Sensory garden stories by visitors

What does the sensory garden mean to MIRJAM?

León and I have had the pleasure of visiting Willem’s wonderful sensory garden several times now.

Each time, León makes progress, and it is fantastic to see!

We welcomed León from ACE SHIN (a super good foundation from Spain) on January 25, 2023.

León was/is a severely traumatized and abused big ‘lion’ found on the streets of Seville. He spent over a year at the ACE SHIN shelter and is now about 9 years old.

If you want to read his full story, go to the site, Leon – Adopt – Animal Care España | SHIN.

For León, the sensory garden is ideal to relax and walk around freely, in a quiet environment, without any pressure.

The first time, he lay down in the middle of the garden to safely observe everything. Normally, he never took a cookie or tasty snack in new situations. This time, he dared to take the tasty snack (we kept our distance)!

The second time, he walked around more and even followed Thirza a little.

Each visit to the sensory garden brings him further along. These positive experiences carry over. Because of this, things at home and on walks are getting better and better.

Previously, he would flee from other dogs; now, he approaches them curiously. Normally, he scans the environment first and then proceeds cautiously. Now, he’s much less preoccupied with his surroundings. In short, all positive steps, where we see him becoming a happier dog. We can now regularly let him off the leash.

For myself, it is wonderful to watch him and see his positive development. Chatting and sharing experiences with Thirza is pleasant and relaxing.

All in all: for León and me, a visit to the sensory garden is not only enjoyable but also educational and very good for his development!

Thank you, Thirza (and Willem), for making this possible and investing so much love and time! Hope to see you soon!

What does the sensory garden mean to JOLANDA?

“In summary: an hour of relaxation in a beautiful garden, safe, with no other dogs, people, or traffic.

While my dog calmly goes her own way, I enjoy everything that grows and blooms, along with tea and a good conversation.

Our Frisians are not naturally friendly to everyone; they need time and space to determine, where am I, who is that, is it safe? Unfortunately, we often encounter people and dogs who cannot or do not want to see this. Our youngest had some bad experiences during her puppy/teenage years. Consequently, I am always and everywhere on the lookout for what is coming to prevent more bad encounters.

What a relief to be able to let go of this in the sniffing garden and see the dog(s) calmly engaged. Thirza has a lot of knowledge and truly provides the space to let the dog just be a dog.

I thought I knew my dogs quite well, but I was surprised that the one who usually stays close to me went off exploring very independently. And the one who usually likes to sniff around by herself apparently did not feel as comfortable without the rest of the pack and needed me to walk with her. It is so beautiful how you continue to learn about dog behavior and get to know your dogs even better.

The garden is a beautiful piece of nature and the good causes that Thirza chooses are more than worth the donation! We will gladly return.”

What does the sensory garden mean to MARJOLEIN?

With feelings of gratitude, happiness, and emotion, I look back on the times I visited Thirza’s sensory garden with our Bertus.

It quickly became clear to us that Bertus had an amazing sense of smell shortly after he came to us at around 2.5 years old.

At that time, we lived in Curaçao, and our dogs did not yet have a nice garden. Several times a day, we would take the dogs out, but we noticed that Bertus had a strong need for more “freedom” and wanted to go out onto the street much more often. With great pain in our hearts, we brought him to the shelter, hoping he would be adopted by someone with a nice garden.

However, things turned out differently. Bertus managed to escape from the shelter after three days and showed up at our door a few hours later.

It is a miracle that he arrived safely and was able to find his way back. His sense of smell must have played a huge role in this.

Of course, we immediately took him back into our home and promised him that he could stay forever.

About three years ago, we returned to the Netherlands.

Bertus was now 12 years old, his eyesight was deteriorating, and a year later, his hearing also started to decline. The use of his nose became even more important, and fortunately, it still worked very well.

When a dog can no longer hear well but still likes to go his own way, an unsafe situation can quickly arise if the dog is off-leash.

