Are you someone that thrives on routine, you know, wake up at the same time, eat the same breakfast, and then get to bed at the same time each night?  Or do you like to mix things up, the more varied our life, the better?  I think I'm an in-between kind of person.  I like my routine but I also like new and unexpected experiences.  I found that most animals are in-between kind of personalities, too, so that's what we try and provide for them: the comfort of a schedule with the thrill of new and fun adventures thrown in.  

Today, we're going to have Lollipop the striped skunk venture out of her routine and offer something fun and engaging to do.  We're going to paint.

(Intro)

Lollipop has been at Animal Wonders for about three years now and she has a great relationship with us.  She knows her schedule and gets excited for her evening meals each night.  We enrich her life by doing unscheduled activities that stimulate her mind and body.  She wears a harness and loves going for walks outside.  She travels to schools, public parks, backyards, and other places for educational presentations.  

At each new location, she gets to explore and discover new sights, new sounds, and most importantly, new smells.  Lollipop also loves finding hidden food to eat, so we will often hide her diet in things that she has to manipulate to get the food out of, like small cardboard boxes or egg crates or paper bags or large boxes with non-toxic packing peanuts. 

Today, we're going to have Lollipop experience the squishy feeling of non-toxic paint on the sensitive pads of her feet.  We'll add to the fun by having hidden treats that must be found and interesting smells to be discovered.  This way, one activity is engaging four senses, sight, smell, taste, and touch.  So let's go ahead and prep our area for maximum enjoyment.  

No worries, this paint is non-toxic.  If she accidentally eats some or gets some on her, which is the point, she's not gonna get hurt.  It's just like the finger paints you might have played with as a kid.  So I'm going to put the canvasses around, get paint everywhere.  So the idea is going to be that she steps in the paints and then walks on the canvasses, so I'm not doing the painting for her, she's doing it.  Except for that one.

Alright, and now the last thing we're going to do is hide some treats around.  Lollipop has painted before, so this isn't a completely new experience for her.  She knows exactly what's going on.  She can smell the treats already, but the combination of hiding places, types of treats, and placement of the paint varies each time.  Alright, here we go.

(piano music while Lollipop paints)

Ahh, Lollipop had so much fun.  I loved how she kept going back for more even when the treats were gone.  She's a bit of a mess now, so I'm gonna go ahead and clean her up.  Alright, all cleaned up.  At least Lollipop is clean.  I'm not so clean, but we have some awesome skunk art and having Lollipop paint has doubled the rewards.  She gets to have a fun experience and we get some merch that can help raise funds for her care.  

If you'd like your own piece of Lollipop's skunk art, they'll be for sale on our website in our animal shop, link is below, and we also make custom pieces with specific sizes and colors.  You can also add this activity to your list of fun things to do with your pet at home.  Just make sure that you use non-toxic paint, your pet enjoys the experience, and probably do it in a place that can get pretty messy because mess.  

A big thanks goes to Lollipop, just for being awesome.  Also a big thank you to our supporters, donors, and Patreon Patrons that allow us to continue to improve our animals' lives and make these fun and educational videos.  If you like routine, subscribe to our YouTube channel AnimalWondersMontana and get a video every Thursday.  If you like to mix it up, subscribe to our YouTube channel AnimalWonders, and be surprised by a new topic each week.  If you're an in-betweener, subscribe to our YouTube channel AnimalWonders because we do both.

Thanks for watching and we'll see you next week.

(Outro/Credits)

This is Cheddar.  She's never had a harness on before but I'm going to try and attempt it for the first time using this comfort harness.  I'm going to use the comfort harness instead of a nylon harness because it is more comfortable.