)

-Oral Satisfaction (chewing raw bones)

-Movement (platforms, tunnels, walks)

-New Sensations and Situations( wrapping things in packages or hanging a plastic tarp outside the pen)

Enrichment also aids in containment, since a happy, stimulated animal is more likely to stay put and not have a need to wander for thrills.

Enrichment is not only for the animal, it gives the owner or caregivers a challenge to create and think like the animal, rewards all around.

Have fun, do some research on natural behaviors, and take the challenge to enrich all of your animal’s lives.

Dog and Wolfdog Behavior: Adolescence Or Bad Training

Photo TexxWolf

Since most pups are surrendered for behavior issues during adolescence, it’s time the “phase” gets more attention, because while adolescence has not been professionally studied it is often talked about anecdotally by experts.

Sure, most mammals go through a transition between childhood and adulthood that is marked by more independence, risk taking, testing limits and challenging authority and peers. 

In both dogs and wolfdogs, the transition noted by owners is marked as selective hearing, stubbornness, refusal to do known commands, a regression to earlier behaviors such as mouthing, jumping, demanding barking, lapses in housebreaking, and destructive chewing. 

Owners and trainers sometimes agree that the phase is limited to about a year and a half, with some larger breeds taking longer to mature.

But dog trainer and behavioral counselor, Jolanta Benal has a different theory that makes sense. Benal says, “Adolescent dogs aren’t puppies anymore. Puppies are smallish and super cute, and the result of being smallish and super cute is that people see your behavior as harmless and sweet. A puppy jumps up, and people say “Awwwww.” Three months later, that puppy has spent his entire life jumping on people; he’s really good at it, and he weighs 50 pounds, so now he’s tagged an “out-of-control adolescent.” 

“Or take mouthing,” she continues. “Or take mouthing. We can and should teach young puppies to mouth chew toys instead of our arm, and to tug at a rope toy instead of our clothes. But many people don’t know how, or don’t know how important it is, or aren’t proactive and consistent. At 9 months old, Mouthy Zippy is doing exactly what he did at 3 months, only now it really freaking hurts and all your jackets are torn."

These kind of problems can really be a problem for wolfdogs since these behaviors are often viewed as the “wolf” in the wolfdog rearing its vicious head. And I do get really annoyed to hear trainers chalk bad behavior up to the “wolf” side. 

These behaviors also frighten people because wolfdogs grow really fast but mature really slowly. So, Zippy’s 9 month mouthing is a bigger issue for a 60lb wolfdog at 6 months, and again… unfortunately it's taken as a sign of the “wolf’s” natural aggression ...BS!

As for small dogs, their puppy size and cuteness could be the reason for all their issues. After all, who can resist a paw up calming signal from a little yapper after you caught him in the middle of a little piddle. Super-sized, the puddle is less subtle, paw up or not.

However, the true culprit can be that people don’t realize training is ongoing and doesn’t end with puppy training class graduation. Benal adds, “I’ve noticed that many people who have trouble getting their adolescent dogs to come when called took their puppy’s nearness for granted, meaning they didn’t purposefully practice and reward coming to them on cue. From the dog’s point of view, a general preference for being near her people is quite different from understanding that “Dogalini, come!” is a signal to close the distance in a hurry right now. If you don’t teach and reward that specific behavior, it’ll go away, like any other behavior with little or no payoff."

So next time, you think a young animal is trying to defy you, think again…  Are you falling short on the “goods” too soon?

See Benal's full article on the topic at Quick and Dirty Tips.com