IT’S PUPPY PLAYBy: Chesna A

BACKGROUND

What is enrichment?Enrichment is a term used to describe various activities that animal keepers utilize to encourage natural behavior from the animals under their care.

Why do Enrichment?To increase the animals' physical and mental activity levels, and stimulate natural behaviors resulting in a healthier, "happier" animal. -Utah’s Hogle Zoo

QUESTION

What kind of enrichment toy will provide the most physical and mental stimulation for my puppy, Ali?

HYPOTHESIS

I think that the shoelace alone will get the best response because one of Ali’s favorite things is biting my shoelaces.

DESIGN

I designed three different enrichment toys. The basic design is a shoelace tied to a stick.

In the second design a sock with a jingle bell in it is tied to the end of the shoelace.

In the third design there is food in the sock instead of a bell.

Record pouncing, biting, and tossing actions for 1 min

RESULTS

Toy Pouncing Biting Tossing Total

Shoelace Toy

6 6 3 15

Bell Variation

6 11 4 21

Food Variation

10 8 8 26

* It is interesting that Ali did more biting on the bell toy than on the food. I would have expected her to bite at the food more. I think that she knew that she couldn’t eat the food until she got to it and so she spent more time trying to get to the food.

CONCLUSION

I was surprised that my hypothesis was not correct. Ali played with all of the enrichment toys, but the one that received the most activity was the toy with the food and not the shoelace alone as I had expected.

I think that the smell of the food encouraged her to keep playing with it because she was hoping to get to the food.

APPLICATION

It is important for animal caretakers to learn the best ways to care for their animals. Using enrichment toys is a good way to help animals be more active and stay healthier. By studying an animal’s natural activities caretakers can design enrichment toys for their animals.