In Curaçao, Bertus had had a large, well-fenced garden for years where he loved to sniff around, and I noticed that he missed that somewhat in the Netherlands.

We started doing brainwork at home to give him more challenges, but sniffing outside made him the happiest.

Through Facebook, I came across the Sniffing Gardens Initiative.

It’s fantastic that so many people selflessly create beautiful sensory gardens and also support good causes.

After some research, I found Thirza’s sensory garden. Bertus loved car rides, so a small hour to get there and another small hour to get back was a nice bonus.

This sensory garden is so peacefully located that the dog can go about his business undisturbed. The inviting Facebook page and website, along with Thirza’s enthusiasm, made me curious.

There were already quite a few dogs that loved to sneak around Willem’s garden, so we had to be patient, but finally, it was our turn.

What a warm welcome when your dog’s name is already on the sign at the entrance.

From the first minute, Bertus started exploring, and after an hour, I put him back on the leash, otherwise, he would have certainly wanted to stay for another hour 🙂

There is so much care and attention given to this well-fenced sniffing garden, and there is so much for the dogs to discover, it is truly wonderful.

Additionally, Thirza is a very professional, sweet, social, and interested woman.

Over a cup of tea, it is fantastic to see your dog so happy, carefree, and joyful.

Afterwards, the snack box appears, and Bertus managed several times to score not just one, but two rabbit ears.

Every time we went home completely satisfied, and Bertus was already dreaming of his next visit to this fantastic sensory garden on the way back.

Sadly, Bertus recently passed away at the age of 15, but I am so glad we were able to experience this several times together.

For us, sniffing has forever changed to Sneupen!

In memoriam: Bertus, Dec 2023

What does the sensory garden mean to Straydogs Rescue Nederland?

We have very good contact with Thirza!. The foster families of Straydogs Rescue Nederland are always welcome in Thirza’s garden outside the regular hours. When we have a dog that needs special attention or a dog that struggles with various stimuli outside, we can go to Thirza. This way, we can still beautifully observe the dogs in a safe manner.

Thirza can also provide us, as outsiders, with good information that can be important for the adoption process. And if sometimes there is no personal direct contact possible from the foundation due to lack of time, we have found a nice way to properly guide foster families through the sniffing garden. We greatly benefit from the information Thirza can provide us about the dogs in the sniffing garden. Additionally, she knows how to bring attention to our dogs on her social media in a fun way! This has already helped a few times in finding the right match!”

What does the sensory garden mean to IVON?

“Here are my experiences with our Teddy, a 7-month-old Bouvier, Zora, a 14-year-old Bouvier, and Connor, a 10-year-old Irish Terrier.

All three are not rescue dogs but have been with us since they were puppies. I have been actively involved with dog training for 18 years and recently started teaching adolescents.

In the past, commands had to be followed. Currently, however, we train for relaxation, we tell our dog what we want, and reward that good behavior.

The sensory garden is a valuable addition! Four years ago, I moved to this beautiful and peaceful area for our dogs. Here we walk relaxed and off-leash in a safe environment. The two Bouviers stay within a 20-meter circle around me, and I call them my shadow. My Irish Terrier can be off-leash in quiet areas, but as soon as his nose catches a wild scent or in populated areas, he goes on a long leash. This way, he doesn’t have to intervene in situations, but can calmly observe what is happening around him.

Now, over half a year, I have taken all our dogs individually to the sensory garden.

Why?

Because my dogs need to be able to trust themselves individually. This is in a safe environment where they can trust their nose, each in their own way. No interaction with the others for a while. How do you experience new things?

I don’t take my reactive Irish Terrier to a dog school. He gets overstimulated too quickly, has been on a diet for 10 years, and uses medication for itching. Fortunately, he is now stable with rest and regularity, but also appropriate work. He loves tracking.

