Successful canine care includes sensory enrichment that complements physical activity and cognitive enrichment. Sensory enrichment should enable dogs to use taste, touch, smell, sound, and sight, often combining them into salient composite signals. Enrichment should respect dogs' perspectives, choices, and agency, and prioritize emotional safety and consent. Choice-led sensory experiences allow dogs to gather information about their environment and make voluntary decisions without expectation or instruction. Observational sessions demonstrate that stepping back and permitting exploration deepens the human-dog bond and more effectively meets dogs' needs. Practical implementation involves creating opportunities for unpressured exploration rather than adding structured activities or training.
Dale McLelland: I wrote Engage the Senses because I wanted to offer dog guardians, and anyone who works with dogs, a different way of seeing enrichment-not as adding more "activities" or training, but as creating opportunities for dogs to engage in choice-led experiences that allow them to use their extraordinary senses to gather information about their world. Dogs live through their senses, and yet many of our approaches to enrichment or training overlook that.
This book grew out of the experiences and observations of the in-person sessions I developed and ran locally. Watching dogs in those sessions showed me how powerful it can be when we step back and allow them to explore without expectation or instruction. I wanted to help people notice and nurture those sensory experiences, so they can better meet their dog's needs and deepen their bond in every
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