Puppy Support Kit: Puppy Enrichment & Training

Supporting calm, confidence, and real-life skills from the very beginning

Bringing a puppy home comes with a lot of advice, a lot of opinions, and often a lot of pressure. Enrichment and training can quickly start to feel like things you need to get “right”, rather than tools that are there to support you and your puppy.

This guide is designed to remove that pressure.

It isn’t about filling your puppy’s day, training constantly, or keeping up with what you see online. It’s about offering thoughtful enrichment, using training treats effectively, and focusing on the skills that actually matter as your puppy grows.

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What Enrichment Is Really For

Enrichment isn’t about entertainment. It’s about giving your puppy appropriate outlets for natural behaviours like sniffing, chewing, problem solving, and exploring.

Good enrichment helps puppies:

• Use their brains in natural ways

• Release stress and frustration

• Feel mentally satisfied

• Settle more easily afterwards

  
  

Not every activity suits every puppy, and not every day needs the same approach. Enrichment works best when you treat it as a menu of options rather than a checklist.

Some activities you’ll do together. Some you can set up and step away from. All of them have value.

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Enrichment Activities to Choose From

Find It Games

Scent work and problem solving

This is an active thinking game that encourages your puppy to use their nose and work things out independently.

How to do it:

1. Choose a safe room or enclosed space.

2. While your puppy is out of the area, hide a few small treats:

   • behind furniture legs

   • under the edge of a blanket

   • tucked into corners or low shelves

3. Bring your puppy in, say “find it”, and step back.

4. Let them search without helping.

This can be a short activity or something you leave them to work through while you do other things.

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Licking Enrichment

Calming and soothing

Licking is naturally regulating for dogs and can be very helpful for puppies who struggle to switch off.

How to do it:

1. Use a lick mat, shallow bowl, or silicone surface.

2. Spread a thin layer of a puppy-safe option such as plain natural yoghurt, mashed pumpkin, or soaked kibble.

3. Place it in a quiet space and allow your puppy to lick at their own pace.

Once set up, this is an activity your puppy can focus on independently.

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Snuffle Towels and DIY Sniff Games

Gentle mental stimulation

This is a slower, calmer form of problem solving.

How to do it:

1. Lay a towel flat.

2. Sprinkle a few small treats across it.

3. Roll or fold the towel loosely.

4. For confident puppies, tie one loose knot.

5. Place it down and allow your puppy to investigate.

Always supervise initially to make sure your puppy isn’t eating fabric, and adjust difficulty if needed.

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Natural Chewing

Satisfaction, regulation, and appropriate outlets

Chewing is one of the most valuable forms of enrichment for puppies.

How to use chews:

1. Offer a single natural chew during a calm moment.

2. Place it in a comfortable, safe area.

3. Allow uninterrupted chewing.

4. Remove any small leftover pieces once finished if needed.

Chews from the Puppy Support Kit, such as rabbit ears, beef intestine, and similar items, are ideal for this. Rabbit ears with fur also provide natural fibre and are traditionally used as a natural dewormer, as the fur supports the body in clearing unwanted parasites.

This is a great option when your puppy needs to settle and you need to get on with other things.

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Sniffy Walks and Decompression Time

Low-pressure enrichment you do together

Not all enrichment happens indoors or with food.

Sniffy walks are about letting your puppy experience the world through their nose, rather than focusing on distance or speed.

How to do it properly:

• Choose a safe environment such as a quiet street, field, or enclosed green space.

• Use a loose lead.

• Let your puppy choose where to sniff.

• Follow them where it’s safe to do so.

• Avoid rushing or constantly calling them on.

This type of walk is mentally tiring in a healthy way and can be especially helpful for puppies who seem restless or overstimulated.

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Training: Building Skills That Actually Matter

Training isn’t about getting your puppy to perform on cue. It’s about helping them understand the world, feel safe in it, and learn how to make good choices as they grow.

Progress is rarely linear. Some days things will click, and other days it will feel like nothing sticks. That’s normal. Puppies are learning all the time, even when it doesn’t look like it.

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How Puppies Learn

Puppies learn through:

• Timing: what happens immediately after a behaviour

• Frequency: how often a behaviour is reinforced

• Emotional state: how calm or overwhelmed they feel

A calm puppy learns far more easily than an overstimulated one. This is why enrichment, rest, and short training sessions matter so much.

If a behaviour works at home but falls apart elsewhere, your puppy isn’t being stubborn. They’re still learning.

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Using Treats Effectively in Training

It’s not about treat size. It’s about how you use them.

What matters most is:

• Frequency: rewarding often when your puppy is learning

• Timing: delivering the reward immediately

• Delivery: calm, quiet, and consistent

Treats should be small. Tiny rewards given at the right moment are far more effective than large treats given late.

Training sessions should be short. One to three minutes is plenty. Multiple short sessions are far more productive than one long one.

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What Training Should Focus On First

Tricks can be fun, and there’s nothing wrong with teaching them if you enjoy it. But they are not essential.

The most important part of training is life skills.

Focus on helping your puppy learn:

• How to relax and do nothing

• How to cope with everyday environments

• How to focus on you calmly

• How to be handled comfortably

• How to recover from excitement or frustration

A puppy who feels secure and can settle will grow into a far more stable adult dog than one who simply knows lots of tricks.

If your puppy never learns to roll over, that’s okay. If they learn how to feel safe in the world, that’s everything.

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A Final Reassurance

You don’t need a perfect routine. You don’t need to train constantly. You don’t need to keep up with what you see online.

Some days you’ll use independent enrichment. Some days you’ll do things together. Some days you’ll do very little, and that’s fine too.

By offering thoughtful enrichment and focusing training on real-life skills, you are giving your puppy exactly what they need to grow into a confident, balanced adult dog.