4 ways to provide your dog with mental stimulation at home

How much time do you really spend entertaining and occupying your dog each day? You take it for a walk, throw a few toys for it… But what about mental stimulation?

Often neglected, brain activity is, in fact, just as important as physical activity! Boredom being a dog’s main enemy, it’s your role, as a good master, to prevent it from being bored and avoid it developing behavioural disorders. Dog Chef gives you some simple tips to stimulate your dog at home!

Enrich its daily life with food

Endowed with 44 times as many olfactory cells as humans, our furry friends can smell up to 100,000 times better than we can. Their noses allow them to detect scents, to discover their environment and to communicate with their fellow dogs. That’s why helping your dog to use its sense of smell is an excellent way to provide it with mental enrichment. And you can do it with food, too.

Solution n°1: the slow feeder bowl

If you give your dog its food in a classic bowl, you are missing out on the opportunity to turn a few seconds of action into a longer activity.

Made with obstacles, in the form of ridges, bumps or grooves, the purpose of the slow feeder bowl is to slow down food intake and facilitate digestion at the same time as stimulating your dog. There is no better way to exercise its nose as it slowly enjoys its delicious Dog Chef meal.

Solution n°2: the Snuffle Mat

A genuine tool for developing your dog’s senses, this snuffle mat will keep your dog busy and stimulate it intellectually. The superimposed fabric strips allow you to hide little treats that the dog must use its nose to find. This type of game enables your pet to develop its cognitive and olfactory abilities, leaving it with a feeling of fatigue and calm afterwards.

Dog Chef tip: If you are looking for little treats to put in your play mat, have a look at all 3 of our delicious snacks (Sheepy, Chicky and Beefy) here and add them to your next order!

Want to know more about this revolutionary toy? We tell you all about it in this article.

Solution n°3: the dispensing ball

Lots of fun when filled, this ball is the ideal toy to occupy your dog and is intended to stimulate its intellectual abilities as well. In search of a delicious snack, your furry friend will have to use its brain to successfully get to what is hidden in the ball.

Dog Chef tip: Fill the ball with a few spoonfuls of Dog Chef for a guaranteed effect! There you go, your dog is in for many minutes of pure pleasure.

Enrich its daily life with chewing

Chewing is an essential need and contributes greatly to your dog’s wellbeing and health. It’s an excellent way to develop its intellectual abilities too. Chewing helps clean teeth and gums, relieves stress and anxiety and reduces the risk of your pet destroying your home – by chewing the phone charger, for example.

Solution n°1: deer antler

Composed of calcium and natural minerals, a deer antler is a real 100% natural toothbrush, which your dog will find deliciously enjoyable to chew. Ideal for calming it and helping it to unwind, this snack satisfies a primary need and contributes to your dog’s balance and healthy development.

Dog Chef tip: For even more enjoyment, put one or two drops of OmegaMix on the deer antler and your furry friend will love it even more!

Solution n°2: olive wood

Natural, sustainable and healthy, olive wood is enriched with extra virgin olive oil to give your dog long-lasting chewing pleasure. Perfect for dogs who like to chew or nibble, olive wood is the ideal solution to protect your favourite shoes and your furniture!

Enrich its daily life with exploration

Always looking to explore, our dogs never tire of digging up little hidden treasures. So, hide something with a scent for your furry friend to find, like a tea bag or a Beefy for example. As your dog’s sense of smell is highly developed, it will use it to find the object in question.

Another alternative is to play hide-and-seek with it. Hide in another room and call your pet. This game allows you to work your dog mentally and at the same time to work on its response to your call. It’s super easy to do and can be played at home or during your walks in the woods.

Always remember to give your dog lots of praise when it completes an exercise successfully!

Enrich its daily life with education

What could be more fun than teaching your little rogue a new trick and impressing your visitors? Training your dog allows you to work on your relationship with it as well as stimulating it mentally.

Here is a list of easy tricks to teach your dog:

Kissing you
Barking on command
Offering a paw
Fetching something
Rolling over
Playing dead
Standing on its hind legs

And there are plenty of other ideas for occupying your furry friend intelligently. So be creative! Many everyday objects are also useful for stimulating it. Allowing your dog to use its natural abilities is essential for its wellbeing and its balance.

Keep in mind that it is mainly novelty that provides the stimulation. Introducing a new element into your dog’s environment guards against boredom, for which it will be eternally grateful to you!

In order to vary your furry friend’s pleasure in food, 5 tasty recipes have been carefully developed for Dog Chef by veterinarians specialised in dog nutrition:

Chicken: A complete and balanced recipe specially designed for dogs that love white meat. Chicken and rice are highly digestible, so this recipe is also suitable for sensitive dogs.

Beef: This red meat recipe will satisfy even the most demanding taste buds. Its high-quality ingredients provide all the nutrients necessary for your dog’s everyday wellbeing. Furthermore, it is suitable for sporting dogs because it is energy dense.

Duck (hypoallergenic): this recipe is perfectly balanced and ideal for dogs allergic to traditional meat sources. The duck is accompanied by sweet potatoes, buckwheat and vegetables, and is therefore grain-free.

Pork: this recipe was designed to bring even more variety to the Dog Chef menu while covering all your dog’s needs every day. Like the chicken recipe, it is highly digestible and very tasty.

Fish (hypoallergenic): We have developed this complete recipe specially for allergic dogs that like fish. Based on white fish, accompanied by sweet quinoa and various vegetables, this recipe is grain-free and perfectly balanced.

There’s something to satisfy every dog. Try Dog Chef’s delicious, personalised, fresh meals for your dog now!

So, how about you? Add a comment telling us what you do to stimulate your pet.