Understanding the PIE Worksheet
Experience has taught us that dogs do have emotions. Without speaking, dogs easily communicate with us when they are happy, sad, stressed or in pain. Decades of experience has taught us that a dog’s life is most fulfilled when we work to ENRICH it.
To ENRICH a dog’s life means to give the dog greater value or meaning by giving them activities and attention resulting in a greater physical and mental well-being.
Luckily, there are more options available today than any time in history. At Petropolis, we understand that ENRICHING a dog’s life requires our effort in 3 different areas:
- Physical activity.
- Interaction with other animals/humans
- Engaging stimuli through toys, mind games and treats
Every dog is different. Factors that influence how much ENRICHMENT a dog requires include
- The dog breed
- A dog’s age
- The physical condition of the dog
- The degree a dog has been socialized
- Each dog’s unique personality
Since dogs communicate differently than humans it is typical that we not clearly understand the clues expressed by our dogs that identify stress. A highly stressed dog may not only be unhappy, but can often have severe emotional issues that lead to behavioral problems, illness and even damage to people and their property.
At Petropolis, we have developed a system to assist you in creating adequate ENRICHMENT for your best friend. This tool is meant to be an average and only a starting point. We refer to our system using the acronym “PIE”.
| P hysical Activity I nteraction with other animals/humans E ngaging stimuli through toys, mind games and treats |
How much PIE does your dog get?
Based upon PIE we recommend the average dog receive at least 10 points of Physical Activity and 10 points of combined Interaction and Engaging stimuli daily.
So thirty minutes of play with a toy rated: 3,2,1 would equal: 6 points Physical and 6 points
Interacting and Engaging.
That is 6 out of the 10
recommended points of
total PIE for the day, just
playing fetch!
Bob-A-Lot: 1,0,3
Plush Toy: 1,0,1
Ball: 3,2,1
Equals: 5, 2, 4
Totaling 10 points P and 12 points I/E
PIE FOR THE DAY!
