Canine Enrichment Coach & Animal Enrichment Educator
ELLIOTT RODGERS
With over 15 years of hands-on experience, I've dedicated my career to using Enrichment to enhance the lives of dogs and their human companions.
Early Dog Work
My journey in professional animal care began over 15 years ago, when I left a degree in Landscape Design to start work as a Dog and Horse Care Assistant at a local boarding and training facility.
In these early years I worked under a professional dog trainer; learning to handle, train and provide care for small groups of pets and working dogs, within large, open grounds.
When the business closed, I seized the opportunity to start my own venture…
Hunger Hill Dogs // Canine Enrichment Program
In 2014 I acquired Hunger Hill Farm; a derelict farmhouse with 3 acres of land in Telford, Shropshire. Joined by my partner Jemma, we renovated the house and transformed the property into a unique, live-in dog park and Canine Enrichment facility.
At the beginning of this journey, a beautiful rescue hound named Lottie found her way in to my life. Together, we settled in to the property and opened for business as ‘Hunger Hill Dogs’…
Hunger Hill Dogs was a small dog care business, initially offering personalised daycare and boarding services to a small community of local dogs. Over time, the business became known for the unique Canine Enrichment Program that we had developed.
The Canine Enrichment Program was a unique-concept lifestyle service; offering long-term, high-quality enrichment, delivered by professional dog handlers in a purpose-built, 2-acre naturalistic habitat:
Each day, a group of 7 dogs engaged in a full routine of outdoor recreation, training, and social activities, all grounded in a comprehensive behavioural husbandry and enrichment framework. The service included parent education opportunities and extended services like overnight boarding, one-off events and holiday care; all operating on an exclusive members-only basis. We were also assisted by 2 free-roaming peacocks who routinely joined in with the program.
Dogs (and humans) that attended the Enrichment Program experienced a wide range of significant positive health, social and behaviour effects. The service was locally-renowned and garnered only 5-star reviews from users, along with the highest achievable rating within the newly-adapted UK licensing system. It was a unique offering that touched the lives of hundreds of local dogs.
Learn more about Hunger Hill Dogs and the Canine Enrichment Program …>
Enrichment Education
The commitment to providing the best service for our dogs at Hunger Hill is what initially led me to discover Animal Enrichment. During the early years of developing the Canine Enrichment Program, ca. 2016, Enrichment was still just an emerging concept; being popularised at some of the world's leading animal care facilities. During these early years, I immersed myself in learning about Enrichment and animal behaviour; incorporating these insights into our services.
During my time running the program at Hunger Hill, I was fortunate to receive mentorship from a world-leading Canine Behaviour & Animal Enrichment specialist; receiving a bespoke education in dog care, animal behaviour, enrichment and business development, as well as travelling internationally to visit care facilities and experience hands-on learning.
This set of experiences enriched my own life in a unique way and, after realising I had actually been the subject of Enrichment myself, I had my eyes opened to the powerful concept and potential of Enrichment for Humans.
All of this experience was further incorporated into the Canine Enrichment Program, ultimately culminating in the creation of the 9 Aspects of Canine Enrichment framework. This was the first deliberately-created Enrichment Framework for dogs in the UK, and is the most comprehensive Enrichment Framework for dogs, or any other animal, available.
The Life and Death of a Dog
In 2021 we wound-down the Enrichment Program and moved on from Hunger Hill. The freedom I was afforded after selling the property allowed me to commit to focusing on practicing Enrichment together with my Longdog Lottie…
Lottie had been the centrepiece of the Enrichment Program - it was ultimately her verdict that determined whether or not we took on a new dog, the house was designed largely around her needs, she was the leader of every group, I used her for demonstrations, she interfaced with customers, and she was even the logo and part of the business’ branding and advertising. Over the years, Lottie had a direct, positive impact on the lives on hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs and humans.
Despite all of this, she was was always forced to blend into a larger group of dogs, her time outside of Hunger Hill was limited and she had a pre-existing leg condition that required more specific care as she aged
In the months that followed, we moved into a pretty ‘normal’, new-build house on a housing estate in Telford. For a year here, we learned how to integrate everything we had learned from Hunger Hill; discovering what it takes to provide a dog with a rich, fulfilling life in a more limiting, domestic environment.
