A dog owner has been praised for sharing quick and easy tricks to keep your pets busy for hours - and they only cost a couple of pence.
On TikTok, user Golden Pop Mika revealed three 'dog enrichment' hacks for 'lazy owners', starting with the paper towel roll trick. For this, they simply wait until their kitchen roll is empty, put some treats inside the tube, and close each end by squishing the sides together. They then give the paper towel roll to their pet to try to crack open, with many owners believing it works just as well as a store-bought enrichment toy.
Moving onto the next trick, the owner simply scatters treats into a long patch of grass and leaves their dog to sniff through the patch until all treats have been found. Finally, the owner puts their dog's food into their usual bowl, adds water until it is completely submerged, and freezes the entire thing.
They then present this to their dog who will spend hours licking at the frozen treat until it's all gone. In the caption, they said: "Benefits. Paper towel rolls can build confidence in novel objects, and improve problem-solving skills. Grass snuffling fulfils a dog’s natural foraging instinct.
"Frozen licking bowl keeps dogs calm and cool, especially in summer. Please supervise your dog during the activity." Commenting on her video, one user said: "I work at an animal shelter and the paper towel rolls is a pup favourite, we'll cut a paper bag in half and wrap the roll in that to make it more challenging." Another user added: "Love cheap, easy enrichment options."
A third user said: "The paper towel roll is my dog's favourite little treat." However, others claim their dogs are too boisterous for these hacks, with one adding: "My dogs would be so upset if I froze their food and they'd eat the roll thinking it's included with the treats." Another user said: "I know this is good for them but I feel bad to see them struggle and I just end up giving them the treats. I know that's bad."