Spaniel Enrichment

About 5 years ago, we were lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes tour at the LA Zoo. The highlight was a visit with JonBoy, who was a really fascinating character...his job was Animal Enrichment.

Apparently when you put animals in captivity, they get, well, "bored" is the best way to say it. Daily life has a lot of variation, and predators especially aren't so happy to get a bucket of food every day. They need more of a challenge.

So that day in 2004, we learned about all these wonderful devices that people make to keep animals engaged or "enriched". It's almost like a toy shop, little containers that must be shaken, bitten, or reached into for a treat.

Taking a cue from all that, we put some chicken treats in an empty paper towel roll and closed up the ends. Maggie spent nearly a half hour getting the treats out.




Thank you, JonBoy.