During this period, Lottie and I travelled to and visited more new places than we did during the entire previous 5 years combined.
It was also during this time that I began work on my next venture - an agricultural regeneration project on a disused fishery in the Shropshire Hills. In 2022, Lottie, Jemma and I moved to the Hills along the Welsh border; first living for a few months in a caravan, before finding a more permanent living situation.
My time in the Hills with Lottie has contextualised everything I have learned from this journey so far. We have been surrounded by open valleys, rocky hilltops, ancient woodland and a vast, beautiful nature that we have explored endlessly. The freedom, space and time that we have found together here has allowed us to truly feel what Enrichment is. For the short time that we spent here together, I was able to focus 100% of my energy on to just fully experiencing life with this dog, supported by an amazing partner, surrounded by nature; with nothing else in the way.
It was with an unimaginable sadness that we had to say goodbye to Lottie in the summer of 2024. Her passing, the people I met and the experiences I had throughout this time have been perspective-changing for me; only opening my eyes to the potential of Enrichment even further.
As a result of reflecting on Lottie’s life, I came to realise that she had been the guiding force behind my entire journey into Enrichment so far - introducing me to it, motivating me to learn, helping me do it with dogs, always showing me the path forward and ultimately being the vector through which I was able to learn more and practice it on myself. When we stepped away from Hunger Hill, she only led us further into our journey.
The passing of this dog threw my entire world in to the air - I fundamentally questioned what reality was without her. The process of grieving this animal has been a profound, psychedelic and spiritual awakening experience for me.
My time with Lottie was beautiful and unique, and the impact she made with her life as a dog goes beyond what most humans achieve. Now, it is what inspires me to teach others what she taught me, so that they might achieve a similar richness of life alongside their own dog(s) and feel for themselves what true Enrichment is.
Enrichment Coach & Educator
Throughout my dog care career, I've worked with hundreds of dogs and their humans in diverse contexts - With experience in the roles of walker, trainer, home-boarder, behaviourist, private handler, educator, daycare group leader, dog care business owner and fully-committed pet owner.
I've accumulated tens of thousands of hours of hands-on experience in creating and delivering unique enrichment for dogs. My dedication to personal education in the field of Enrichment has been substantial, both in time and financial investment.
As a result of coming to understand Enrichment in such a fundamental way, as well as seeing such positive results for the participants of the Canine Enrichment Program, and myself, I realised the wide-reaching and massive implications of what can be achieved through Enrichment.
For the past 5-10 years, I also applied these same Enrichment concepts to my own life, Lottie and the people around me; profoundly enriching our health, relationships, careers and personal lives. For me, Enrichment has carved a path through space and time that seems almost magical.
Now, as an Enrichment Educator, I help dog caregivers, animal care providers and professionals of all kinds understand how to use Enrichment to improve health, happiness, value, creativity and impact.
Enrichment for Humans
Enrichment for me is no longer just an animal care practice - it has become a lens through which I understand the world, it’s mechanics and my place within it. Enrichment does not just provide the most effective framework to improve an individuals health and quality of life (as if that wasn’t enough); it fundamentally explores what it means to be alive and human, with multi-scale potential far beyond it’s current implementation in animal care:
At the micro-scale, Enrichment can create value and meaning in the life of any individual being; it can enhance quality of life, improve health, happiness, sociability, motivation, creativity, impact and so much more.
It has potential to be implemented at every layer of society in an almost infinitely-broad number of ways.At the macro-scale, Enrichment is how I believe we create the best possible world for ourselves and all living things. It creates pathways for large-scale positive behaviour change, nature regeneration, culture development, new social structures and updated systems of holistic living.
More Dog Than Human
Outside of a professional context, dogs have always played an important role in my life. Throughout every period of major change, growth and development since childhood, a dog has been there; acting as a guide for that stage of my journey.
A dog has been the driving force behind every major decision in my adult life that has led me to where I am today… And it seems to have worked out pretty well!
In my mind, these animals are much more than pets or even companions; they are guides that understand something about this world that we do not. They are spirits that enter into our experience of reality when they have something to share with us. When we are able to listen to them and follow them, they can show us things about ourselves and this life that we could not see without them.
If you think I could add value to the life you share with your dog, or my story resonates with you and you want to learn more, reach out using the contact form below: