How I Prep My Dogs for Busy Weeks

This year I went on vacation without my dogs for the first time in a long time, and the trip planning was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out how to keep two very different, very active dogs happy and mentally settled when their routine was suddenly off the table.

We usually walk 3 to 5 miles each morning plus tons of backyard time. That wasn't happening with a dog sitter. We agreed on short 20-minute walks in the early mornings, enough to get out of the house but nothing close to their usual. I needed a plan to make up the difference, or I was coming home to mutiny.

Arya, my 10-year-old pit bull mix, does best with consistency. She's dealt with some reactivity in the past, so I also wanted to minimize the chances of anything going sideways on a walk with someone she doesn't know as well. And Floki, my 120-pound Anatolian Shepherd, is a working breed through and through. A bored Floki is a creative Floki. He will FIND something to do with his brain, he once rearranged an entire flower bed because I was on a long call.

Mental Work Is Real Work

I come back to enrichment constantly, not just for vacations. Holidays when the house is chaotic. Weeks where work is slammed and I can't get out for a real hike. Post-surgery crate rest (Arya and I have been through that one a few times). Any time physical activity drops, enrichment picks up the slack.

A 20-minute puzzle session can leave a dog as satisfied and ready to nap as a long walk, because their brain is WORKING. Problem-solving, using their nose, staying focused. All of that burns real energy.

If you want the why here, the short version is that sniffing and licking activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the "rest and digest" side. Licking in particular promotes the release of endorphins, which is part of why lick mats are so effective at settling dogs down. And sniffing engages a huge portion of a dog's brain. It's genuinely cognitively demanding for them in a way that's hard for us to appreciate, since our noses are, comparatively, totally useless. Pairing these activities with calming support like CBD can make the wind-down even more effective, because you're supporting relaxation from multiple angles at once.

My Vacation Prep Plan

I went out and stocked up on Arya and Floki's favorite lickable foods: kefir, bone broth, and green tripe. Grabbed a few extra lick mats and West Paw Toppl toys so I'd have plenty to rotate through the week.

Then I spent an afternoon assembling everything. Filled the Toppls and lick mats with layers of the good stuff, added some No More Wiggles oil to the mix for a little extra calming support, and popped them all into the freezer. Freezing is key. It turns a 5-minute snack into a 20 to 30-minute project, because they have to work to get everything out as it thaws. That's 20 to 30 minutes of focused licking, problem-solving, and settling, which for a dog on limited walks is gold.

I prepped enough for the whole week so the dog sitter didn't have to think about it. Just grab one from the freezer, let it sit for a couple minutes, and hand it over. Easy.

The first photo I got was both dogs sprawled on the floor, totally absorbed in their Toppls. I could physically feel my shoulders drop. They were fine. Better than fine, they were entertained, working, and happy.

You Don't Need a Vacation as an Excuse

This works for any situation where your dog's normal activity takes a hit. Post-surgery recovery. A packed holiday schedule. Bad weather. A week where you're just running on fumes and the long morning walk isn't happening.

A few things that work well beyond the frozen Toppls: snuffle mats and scatter feeding turn mealtime into a nose-work session if you feed dry or freeze dried. Puzzle toys with varying difficulty levels keep problem-solvers like Floki engaged (start easy and work up, you want them to succeed, not get frustrated). Even hiding a few high-value chews around the house gives them a job to do.

For dogs who tend to get stressed when routine changes, pairing enrichment with calming support can make a big difference. Arya gets No More Wiggles as part of her daily routine, and I always make sure whoever is watching her keeps that consistent. The CBD and CBDa work alongside calming botanicals like valerian root and passionflower to may help support multiple relaxation pathways, and the enrichment gives her brain something productive to focus on instead of pacing or worrying. That combination of calming support plus mental engagement plus routine is what helped us work through her reactivity in the first place.

It Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

I think people hear "enrichment" and picture elaborate setups or expensive gadgets. It can be a muffin tin with tennis balls hiding treats underneath. A towel rolled up with kibble inside. Bone broth frozen in a bowl. All of it counts, and all of it gives your dog's brain something to do when their body can't do as much.

My dogs came out of that week totally fine. Settled, happy, not a single piece of furniture destroyed. And I came home relaxed instead of guilty, which is honestly the whole point of a vacation.

- Lilly

Hey there, I'm Lilly!

Lilly is the Director of Education and a member of the innovation team at Austin & Kat. With a background in biology and a decade spent formulating supplements and raw diets for the dogs in her life, she's on a mission to make natural pet care less confusing for everyone. Lilly shares her Gig Harbor home with Arya, a 10-year-old pit bull mix and three-time cancer survivor, and Floki, a 120-lb Anatolian Shepherd who thinks he's a lap dog.

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