Thank you for what you do for these pups. It’s so sad that we have way more dogs than homes everywhere 😞 I volunteer at a local shelter here in my county and we’re trying different enrichment ideas for our longterm dogs who are getting stressed out.
Hi Heidi! I'm a big fam of licky mats for any type of positive distraction such as use for independent time to help build confidence being separated (and prevent separation related problems), I like them for giving baths to dogs, nail trimming, basically anytime a positive distraction is helpful. With separation anxiety, depending on what you put in the licky mat, it may suffice such as smearing salmon baby food over it and freezing it, or even canned dog food and freezing. I do find that other enrichment pieces often last a bit longer but honestly, I get the most results from changing it up between enrichment pieces such as licky mats, frozen Kongs (like the one in this video), puzzle toys, and so on. Here are some enrichment pieces that I like to use: amzn.to/3JOEd9z and these are the licky mats I generally buy, however, there are a lot of good options out there to pick from! amzn.to/34xWlV9 Hope that helps! 😊