My old lady Zora is almost blind, hears poorly, but can sniff excellently. She becomes intensely happy then.

My cheerful egg Teddy can develop calmly into a stable dog. Meanwhile, learning to trust himself. Thirza and I are on the same page regarding our dogs; calm and relaxation are leading, but also very clear rules on what we do not accept. No coercion, but comfortably clear to our dogs. Some places and people are special, that is the sniffing garden and Thirza for us.”

In memoriam: Zora, jan 2023 & Connor, sept 2024

What does the sensory garden mean to NATASCHA and JORIS?

“To begin with, a small introduction of our Rottweiler Bowhy. We adopted Bowhy through the Stichting Rottweiler Nederland (SRN). At that time, Bowhy was only 9 months old. Unfortunately, he had already experienced a lot in his first 9 months, much of it not very positive. He was born on a farm (active farm) with someone who thought it would be fun to have a litter. At 4 weeks, he was already taken away from his mother and siblings because he supposedly had sharp teeth. In week 6, he went to his first owners. In these first 6 weeks, there was no attention to socialization. Unfortunately, in the following 6 weeks, he was mostly (up to 23 hours a day) in a crate and was hit for “bad” behavior. He then went back to the breeder, where he was fortunately taken into another family after a short time. They did work with him with attention, but using a method that backfired for this dog with his background. This was also a very busy family (2 teenage children) with many social activities. Bowhy had a lot of trouble processing all these stimuli and could then show undesirable behavior. Fortunately, this was recognized well, including the difference in him when there was calm or chaos. Following this, SRN was called in, and we got the chance to adopt Bowhy.

It was clear from the beginning that Bowhy had been through a lot, and, for example, had a lot of trouble with men. Additionally, Bowhy had a lot of difficulty dealing with stimuli, whether they were positive or negative. Fortunately, we have a very good trainer, Pamela Collin from Fun for 2 dog school in Hardenberg. Her method of ‘Consciously Loving Raising’ and the possibility of ‘Seek the Teacher’ seemed very suitable to us. It was better for Bowhy that the lessons would be individual. Other dogs give Bowhy a lot of stimuli, and it goes well for only a short time. During the lessons, it became clear that the restriction of a short leash and thereby not being able to get to every scent caused a lot of stress. We then received extensive explanations about why sniffing is so important and what it does to the dog’s brain and related behavior. Consequently, we started working with a long (10 meters) leash and immediately saw how much calmer he became. Also, when going to the forest, Bowhy started very stressed and obsessively sniffing everywhere. Over time, he became calmer in this. We can still see from his sniffing how stressed he is. If he shoots from one plant to another, this is not good, whereas in a relaxed state, he takes all the time for the important spots. Through this sniffing method, we got a Rottie that is much more predictable. Additionally, he is much calmer and can process the stimuli better. Although other people are still an issue. Not negatively anymore, but he now wants to cuddle everyone so much that he can go overboard. This is also managed better by standing calmly and letting him sniff the environment instead of just restricting him.

With all the limitations (especially regarding other dogs), we quickly decided never to go to a dog park. At some point, we came across a message about the sensory garden Sneupen at Willem. This sounded very good to us and seemed like a great outing for Bowhy. We were a bit apprehensive about how he would react, especially to someone else, as he can be quite overwhelming, and many people can quickly (negatively) be impressed by a Rottweiler. When we read that Willem was also a Rottie and sometimes found stimuli too much, our interest was further stimulated. This would mean that Thirza would likely understand his behavior more quickly and not be immediately afraid. We are so glad we dared to take the step! In the garden, Bowhy can finally run freely and enjoy himself in an even quieter environment than at home. It is also nice for Bowhy to have a place where he does not have to “be on guard” like in his own garden, which he guards very well, and he can run freely but safely, unlike in the forest. During the first visit, it became clear that other people are very nice and, despite the garden, he can get too excited and may start climbing and grabbing. Fortunately, Thirza immediately recognized this as not aggressive but overly enthusiastic (sorry for the bruises). Eventually, with a small adjustment, Bowhy could fully enjoy the garden, and you could see him calm down. He even sat by the picnic table without constantly having to be on the other side (where Thirza was) and showed clearly less compulsive behavior. On the way back, Bowhy slept soundly, which continued at home and in the days following. The effect of the garden lasted much longer than we thought. We even think that certain behaviors in general have improved and that Bowhy has realized he can truly sniff and feel better because of it. Especially after the second visit, where Thirza was not in the garden but just outside the fence to further reduce the stimuli. Bowhy is now still more relaxed than before, even 1.5 weeks later. The only “downside” for us as owners is that a 10-minute walk now takes an average of 30 minutes, considering all the sniffing time. Fortunately, this is no problem for us, and we see a very positive impact on his behavior. He now also cares less about what happens around him while walking, as long as he has something to sniff.

