Scented Toys as Enrichment: Exploring the Duration of Engagement with Scented Toys in Shelter Dogs

Millions of dogs enter shelters every year. Dogs being housed in shelters encounter a variety of stressors which may negatively impact their welfare. Many shelters use different forms of enrichment in an effort to mitigate the stress experienced by kennelled dogs and to improve their welfare. This study explored using scented toys as enrichment by utilizing a free operant preference assessment to investigate shelter dogs preferences of four different toys and four different scents by recording duration of engagement with each item. The preferred scent was then combined with the preferred toy and least preferred toy. The current study found that dogs spent significantly more time engaging with a plush dog toy than the other offered toys. There was no significant difference found between the duration of engagement with the different scents. Dogs spent significantly more time engaging with a scented preferred and least preferred toy than an unscented preferred and least preferred toy, indicating that adding a preferred scent to a toy may make the toy more salient to the dog and a more effective enrichment item.