How do you keep a dog or cat busy with things already in the house?

Enrichment means giving a pet things to do that it would do anyway if it could: sniff, chase, chew, dig, hunt for food and explore. Most of it needs nothing you have to buy.

Environmental enrichment: the addition of one or more external factors in order to reduce the frequency of abnormal or unwanted behaviors while increasing the frequency of normal, desired behaviors.2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines

The key to a happy and healthy dog is regular enrichment and allowing them to engage in their innate behaviors, such as playing, chasing, smelling, chewing and scavenging.ASPCA, Canine DIY enrichment

For dogs

Let the nose work

A dog's nose is the part of it most people leave unused. In a 2019 study, dogs did two weeks of nosework, searching for hidden food, while a comparison group practiced heeling. Afterwards the researchers tested how quickly each dog walked to a bowl in a place where it could not be sure there was food, a common way to measure how optimistic an animal is.

Results show that the latency to approach the ambiguous stimulus declined significantly after treatment in the experimental group, whereas the latency did not change for dogs in the control group.Duranton and Horowitz, Applied Animal Behavior Science, 2019

In plain words, the dogs that sniffed became quicker to expect something good. The heeling dogs did not change.

On walks, allow your dog plenty of opportunity and time to sniff.Dogs Trust, Enrichment activities to keep your dog entertained

If you're not feeling crafty, simply scatter food either inside or in the garden and let your dog hunt for it.Dogs Trust, Enrichment activities to keep your dog entertained

The muffin tin game

Put treats in some of the cups of a muffin tin and cover every cup with a tennis ball, so the dog has to move the balls to find which cups hold food.

Sit a tennis ball on top of every compartment so that the treats are covered.Dogs Trust, How to make a DIY dig box for dogs

The ASPCA's version is the same idea with toys placed on top of the dog's kibble.

A food toy instead of pacing

…if a dog that paces when left alone is provided with a food toy, the dog will work with the toy rather than pace.2015 AAHA Canine and Feline Behavior Management Guidelines

Teaching tricks counts as well. Dogs Trust's advice is to teach new ones with rewards, and to rotate the toys each week so the old ones feel new again.

Rotate your dog's toys weekly.Dogs Trust, Enrichment activities to keep your dog entertained

Slow feeder bowls

The only study we found is a small one, on 10 dogs. The bowls did slow the dogs down. The authors also noted what they could not show.

…we found no evidence that dogs wanted to have their rate of eating slowed downBuckley and Lees, Go slow feeding bowls: how effective are they at getting dogs to eat more slowly?, Veterinary Evidence, 2016 (CC BY 4.0)

For cats

The feline veterinary guidelines do not use the word enrichment at all. They list what every cat needs from its home instead, in five points.

The five things every cat needs

A safe place.
Several separate places for the key things: food, water, the litter box, scratching, play and rest.
A chance to play and to hunt.
People who are friendly, consistent and predictable.
A home that respects the cat's sense of smell.

Provide opportunity for play and predatory behaviorAAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

A safe place and a view

For a cat, a safe place is a private and secure area, often in a raised location.AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

A cardboard box placed on its side, to allow easy access and a roof, provides a safe place from a perceived threat.AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

Indoor resting areas, such as a perch or secluded surface, should include a location that allows the cat visibility of the outdoors.AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

Something to scratch

…sturdy enough that it does not topple over during use, and should be at least as tall as your cat standing on her hind legsCornell Feline Health Center, Feline behavior problems: destructive behavior

Where to put it, and how to move scratching off the sofa, is on the scratching page.

Play that ends in a catch

Let the cat catch the toy on the end of the rod or wand to simulate a capture.AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

Very short games of one to two minutes are fine.Cats Protection, Cats and play

Play also changes what a cat brings home. In a 12-week trial in 219 English households with 355 cats, owners who played with their cats for five to ten minutes a day, with a wand and a toy mouse, saw a quarter fewer prey brought home. A food with more meat in it cut the number by about a third.

Households where a high meat protein, grain-free food was provided, and households where 5–10 min of daily object play was introduced, recorded decreases of 36% and 25%, respectivelyCecchetti and others, Current Biology, 2021

One result went the other way: in the same trial, the households given puzzle feeders recorded more prey, not less. The authors suggested the novelty of the feeder, too little training for the owners and cats, or hunger and frustration when a cat could not easily get the food out.

Food puzzles from the recycling

Homemade puzzles for dry food can be made easily by cutting holes in containers such as yogurt pots, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, margarine tubs or water bottles.Dantas and others, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2016

Initially, obtaining food from the puzzle needs to be as easy as obtaining food from the food bowl.Dantas and others, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2016

The same veterinarians describe what they saw in cats in their own practice. These are their observations, not a controlled trial.

Benefits we have observed include weight loss, decreased aggression toward humans and other cats, reduced anxiety and fear, cessation of attention-seeking behaviors and resolution of litter box avoidance.Dantas and others, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2016

…paper bags, cardboard boxes, and ping pong balls can be tremendously entertaining for catsCornell Feline Health Center, Safe toys and gifts

Use the cat's toys on a rotating basis to prevent habituation and boredom.AAFP and ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines, 2013

Keep home-made enrichment safe

Stay with the dog while it works on a home-made food game.
Use nothing toxic, nothing small enough to swallow, and nothing that can break into pieces.
Take the treats out of the day's food, so the games do not add weight.
Do not give cats string, ribbon, wool or pipe cleaners to play with, and put wand toys away after the game.
Skip hard chews such as bones, antlers and hard nylon. Veterinary dental advice is to avoid them because they break teeth.

…ensure any enrichment is safe and suitable (non-toxic and appropriately sized. Plus, no foreign body hazards which could result in trauma to the mouth, throat or gastrointestinal tract)Dogs Trust, Enrichment activities to keep your dog entertained

Make sure you put this toy out of reach when you are not playing with your catInternational Cat Care, Playing with your cat, updated September 2025

Which toys can be left with a dog or a cat, and the signs that something has been swallowed, are on the toy safety page.

Sources

Sources read 23 September 2026. Quotes are copied word for word from each source.