Plan a More Enriching Year for Your Dog with Fetch Fun Activities BINGO Card

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I love this Bingo card trend I’m seeing on social media.

I’ve always been a huge advocate for being intentional and that you can literally plan yourself into a happier, more fulfilling life filled with the things you love. (Not a replacement for actual mental health strategies, yo – just a coping mechanism that works woofing great for me.) But I’ve always struggled with how planning by it’s very nature works against my very deep-seated need for chaos and spontaneity.

This boy loved a puzzle, an adventure or a snack equally. It all depended on our mood.

Canine Enrichment BINGO Planning is the very best of both worlds and I’m here for it.

So, if 2024 is the year you’ve vowed to build a better bond with your dog and create a varied and fulfilling enrichment schedule, might I suggest BINGO? By mixing together all the things you and your dog love to do you can create a ton of variety, leave space to accommodate the weather and your mood or energy level and still make sure you have a plan to complete those goals. And I mean…BINGO means prizes right? Like I can totally reward myself every time I hit a BINGO I get a lil treat, right?

What is Canine Enrichment?

I’m no science-y expert, but the Kol’s Notes version is Canine Enrichment is any activity that stimulates your dogs physically or mentally, that allows them to participate in natural behaviours, and/or that gives them a greater level of autonomy. Dogs just wanna have fun, but much like people, things that are fun the first time aren’t always as stimulating the 100th time. Variety is the key to enrichment every bit as much as fun is

There are five main types of canine enrichment (though IMO, lots of activities overlap and fit more than one category)

Social Enrichment is allowing your dog to interact with other dogs, humans and even other species.

I’m pretty sure that this photo is an example of Felix enriching baby Kol and baby Kol annoying Felix.

Social Enrichment can take a lot of forms depending on your dog’s comfort level and social intelligence. If you have an outgoing dog, this might mean going to the dog park, having play dates with trusted friends, or meeting other dogs while walking busy routes.

For more introverted pups and especially those with anxiety issues or who are still working on training, this can mean playing in spaces where other dogs are present, but not directly interacting, cautious introductions with safe doggy friends, or working on training while other dogs intermittently pass.

Nutritional Enrichment is providing a wide variety of foods to your dog and allowing them to exhibit natural foraging or hunting behaviours.

Arguably Kolchak’s favourite form of enrichment was a snack – even if he had to work for it.

I am the such a fan of canine puzzles. Not only were they an amazing way to keep Kol busy, but the combination of a bangin’ snackto keep him interested and a brain teaser to work out would leave him absolutely ready for a nap (and a snuggle). Nina Ottosan and Outward Hound make some pretty awesome, durable (and washable) dog puzzles. It can, however, get P R I C E Y to build a collection and it doesn’t have to be. You can make a DIY puzzle in bunches of ways. Homemade puzzles is one of my passions and we have a lot of ideas ranging from free to a buck or two each. Check them out here.

Nutritional enrichment also comes from offering your dog a variety of foods, flavours and textures. This is part of why I absolutely LOVE making dog treats at home! You don’t have to change your dog’s main diet to offer a huge variety and a ton of enrichment in what they eat!

Occupational enrichment is all about giving your dog a job or a purpose.

Agility training was a great example of both occupational and physical enrichment.

While many dogs do have functional jobs where they perform actual tasks to assist their humans, Occupational Enrichment doesn’t have to be functional to be valuable. You can play games like Agility, Flyball, or Nose Work. You can play brain game like puzzles. (Have you heard of Dognition? I am S U C H a fan. Kol and I used to play Dognition games all the time and it was always worth it.)

Sensory enrichment is anything that your dog can smell, taste, see, touch or hear.

Real talk? This dog L O V E D to lay on a weird fuzzy blanket and listen to Stephen Fry read audiobooks.

So like…everything? For me, the key to this one is offering novel experiences – nosework games or walks in new places for smell, making DIY treats or using fresh food as a kibble topper for taste,

Physical

dog training jump through hoop | Kol's Notes - the DIY Dog — Once upon a time, I taught Kol to jump through a hoop. He was not enthused. Ya boy prefer the potato life.

Even couch potato dogs need some form of physical activity to help meet their enrichment needs. For some breeds, this can be as simple as daily walks with occasional changes to route and scenery. Some breeds are water dogs with a strong, natural desire to swim. Some dogs love fetch.

For others, they’ll have higher physical enrichment needs and will need to play high energy games that combine mental and physical enrichment, like agility, fly ball or any number of busy, physical games.

Life is busy though and it can be so difficult to keep up with it all!

I have good intentions. We all have good intentions. Execution is sometimes… less than desirable. That’s why as a planner girly, I love trackers, guides and anything that lets me feel like I am holding my life together. And that’s why I made this fun lil Bingo card. You don’t have to do one every day. You can choose how often to track your fun. Heck, I’ve got a version filled with ideas AND a blank one, so you can fill it with your own favourite canine enrichment activities. And it’s cute. (At least I think it’s super cute.) It’s filled with ideas for ways you can work on training, have fun, add enrichment to your dog’s life and take some very cute photos along the way.