 Posted on February 6, 2014 by Jennifer Cattet Ph.D.
When we compare the lives of wild animals to that of our pets, there is a striking difference in their activity levels. Dogs, cats, birds, hamsters and gerbils of all sorts, spend a large part of their days just lying around with nothing to do. Their wild cousins on the other hand, see their days filled with challenging activities such as hunting, scavenging, foraging, and gathering food. They experience the thrill of tracking a prey, the excitement of finding a new food location and the satisfaction of a nap to recover from all the activity. Of course life in the wild isn’t all rosy and animals are also constantly at risk of being killed by larger and stronger animals, but it’s important to keep in mind, when we look at our furry friends of all shapes and sizes, that this is the life they were built for. Surviving requires lots of exercise and constant problem solving. So what happens to our pets when they’ve lost the opportunity to use those skills? When humans are put in prison and confined to a life with little change they get very bored and highly motivated for any chance of stimulation. We can’t ask animals if they’re bored or not. So researchers have been looking for objective ways to measure boredom. Boredom in animals has mostly been studied in caged animals. Many zoo or laboratory animals are confined to very small cages with little to do. Due to their limited ability to interact with the world at large, they often present abnormal behaviors. These animals lie down and sleep a lot. They also tend to engage in stereotypical behaviors that are repetitive and don’t seem to serve any particular purpose, like pacing or chewing on the bars of the cage. Rats may chase their own tail, tethered sows can engage in chewing air, monkeys will rock incessantly and parrots will pull out their feathers until they’re completely naked. Caged animals often look apathetic or depressed. Such animals will also over-react by displaying fear and aggression to new or sudden events. These behaviors are said to be abnormal, because they would never occur in the wild. Just like humans, bored animals also seem to crave stimulation. A study on two groups of captive mink showed that when the animals have nothing to do in their cage, they are three times quicker at investigating new objects than those living in an enriched environment (Meagher & al. 2012). Millions of dogs are confined for extended periods of time. Strays and unwanted dogs, dogs trained for police or service work or dogs used by biochemical research or food industry are all housed in kennels. Concerned for their welfare, many have looked into enrichment options to improve their living conditions. Studies have even shown that when given food enrichment toys, the dogs were generally more active but were also less likely to bark (Schipper & al., 2008). By providing ongoing mental stimulation, enrichment feeding toys have also been shown to slow down our dog’s cognitive decline due to age (Milgram & al., 2005). When living in a home environment, dogs get more opportunities for stimulations. Many get regular walks or play time with their guardian. Still however, even with the best of intentions, our busy lifestyles cannot provide our canine companions the level of activity and mental stimulation that they need. For most dogs, a typical day consists of lying around for 8-10 hours, waiting for their humans to come home. When the humans finally get home, they are busy with homework, chores, emails to return, Facebook and Twitter to update, phone calls to make, etc…. Once all done, there is often little energy left to spend entertaining Fido. In the end, the luckiest of dogs may get a little over an hour of interaction and activity at best. So what happens when dogs get under-stimulated and bored? They look for things to do. Dogs will raid the laundry basket, tear up stuffed animals or chew on the furniture. They’ll bark at the neighbor’s dog, dig holes in the back yard or look for ways to escape. Just like in other species, many dogs also engage in behaviors such as excessive licking, spinning, tail chasing, hair pulling, nail biting or air biting. In the end, many behavior problems would be avoided by simply providing Bitsy and Rex with something to do. There are a number of toys on the market, from the squeaky ones to the chewy ones. But most of us have notices that it doesn’t take long for our pooches to ignore them. A recent study confirmed that dogs show a strong interest to new toys but after a short while, when the dog has become familiar with the toy’s smell, taste, sound and feel, they lose their appeal and the dogs quickly ignore them (Pullen & al., 2012). So how can we keep our dogs busy and happy? Here are a few suggestions:
Just as dogs can get tired of any particular toy, enrichment opportunities have to offer variety and constant challenge. Anything, no matter how fun, that is repeated over and over again can turn from fun to torture. So the trick here is to constantly look for new things to do, for new ways to challenge the dog, for games that get increasingly more difficult. Dogs are smart animals and just like people, they need activity and mental stimulation. Our only limit is our imagination… Jennifer Cattet Ph.D.
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