3 Easy DIY Enrichment Ideas for Busy Dog Parents
Introduction
When a dog has no healthy way to burn mental energy, boredom turns into barking, chewing, pacing, or pestering their humans for attention. Enrichment gives dogs a way to meet their natural needs through problem-solving, sniffing, chewing, and exploring. The best part? You don’t need expensive toys or hours of free time.
Here are three simple, affordable enrichment ideas any busy owner can start using today.
1. Scatter Feeding: Let Your Dog Work for Their Meal
Photo by Ayla Verschueren on Unsplash
Why it works
Dogs experience the world through their noses. Scatter feeding taps into that instinct by letting your dog “hunt” for their food instead of eating it from a bowl. This can help satisfy their natural foraging drive, especially for high-energy or anxious dogs.
How to do it
- Take all, or part, of your dog’s regular meal portion.
- Toss it, or hide it, in a safe area: the yard, inside a spacious room, a snuffle mat, or a bath towel.
- Let your dog sniff and forage to find every piece.
Tips
- For beginners: keep the food in a smaller area so it’s easy.
- For advanced dogs: increase the size of the area or hide small piles behind furniture or bushes.
- For extra enrichment: fold an old towel or blanket lasagna-style, hiding kibble in each layer.
Why it helps
Scatter feeding takes as little as 30 seconds to set up and gives your dog 5–15 minutes of focus, depending on the difficulty.
2. Creating a Frozen Treat Challenge
Photo by Amelie Buyse on Unsplash
Why it works
Licking is naturally soothing for dogs. It lowers heart rate, reduces stress hormones, and encourages calm behavior. Freezing the food increases the challenge, making enrichment last longer without any extra work for you.
How to do it
You can freeze in:
- A KONG
- A Toppl
- A reusable silicone mold
- An ice cube tray
- A lick mat
Simple foods to freeze
Some dog-safe options include:
- Canned food or kibble (soaked slightly if needed)
- Fruit such as blueberries or apple slices (with seeds and core removed)
- Veggies like carrots or green beans
- Low-sodium chicken or beef broth
- Pumpkin (plain, not pie filling)
- Dog-safe peanut butter
- Low-fat cottage cheese and/or plain yogurt
Safety notes
Always supervise the first few tries. Make sure toys are the correct size so your dog can’t swallow them. When choosing “human” foods to feed your dog, make sure to choose low-fat, low-sodium varieties without extra seasoning.
Why it helps
Make several at once, freeze them, and pull one out whenever you need 20–45 minutes of calm, independent activity.
3. Cardboard: DIY Shredding Fun
Photo by Sam Williams on Unsplash
Why it works
Dogs love to shred, rip, tear, and solve problems with their mouths. Instead of losing a shoe or a favorite blanket, cardboard provides a safe and satisfying outlet for that instinct.
How to do it
- Save clean boxes, paper towel rolls, or packaging paper.
- Place a few treats or pieces of kibble inside.
- Close the flaps loosely or fold the ends to create a small puzzle.
- Let your dog tear it open to get the food.
Variations
- The “Mega Box”: put smaller boxes inside a big one with treats scattered throughout.
- The “Kibble Piñata”: hang a small box (with a few holes poked into it) by a string and let your dog nudge it around.
Safety tip
Make sure your dog spits out the cardboard and doesn’t consume it before leaving your dog unsupervised with a cardboard enrichment puzzle. If your dog tends to swallow non-food items, keep cardboard games fully supervised or skip them.
Why it helps
Cardboard puzzles take less than a minute to prepare and give your dog an outlet for natural destruction in a controlled, safe way.
Putting It All Together
Enrichment doesn’t have to be complicated. Next time your pup is feeling a little stir-crazy, give one of these ideas a try. Mental exercise can be just as important as physical exercise, especially for dogs who struggle with anxiety, reactivity, or excess energy. A few minutes of setup can transform your dog’s whole day… and lower your stress levels, too!
If you’d like help building a personalized enrichment routine, or you’re dealing with behaviors like reactivity, anxiety, or chewing, Canine Confidence Club’s virtual coaching sessions can give you a clear plan forward.
Click here to learn more about training with Canine Confidence.