Meeting the Enrichment Needs of a Reactive Shepherd

When you have a reactive dog, it’s important to provide lots of mental stimulation and enrichment in a safe and stress-free environment. That’s the case for Corey and his 3-year-old German Shepherd dog, Milo. As part of Milo’s overall enrichment program, he does nosework, plays fetch, and works on basic training. And because Corey is a self-professed “nerd” for enrichment toys and puzzle feeders, the PupPod and PetTutor Bundle are also part of Milo’s routine.

Especially when it’s cold and rainy outside, Milo has the option of getting physical exercise indoors by using his PupPod. With it set up either at the bottom of the steps like Ollie and his “Stairmaster” or even just across the room, Milo has to walk back and forth between the Pet Tutor feeder and the PupPod toy in order to earn his treats.

Unlike other puzzle toys, PupPod gets harder as dogs get smarter, offering new levels and challenges as dogs learn. Milo is currently at Level 4 where he is listening for his specific cue to touch the PupPod and ignoring all of the other sounds. This discrimination exercise takes a lot of mental focus and is a great way to tire out even the most active of dogs.

Although many people feed their pet’s meals with the PupPod, Corey opts to use food out of Milo’s daily training allowance and plays for as long as it takes Milo to consume one cup of kibble. He finds that not only can Milo get some extra exercise in by moving the PupPod farther away from the food, he also likes that it lengthens the training session.

For a dog who struggles with some reactivity, Milo has been able to get his daily training and enrichment regardless of the weather by playing indoors with his PupPod. Enjoy watching the video where you can see Milo learning to wait for his cue to touch the PupPod!