Uses for Free Work

I recently heard from a wonderful dog guardian who had found and watched my Free Work YouTube video. We got to talking and it turns out all three of their dogs had had a go, each with varying responses. I think it demonstrates the different uses for Free Work perfectly!

A dalmation dog using a blue, green and pink snuffle mat as part of a free work set up

What is Free Work?

A free work set up example with a snuffle mat, rotating food toy, box of ball pit balls, a flat dog bed and a box As a quick reminder, or an intro if you haven’t heard of Free Work before: Free Work is mentally stimulating and great for providing calm enrichment, stress-and-frustration-reduction and gently introducing novelty for building confidence.

Free Work for dogs involves setting out different types of dog-safe objects in an appropriate space. You can do this even in a small indoor space, or a larger area outside.

The objects must not be scary to the individual dog, as the idea is that the activity is calming, and a positive addition to their day. By encouraging sniffing and exploratory behaviour we can help to boost dogs’ moods, without getting them over-excited.

If you want to find out more, check out my original blog post and video here.

Back to Uses for Free Work

Free Work can help to:

Build confidence by encouraging positive exploration of objects and spaces.
Encourage calm as the dog works through the set up with their nose and eyes down and focusing on the task at hand.
Lower frustration by providing easily achievable rewards.
Promote independent activity.
Provide mental stimulation by introducing novelty to the environment and something to do.
Show signs of physical difficulty that may need further monitoring or investigation, and chance to observe body language in general.

Three dogs, same household, three different Free Work experiences!

Jillie the Border Collie

“Jillie, is a 5yo Border Collie who I’ve had since she was a puppy. She was a very reactive puppy who is now my most obedient dog and knows about 50 tricks and commands.

She was the one I expected to excel at this… but when I turned her loose on free work, I found that she was very unsure of herself and spent a lot of the time looking to me for direction and ended up only going after treats that were scattered on the floor and the elevated lick mat. Very interesting!”

Hudson the Rough Collie

“Hudson, is a 5yo rough collie who I’ve had since he was 6mos old and he is… interesting.

He’s scared of his own shadow, has some neurological deficits, and needs medication to function.

I didn’t give him anything overly difficult, but he spent a good 20 minutes going from station to station snuffling and digging and licking and making sure no treat was left behind.

I underestimated him.”

Cass the Dalmation

“Cass, is a 5yo Dalmatian who was just adopted a few weeks ago.

He’s now had a few rounds of free work, but I’ve seen a marked difference in his behavior in the week we’ve been doing this.

He’s more relaxed, more confident, and – most importantly – he’s voluntarily interacting with people in our house besides me… which has never happened before!”

Jillie

For dogs like Jillie who have done lots of training, they are used to working directly with someone who helps them to work out what to do.

When presented with an unfamiliar set up and no instructions it can be a bit confusing! So for Jillie free work will help her to work things out for herself.

This can help to build confidence in new situations. It can also help to teach more independent thinking and problem solving.

Hudson

Free work can be great at showing a dog’s strengths! For dogs who have experienced illness or injury, or perhaps are older, we can still give them challenges.

This helps to provide stimulation and ways of working things out without being too difficult.

Dogs of all ages and abilities can manage some form of Free Work and benefit from it. The desire to be capable never goes away 🙂 providing “wins” helps with resilience and a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Cass

The back of a dalmation's head from behind as he puts his nose into a box containing ball pit balls to search for the treats inside Dogs who have experienced stress and trauma may be shut down, and be pessimistic about potential outcomes. Free Work allows them time to explore something at their own pace, something that they can easily succeed at. It’s an easy win. It introduces novelty in an easy to manage and process way.

It’s amazing what an impact it can have on fearful and shut down dogs. Even without directly addressing specific issues, enrichment activities like Free Work can create powerful, positive change. This then spreads into other areas of our dog’s lives.

It is so heartwarming to know that within just a few sessions this activity was an important part of Cass’ journey towards feeling more comfortable in his new world!

And now even more dogs are going to benefit!

If even one dog benefits from their guardian watching my Free Work video I’m so happy! So to have three dogs under one roof all benefiting is great!

But it doesn’t stop their because Jillie, Hudson and Cass’ guardian now has a fantastic new position at a shelter organisation dedicated to behaviour and training. Just imagine how many dogs they are going to help passing this on to the dogs coming through their care and to their new owners. Absolutely amazing!