Lickmats are fine. They’re just also everywhere, to the point where “enrichment” has quietly become shorthand for “smear something wet on a mat and hope for twenty quiet minutes.” That’s not wrong, exactly. It’s just incomplete.
Dogs didn’t evolve to lick a flat surface for calm. They evolved to hunt, scavenge, dig, chew, track scent, move across variable terrain, and solve problems cooperatively with other animals, including us. Enrichment that only hits one of those channels is like feeding a person nothing but soup. Technically nutrition. Not the whole picture.
The framework: what dogs are actually wired to do
Every domestic dog carries fragments of the full predatory sequence: orient, eye, stalk, chase, grab-bite, kill-bite, dissect, consume. Selective breeding didn’t erase this sequence, it chopped it into pieces and exaggerated the useful parts for different jobs. Herding dogs get stuck in eye-stalk-chase and never finish the sequence. Terriers amplify grab-bite and kill-bite. Retrievers amplify grab-carry and barely touch the rest. This is why a Border Collie stares and a Lab just wants to carry your shoe around, they’re both doing “predatory behavior,” just different slices of it.
On top of that sequence, dogs have separate hardwired drives that exist independent of hunting:
- Foraging/scavenging, the drive to search for scattered food, distinct from the chase-and-kill part of predation
- Chewing/destruction, which serves jaw conditioning, stress relief, and exploratory mouthing
- Digging, tied to thermoregulation, denning instinct, and prey excavation
- Olfaction, a dog’s dominant sense and the one most under-used in a typical pet’s day
- Social cognition, the drive toward cooperative behavior and reading human communication
- Locomotion/proprioception, the need to run, jump, and negotiate terrain with real body awareness
Every activity below gets tagged with which of these it feeds. That matters because “tired dog” isn’t the goal. A dog whose actual drives went unmet for a week and then got walked twice as long is still an unsatisfied dog, just a physically exhausted one.
Scavenging and foraging: the most underrated category
This is search behavior, separate from the chase-and-kill parts of predation. It’s also the lowest-arousal category on this whole list, which makes it the safest default for anxious, reactive, or senior dogs.
- Muffin tin with tennis balls over treats: cheap and scalable, but use a weighted tin, large dogs flip the light ones
- DIY snuffle mat from fleece strips: great low-arousal option, supervise chewers, loose strands are a swallowing risk
- Cardboard dig pit with shredded paper: messy but satisfying, skip glossy or colored ink
- Scatter feeding in tall grass or leaf piles: free and calming, check for treated lawns and foxtails first
- Shell game with overturned cups: skip this with dogs who guard “won” objects
- Stuffed and closed egg cartons: cardboard only, never styrofoam
- Knotted rolled towel with treats inside: not for dogs with a habit of eating fabric
- Toilet paper roll “burritos”: fine in moderation, skip for dogs with a history of foreign-body obstruction
- Kiddie pool dig pit with packing paper: paper only, no styrofoam peanuts or bubble wrap
- Yard or house find-it hunts: genuinely one of the safest things on this entire list
- Stuffed paper bag with treats: some dogs are noise-sensitive to the crinkle, remove plastic handles
- Ice or dirt treat pockets outdoors: combines foraging with digging, check the ground is untreated
- Stuffed and taped cereal box: check for the plastic liner bag inside first
- PVC pipe treat dispenser: very durable for power chewers, sand the drilled edges so they don’t cut gums
- Pinecone treat hides: only from a known clean source, supervise chewers closely
- Cardboard tube maze: escalating difficulty, fragile after a few uses
- Sandbox or rice/bean digging box: use sand, not dried rice or beans, they swell if a dog ingests rather than digs
- Standing paper towel rolls with treats: tips over fast, one-time use
- Snow pile digging in winter: check paws for ice balls afterward and avoid areas with road salt
- Taped “treasure chest” shoebox: remove any tape remnants a dog might swallow
Shredding and destruction: the dissect phase, made safe
This taps the dissect phase of the predatory sequence along with basic jaw conditioning. The goal is giving that instinct a legal outlet before it finds an illegal one, like your couch.
- Whole head of romaine or iceberg lettuce: wash for pesticide residue, moderate amounts to avoid loose stool
- Cabbage: sturdier for aggressive shredders, skip in dogs with hypothyroidism as a regular thing
- Whole hollowed pumpkin: discard once it starts molding, check for old candle wax if it was a jack-o’-lantern
- Cardboard box “piñata” with treats between layers: higher-risk cardboard option since you’re actively encouraging tearing into small pieces
- Twisted paper towel tube: one-time use, standard cardboard caution
- Taped egg cartons: same as the plain version, just harder
- Newspaper burrito: plain newsprint only, glossy inserts have chemical inks
- Phone book or magazine shredding: phone books only, this is a full-confetti activity so supervise the whole time
- Peanut butter between stacked paper plates: xylitol-free peanut butter, always, no exceptions
- Whole drained coconut: tough shell can be hard on aggressive chewers’ teeth, meat is high fat so go easy
- Dried decorative corn husks: husk only, corn cob is a known obstruction risk
- Toilet paper roll “flower” with treats in the petals: fragile, beginner-level puzzle
- Paper bag stuffed with tissue paper: moderate use, some dogs won’t touch the noise
Water and frozen, non-lickmat
These feed foraging alongside a genuinely separate instinct, actively seeking cooling. That’s not just “dogs like water,” heat-seeking cooling behavior is its own driver, which is worth remembering in a hot Colorado summer.