The sensory garden is a wonderful solution for us, and we hope that many more dogs can enjoy it. We will definitely continue with our visits!”

What does the sensory garden mean to DANIELLE?

The sensory garden of Thirza is also fantastic for reactive dogs.

Like many others, I have foreign dogs. In practice, these dogs often come with a backpack of experiences and somewhat challenging behavior.

I have been to the sensory garden with my two foreign dogs separately, and in both cases, it was wonderful. A private garden where safety and peace are guaranteed.

My Romanian fiery princess-on-the-pea Stella is not always nice to strangers (both humans and dogs). Especially busy behavior, loud voices, and unexpected movements can trigger her to react aggressively. She barks a lot to create distance and sometimes – when she finds it too exciting but doesn’t know how to handle it otherwise – she snaps at people and dogs.

So I was a bit tense about how she would react to Thirza. Upon arrival by car, Thirza kept her distance and immediately asked how we wanted to walk from the car (on a leash) to the sensory garden. It was so nice that someone understood that the order of something as simple as walking one after the other can be important!

We chose to keep the stress level as low as possible and followed Thirza at a distance. When we came through the gate into the fully enclosed sniffing garden, I quickly let Stella off the leash so she could check out Thirza and the garden in her own way. It went so well! Thirza looked the other way, made no direct eye contact, stood still, and let herself be sniffed. Stella soon realized that this woman with the soft voice was safe, and she then leisurely explored the entire garden at a calm and steady pace, looking for all the hidden treats. What a celebration! While Thirza and I sat at the picnic table at the front of the garden having tea, Stella came in between to get a pet and even nudged her nose under Thirza’s arm for extra attention and maybe a tasty snack. Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, where both Stella and I took a step further in trust… trust that I wouldn’t put her in danger, trust in people who mean well for her. A top experience! She was wonderfully relaxed afterward.

A week later, it was my senior Sem’s turn. Sem is a calm and stable dog who doesn’t get wild quickly. We have been best buddies for almost 11 years, so we know exactly what each other means. Sem is not a big cuddler, but he really enjoys sniffing and search games. He could do that to his heart’s content in the garden. Quietly, in his own ‘Sem’ way, he worked his way through the entire garden. Only when he was done did he lie down in a little nook, looked at us contentedly, and saw that everything was good 🙂

It was a joy to see the dogs so relaxed and enjoying themselves both times. The new appointment is already scheduled!

What does the sensory garden mean to CARLA?

During a visit to the sensory garden, I asked Carla: what does the sensory garden mean to you and your dogs? Below is a brief summary of our conversation:

“That my older dogs can still do something completely new at their age. The relaxation you see in the dogs, and when you have multiple dogs, doing one-on-one (or one-on-two) separate activities with them (quality time).

