Zarabull & Co

But what is “enrichment” exactly?

Canine enrichment refers to a range of activities designed to challenge and exercise your dog’s brain, therefore improving or enhancing their mental state. These games or activities encourage them to problem solve, learn new skills & build confidence with rewards for their efforts.

Examples of these activities may include work-to-eat toys, varied difficulty levels of slow feeder bowls,  hide-n-seek games, puzzles, or foraging for their food with snuffle mats / forge boxes, scent work or freedom for discovery during a walk, along with focused interactive play with your dog. Every dog is different and some may need a variety of activities to keep them engaged. Whatever method you decide to make sure the task/goal is attainable & build on the difficulty over time so your dog doesn’t get discouraged.

The rewards used can be offered in the form of high value treats, a special toy, or simply extra praise / belly rubs. When training it’s like using the  “release” command from their working state to go play and have fun (maybe chase their fav. ball)  In our case we try to make the work-to-eat side of things fun for you and your dog. We believe a  mentally enriched dog is a happy one! 

Knowing what a product is made of is important, especially when its something that will be in your dogs mouth or being licked by them.

We use NATURAL rubber - it may also be called “India Rubber’. That means our rubber sap (latex) is extracted from an actual rubber tree (think of it like maple syrup tapping in a way) Natural rubber is durable, highly elastic and flexible. It is also obtained from a renewable resource. Natural rubber can be dried out in excessive heat or degraded by prolonged sun exposure, so colour changes may be seen over time when products are left outside or cleaned in the dishwasher (due to the high heat dry cycle) This is considered “normal” due to the properties of the rubber.

We do not use the max shore value of rubber to ensure there is given/compression allowance in the rubber as it will meet your dogs teeth. We do not wish to compromise their oral health by using something that is too tough.

It is important to note; There is a difference from NATURAL Rubber and “Synthetic Rubber” or “Rubber Blend”.  These alternate rubber materials are derived from petroleum by-products. When you go to make a purchase, read the label. Consider; material its made of and feel the quality of it. Note where it is made (not to say quality products aren’t coming out of other countries) our standards and requirements may be different than other manufacturing locations.