- Frozen bell pepper halves: remove seeds and stem, sweet peppers only
- Frozen banana chunks in a colander: treat-tier due to sugar, not a daily food
- Ice block with buried toys or fruit: consider a softer slushy freeze for dogs who chew ice hard enough to crack teeth
- Frozen seedless watermelon rind: no seeds, no rind pieces small enough to swallow whole
- Kiddie pool with floating treats or toys: never leave a filled pool unsupervised, drowning risk is real even in shallow water
- Frozen broth cubes: verify no onion or garlic in the broth, homemade unseasoned is safest
- Frozen whole carrots: great for puppy teething, size appropriately for adult power chewers
- Splash pad or sprinkler chase: real exercise, watch for overexertion and hot pavement burning pads
- Frozen apple slices: core and seeds out, every single time
- Bobbing for treats in a shallow water bin: non-slip surface underneath, supervised only
Scent work: using the sense they actually lead with
Olfaction is a dog’s dominant sense, and it’s the one most pet dogs get the least dedicated use out of day to day. Scent work here is broader than foraging, it’s about searching and tracking in general, not just hunting down food.
- Hidden scented cloth around the yard: use heavily diluted dog-safe scents, never raw essential oils on cloth
- “Find the person” hide-and-seek: one of the safest, most bond-building activities on the whole list
- Diluted essential oil on objects: tea tree, citrus, and wintergreen are toxic, stick to well-documented safe options like lavender at very low dilution, or skip it and use vanilla extract instead
- Spice cabinet sniff test: cinnamon sticks are fine to sniff, never let a dog lick or ingest bulk cinnamon, skip nutmeg entirely
- Treat trail drag: builds real tracking behavior, scalable in difficulty
- Multi-room treat hunts: great rainy-day option, though the dog may start associating certain rooms with treats
- Worn sock scent hunt: skip for dogs with a history of eating fabric
- Grass clippings or hay pile sniffing: use fresh, dry hay only, mold is a real concern
- Unfamiliar pet-safe plant clippings: check every plant against a toxic plant list every single time, lilies and sago palm are common and severe
Physical and movement: proprioception and the chase drive
This category covers locomotion and body awareness, and for chase-heavy activities like the flirt pole, it also taps the chase phase of the predatory sequence directly. This is also where injury risk climbs the highest on the whole list.
- Balance beam (a 2×4 on the ground): good rehab-adjacent work for seniors, not appropriate for dogs with orthopedic conditions without vet clearance
- DIY agility with pool noodles and cones: jumping isn’t appropriate for puppies with open growth plates or dogs with joint issues
- Stairs fetch: high impact on joints, avoid entirely for large-breed puppies and dogs with hip or spine history
- Wobble board: low impact core and balance work, not for dogs with vestibular issues
- Broomstick cavaletti walk: keep sticks flat on the ground for beginners
- Fleece braid tug rope: teach a clear “out” cue alongside it so it doesn’t turn into unstructured overarousal
- Flirt pole: excellent chase outlet but genuinely easy to overdo, keep sessions short, favor straight-line chases over sharp pivots, skip for puppies and dogs with joint history, let the dog actually catch it sometimes
- Designated digging pit: check for buried glass or debris before you designate the spot
- Hill sprints or incline fetch: not for brachycephalic breeds in heat, condition gradually
- Couch cushion obstacle course: watch for twisted joints on unstable cushion stacks
Puzzle and problem-solving
Working out a puzzle under mild, manageable frustration is enriching on its own, separate from whatever food reward is sitting at the end of it. That’s worth remembering when a dog seems weirdly satisfied after solving something with zero calories involved.
- Water bottle with holes, treats inside: remove the cap and ring first, supervise once plastic starts breaking down
- Cup stack with a hidden bottom treat: adds a real sequencing challenge, not for frustration-prone dogs left alone
- Multi-tension taped cardboard flaps: escalating difficulty for smart, bored dogs
- Treat-stuffed tennis ball with a slit: tennis felt is abrasive on teeth over time, supervised sessions only
- Treats zipped inside an old pouch or wallet: good “life skills” puzzle, not for dogs who destroy rather than manipulate
- Velcro-flap box: adjustable difficulty, some dogs dislike the noise
- Zip-top bag buried in a scavenging bin: remove once punctured, plastic ingestion risk
- DIY sliding-compartment puzzle box: the closest thing on this list to a real commercial puzzle toy, sand all edges
- Treats hidden in the back of a drawer: watch for pinched paws or tails
- Nested boxes: simple escalating puzzle using recycling you already have
Social and training-based enrichment
Social cognition is its own real drive in domestic dogs, not just “obedience training with a nicer name.” Dogs are built for cooperative behavior with us, and short structured sessions tap that directly.
- New cue of the day: keep sessions to about five minutes to avoid frustration burnout
- Shaping a brand-new behavior from scratch: genuinely tiring in a good way, watch for frantic behavior or shutting down and break the steps smaller if you see it
- Impulse control games like “it’s yer choice”: one of the safest, most broadly useful things on this entire list
- Fluency reps of known cues: a low-stakes confidence builder, good for a “win streak” with anxious dogs
- Cooperative care practice (towel wraps, paw and ear handling with treats): go at the dog’s pace, forcing it faster undermines the entire point
- Mat or place training in a new location: builds real generalization, needs the behavior solid at home first
- Recall practice somewhere new: never test this off-leash in an unfenced novel environment, use a long line
- Send-away to a mat or spot: underused, builds real independence
Have a dog who makes boarding feel risky?
This is exactly the kind of thing MayDay Co. specializes in. Fear-Free, science-based care for dogs who need a little more understanding, not a one-size-fits-all kennel.
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