For me, it means enjoyment. Enjoying the dogs and the beautiful garden. I have started reading more about the dog’s nose and sniffing. Sniffing lowers the stress hormone cortisol, and endorphins, dopamine, and oxytocin are also produced, making the dogs relax, almost zen-like. I notice that they can enjoy it for a long time afterward, even the next day. I find that really special. When you walk outside with your dogs, you are always somewhat on alert, looking around to see if anything or anyone is coming, I can’t let them off the leash here because etc. But here in the garden, you sit and enjoy, watch. Hey, now she’s there, or look at what she’s doing now. So fun to see!

I had never realized the importance of sniffing as much as I do now, while we have had dogs of all ages and breeds for years. And I find it important that you are there, observing and picking up the signals from the dogs, the dog language (tip: the book Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas Calming Signals). Are they relaxed, how are the ears and tail? Observing what your dog does. I think many people will look at their dog differently and discover new things when they are here in the garden. The interaction between dogs is always there, but we do not see many things, we do not pick up the subtle signals.

I am very relaxed here, I find it lovely. I also love this in life: go with the flow. The dogs don’t have to do anything. If they want to sniff, that’s fine, if Katy just wants to lie in the grass, that’s fine. It’s their time, quality time for the dogs, but also for me. I always look forward to visiting the sniffing garden, I really enjoy it. Look at what she’s doing, Nairobi is relaxed! How is it possible! So nice for that dog, but also for us. I felt this way from the first time I was here. For example, Diva. Then at sixteen, you experience something completely new. Nairobi is often “on”, but when she sees me grab her leash and put on my green vest, she already knows: we are going to Sneupen bij Willem!

Isn’t that wonderful.”

In memoriam: Diva, okt 2022

What does the sensory garden mean to ESTHER?

A returning visitor to the sensory garden is Esther with her dogs Percy and Mojo. We also asked her: what does the sensory garden mean to you?

“Great question! All sorts of thoughts, words, and images are buzzing through my head. Let’s see if I can organize them into a coherent story 😉

I have two foreign dogs. One of them has such a strong hunting instinct that he can only be off-leash in a safely enclosed area. The other can be off-leash in quiet places without traffic (or cats).

I find it important to pay attention to my dogs’ well-being. Of course, they get good food, and I take care of them physically. But I also need more than just food and physical care to be truly happy and satisfied. So I ask myself what my dogs need or would like. The answer:

Physical freedom = off the leash
Freedom of choice = the dog chooses where to go, what to explore, and how long to sniff
Utilizing talents = put that fantastic dog nose to work!
Challenge = discovering new things and thinking/deciding for themselves

I do all sorts of things to meet these needs:

Scootering with Percy so he can run. Mojo off-leash in safe areas so he can sprint. With both dogs to the fenced dog playground or the fenced dog forest so they can walk, run, sniff, roam, and play (also with other dogs, for example with acquaintances we meet there). Brainwork, to put that amazing dog nose to work, to cooperate and strengthen our bond, to provide relaxation. Detection lessons to do something together, to cooperate, to put that fantastic dog nose to work (because talents should be utilized!) and to learn something new. Sniff walks to give the dog freedom of choice (the dog determines – mostly – the route) and all the time and space to sniff and gather information about the world.

So what is the added value of a sniffing garden? That it is solely intended to let the dog use his/her senses!

I remember a warning often given about two years ago (beginning of the Corona era): Do not set up a home workplace in your bedroom, because that is the place where you should be able to relax.

That’s how I see the sensory garden a bit; a place where dogs can relax without that place being ‘contaminated’.

Dogs are great at making associations. But in the sensory garden, they have never had to train, never been confronted with a (possibly exciting) other dog, but can explore and enjoy. As an owner, you can also be at ease and let go of any worries. Just sit back and enjoy your dog. Observe what he/she shows while exploring the garden. Your dog won’t run away thanks to the secure enclosure, and you know for sure that no other people and/or dogs will come in.

The pleasant conversations with Thirza and her insight into dog behavior are a big bonus on top of all the wonderful things a visit to her sensory garden already has to offer.”