From your friends at NOCO Humane, we hope your holiday season was wonderful and you’re ready to embrace a new year! It’s common to make resolutions around health, so this month we are focusing on the physical and mental health of our furry friends. Cold weather can drive us indoors, but that doesn’t mean that wellness has to take a break.
When thinking about enrichment and wellness for your pet, it is important to know that 1) dogs thrive best when they have a “job” and 2) cats are always practicing their hunting and stalk-pounce skills, so enrichment along those lines will almost always be a winner!
Sniffing is a great stress reliever for dogs and gives them an outlet for their hard-wired natural behaviors. Consider doing a test with dog-friendly scents and see what your dog likes and doesn’t like, what excites them and what calms them, and use the ones they like for future enrichment.
For dogs motivated by food, consider: snuffle mats or snuffle balls, clicker training, puzzle toys/feeders, slow feeders and “licky” mats. Also, entire meals can be stuffed into a Kong toy (and frozen the night before) to make meal time With cats take longer as well as employ more effort and mental skills.
With cats, active toys are a hit! Encourage self-play with aluminum foil balls, plastic lids, wadded up paper, pipe cleaners, cardboard boxes, etc. Interactive play can also be fun for both of you, just remember to keep your hands and body clear from your kitty’s claws as they lunge for their toy.
By prioritizing our companions’ health and happiness, we can ensure a fulfilling and joyful year for both pets and their loving owners. Cheers to a paw-some year ahead!
Learn more at nocohumane.org. Judy Calhoun is the Executive Director at the Humane Society of Northern Colorado.