Why ACE Free Work is more than just enrichment
If you’ve heard of ACE Free Work, you might know it involves sniffing, licking, climbing, and exploring different textures and surfaces. At face value, it might look like enrichment, but it’s so much more than meets the eye at first glance.
Developed as part of the Animal Centred Education (ACE) approach created by Sarah Fisher, Free Work is not just a way to keep dogs busy - it’s a tool for observation, regulation, and resilience.
So let’s dive into why ACE Free Work is more than enrichment - and how it can become one of the most powerful tools in your wellbeing-led toolkit.
What is ACE Free Work? (and what it’s not)
Developed by Sarah Fisher as part of Animal Centred Education (ACE), Free Work is a gentle, observation-based practice that supports emotional, physical, and behavioural wellbeing in dogs. At HeartDog, it’s a cornerstone of the way we work - and for good reason.
It’s not just scatter feeding or busywork
To the untrained eye, Free Work might look like enrichment or scatter feeding. But while food can be a part of it, this isn’t about keeping dogs busy or distracted. It’s about providing meaningful sensory experiences that are tailored to the individual dog.
ACE Free Work helps dogs tune into their bodies, build confidence, reduce tension, and even gives us a window into the hidden impacts of pain and posture.
Whether you’re working with a reactive dog, a stressed-out adolescent dog, or a dog who just seems off, Free Work gives you a way to meet them where they are - and support them to move forward with choice and agency.
Free Work gives dogs freedom to move, sniff, explore, pause, and choose. There are no commands. No expectations. No performance.
It is, at its heart, an invitation.
Choice, setup, and observation are everything
The impact of Free Work lies in the details. It’s not just what’s in the setup - it’s how it’s arranged, the height and surface of each element, the choices the dog has, and how we observe what they do.
A dog avoiding a texture, lingering near a scent, or struggling to lick from a raised platform? These observations are all information. When we observe without expectation, we learn what a dog finds easy, difficult, intriguing, or overwhelming.
We also spot patterns. These subtle insights can influence how we support that dog far beyond the Free Work setup.
A whole-body experience: the physical benefits
ACE Free Work promotes healthy posture, movement, and awareness of the body.
It can:
- Improve proprioception (a dog’s awareness of their body in space)
- Support balance and core strength
- Encourage fluid, efficient movement
- Help relieve fascial tension and reduce compensatory movement patterns
Many dogs (especially anxious, reactive, or teenage dogs) show signs of poor posture and low body awareness. Their movement may be choppy, cautious or rushed.
Through gentle, low-impact exploration, Free Work helps dogs rediscover how their bodies move. This can reduce frustration, improve mobility, and increase confidence.
Connection to pain detection
Because Free Work invites us to notice movement and posture more closely, it can help us identify early signs of discomfort or pain.
Changes in gait, favouring one side, or shifting posture when approaching different heights can all be red flags. While it’s not a diagnostic tool, it often prompts conversations with vets or physical therapists that might otherwise be missed.
Free Work as regulation
ACE Free Work is deeply regulating for dogs. It’s:
- Sensory-rich: engaging all 7 senses, not just the classic 5 (proprioception and vestibular being the additional two)
- Choice-led: promoting agency and safety
- Low-demand: no need to perform or achieve anything
When dogs engage in Free Work, they often start to breathe more slowly, move more mindfully, and visibly relax. It offers an accessible way to downshift from high arousal and helps dogs feel more grounded in their bodies.
This isn’t just useful for anxious or over-aroused dogs. Even confident, motivated dogs benefit from time spent in this slow, thoughtful space.
Free Work as communication and observation
Because ACE Free Work invites dogs to show us how they move, rest, sniff, and choose, Free Work gives us rich behavioural information.
We see what dogs seek out or avoid. We notice how they approach novelty. We can tell how confident they feel, how flexible their movement is, and what draws or repels them.
For behaviour professionals, this is gold.
It sharpens our observation skills, helps us spot subtle changes over time, and lets us tailor future support more precisely.
It’s not a protocol. It’s a practice.
ACE Free Work doesn’t come with a checklist or formula.
It’s not about ticking off tasks or following a script. It’s about thoughtful, responsive setup and reflection - and it evolves with the dog. What supports one week might not the next. And that’s not failure. That’s feedback.
It’s a practice in the truest sense: something we explore, develop, and deepen over time.
Bringing it all together
ACE Free Work isn’t just enrichment. It’s a practice of observation, communication, and compassionate support.
It helps us:
- Understand how a dog is feeling physically and emotionally
- Support movement, posture, and confidence
- Offer choice, autonomy, and calm
At HeartDog, ACE Free Work underpins much of what we do. It’s woven into our reactivity work, our wellbeing approach, and our wider ethos.
Want to go deeper? We offer three ACE workshops:
Each one will expand your understanding, confidence, and creativity with Free Work.
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