Research Report on Canine Environmental Enrichment

The study examines the deleterious impact of impoverished environments and the benefits of enriched environments for dogs in institutionalized settings as well as the benefits for working dogs and canine companions. Based on current human and non-human enrichment literature, research and practices, a canine sensory-enriched environment model illustrates the positive effects on dogs. Maintaining an enriched housing environment that provides a broad range of novel and complex sensory, sensory motor, and social experiences and provides opportunities for exploration, control and to express species-specific behaviors provides long-lasting positive physiological, psychological, and behavioral changes both in young and older dogs that have been living in a confined environment. The study concludes that a "free-roaming environment may be the most optimal environmental enrichment strategy and provides enriching and sensory stimulating elements that encourage dogs to interact with their environment in a natural way.