Problem solving is a new method for educating your dog by helping it resolve any relational or behavioural issues without stress. An expert explains it to us.
Play is one of the fundamental elements for the wellbeing and psychological health of our four-legged friends. It is precisely with this in mind that problem solving was developed — an innovative method capable of stimulating dogs' learning and intelligence. "The dog is an intelligent animal and always needs to use its mind and intellectual abilities," explains Eleonora Mentaschi, animal behaviourist. "We often focus on providing adequate physical activity, letting them run and burn off energy, but we forget to train their brain as well as their body. This is where mental activity — and therefore problem solving — comes to our aid, allowing us to resolve many problems."
Dogs have an enormous capacity to learn and to use information provided by their surrounding environment to their advantage. Helping your four-legged friend learn through play also means helping them prevent and tackle states of anxiety and both minor and major behavioural and relational issues with humans.
"Problem solving is intended first and foremost as a pedagogical approach designed to awaken, stimulate and support the cognitive abilities that every animal possesses from birth. It is a method and a discipline that is non-competitive and non-agonistic, suitable for dogs of every breed, type and age, and which can be perfectly integrated into educational and behaviour modification programmes, as well as into work in kennels," adds Mentaschi.
When mental activity — understood as a targeted programme designed for each individual dog — is offered using the correct methods by a qualified and competent person, it is capable of teaching dogs to reason and reflect when faced with the problems that arise in daily life. Furthermore, problem solving helps the dog build confidence in itself and in its own abilities, and satisfies a deep and genuine need of the animal.
"This activity is tiring up to ten times more than physical exercise and prevents behavioural problems, especially those linked to hypo-activity," Eleonora Mentaschi clarifies. Problem solving therefore represents a valuable support in resolving behavioural problems, alongside other methods and/or behavioural therapies, and constitutes a free and enjoyable activity that helps the animal work on calmness and self-control.
How are problem solving exercises carried out? It is an activity that actively engages the dog while giving it moments of joy and fun, free from stress or anxiety of any kind. "In practice, specially created and designed games are presented with small treats hidden inside them," says the behaviourist. "The animal will need to solve the puzzle — that is, find a way to solve the problem and thereby obtain the hidden food. Each game is different and is built to have specific characteristics: opening a drawer, pressing a lever, pulling a rope, moving a tile (the full range of games can be seen on the website www.smartdog.it). The dog can use its paws, its snout or its mouth. Above all, it will need to reason, think and concentrate in order to find the solution to the problem presented. It is a mental activity within the reach of every dog, whether a puppy, an adult or even a senior."
Every individual is different, which is why the expert and qualified trainer (the so-called "problem solving practitioner") selects, as learning progresses, the most suitable games. It is indeed very important to start with simple, dog-appropriate activities and to progress by following the dog's responses. "It is a bit like school, where you start at primary level and work your way up to secondary and so on. The choice of games is perhaps the most difficult aspect, requiring a great deal of experience, and for this reason it is best to rely on staff who are expert in the method," Eleonora Mentaschi clarifies. It is therefore a pedagogical approach that seeks to develop cognitive skills progressively. Learning through play and, above all, leaving stress and anxiety behind — things that we often pass on to our four-legged friend simply by being close to them — using problem solving will be an extraordinarily effective method for building a relationship and establishing a proper way of living between different species, in the name of empathy and fun.