March 27th, 2023 by Sarah Miles

Most dogs love being outdoors, often regardless of weather conditions, and our gardens can offer much greater value than simply providing a location for toileting. Enrichment activities that stimulate our dogs’ brains are just as important as taking them out for walks as occupying their minds and engaging them in challenges will not only help their development but minimise undesirable behaviours such as destructiveness or reactivity.

Our gardens, therefore, present an excellent opportunity to create a fun space for our dogs that can boost their well-being, development, and fulfilment.

Here are a few ideas that you could implement to make your garden a stimulating and happy place for your beloved pet(s):

Create an agility course

Your dog doesn’t need to be at Crufts level to enjoy some agility activities and you don’t need specialist equipment either. Objects placed at different heights, tunnels made of cardboard boxes or children’s play equipment, or planks balanced at a low height can all create areas for climbing, traversing, and navigating as well as interacting with you as you guide them around.

Exciting scents

We all know that a dog’s sense of smell is much stronger than ours, but do you appreciate how much stronger? While we have around 6 million olfactory receptors in our noses, dogs have up to 300 million, depending on breed. In fact, it’s a major factor in how they make sense of the world. Providing really interesting scents in the garden, it will really engage their brain and keep them occupied for long periods of time. While we’re not suggesting you include the kinds of fragrances that dogs love and we find repulsive (we’re sure you know the ones!), you can do things like include plants with different scent properties such as lavender or rosemary, which are soothing, or mint or lemon balm, which is energising.

Areas for sanctioned digging

Digging is a very instinctive behaviour for dogs. They use it for soothing themselves, burying precious objects, staying cool, and just for fun. Allowing them the fulfilment of digging without sacrificing your beautiful, planted borders or containers is really the aim of the game here and you can do that by creating a designated digging area.

Site it away from your flower beds in a container or a pit and fill it with either soil or dog-safe sand. Show them that it’s ok for them to dig here by burying treats or toys in it and making a game of it. A good location could be on a hard surface where it’s easier to sweep up and replace the scattered contents!

Water play

Many dogs love water and it’s a really useful tool for helping dogs stay cool in the summer. Create some water play options with a doggy paddling pool or a water fountain that they can play in. They may also love you to join in their adventures with water equipment that you can spray and they can chase.

Calm zone

Great outdoor space isn’t just about fun and stimulation, it can also be a really useful location for encouraging calm behaviour and setting boundaries. A calm zone could be a shaded area with an outdoor dog bed or even a structure they can retire to when they want some quiet time, such as a sun tent or dog kennel. Perhaps reinforce the purpose of the space by giving them a lick mat or an icy dog treat when it’s warm.

Some things to bear in mind

Some functional notes to remember are that you should ensure that your garden remains safe for them, so that means it’s secure and they can’t get out (be particularly vigilant that you don’t place agility equipment at heights that make it easier to jump over fences). You should also supervise them when playing on the equipment, in water, or digging. Finally, if your dog is an ‘eat anything’ kind of hound, make sure you don’t have any plants that could be toxic to them such as daffodils, chrysanthemums, or hydrangea.