Snuffling and searching for food
If you only do one section of this library, do this one. Everything here puts your dog's nose down and their dinner on the floor, and a dog whose nose is working is a dog who is not scanning the room. It asks for no space, no equipment beyond what is already in your kitchen, and nothing brave. Read ditch the bowl first, because this is where most of a meal can go.
A mat of dense fleece strips that you scatter food down into, so your dog has to nose it back out instead of eating from a bowl. This is the one I hand almost everybody: it costs a meal you were feeding anyway and buys twenty quiet minutes.
Shopping list
Toys
- A snuffle mat. Density is the whole thing: a sparse one gives the food up too easily and your dog stops bothering.
- Or a snuffle ball or roll, if you want something that shifts around while they work it.
Food
- Dry food or small treats. Their dinner is the right answer here, not extra on top of it.
How to do it
- First time, sprinkle food on top of the fleece, in plain sight. Let your dog eat it off the surface. Don't hide anything yet.
- Next time, push food halfway down between the strips.
- Then work it right down to the backing, and ruffle the fleece over the top with your hand.
- Aim for ten to twenty minutes of work. If they finish in two, you're hiding it too shallow.
- Take the mat away between sessions. It stays interesting because it isn't always available.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- On top of the fleece, in plain sight.
- Lvl 2
- Halfway down between the strips.
- Lvl 3
- Down to the backing, fleece ruffled over the top, and a spritz of water to dull the scent.
Safety
Some dogs pick at and swallow fleece. Supervise the first several sessions, and stop using it if your dog is eating the mat rather than the food. Machine wash regularly: old food in the fabric goes rancid.
The same job as a bought snuffle mat for roughly a quarter of the price, made from a rubber sink mat and a couple of yards of fleece. An hour or two of tying knots in front of the television, and you can make it exactly as dense as your dog needs.
Shopping list
Tools
- A rubber sink mat with drainage holes, or plastic canvas sheets if you want a stiffer base that stays put.
- Roughly two yards of polar fleece. Anti-pill, so the strips do not fray when they are pulled at.
Around the house
- Sharp scissors, and an hour or two you were going to spend sitting down anyway.
How to do it
- Cut the fleece into strips roughly one inch wide and six to eight inches long. Plan on 100 to 150 strips for a standard sink mat.
- Lay the sink mat flat, holes facing up.
- Take one strip, push both ends down through two adjacent holes from the top, then pull them back up so you can tie a single knot on the top surface.
- Repeat across every hole until the mat is dense and shaggy. Push the knots close together. Density is what makes it work.
- Trim any wildly long strips so it sits flat.
- Machine wash on cold before first use.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Sparse, with gaps you can see the base through.
- Lvl 2
- Knots close together, so the fleece stands up on its own.
- Lvl 3
- Longer strips, six to eight inches, for depth as well as density.
Safety
Some dogs pick at and swallow fleece, which is the real risk with any snuffle mat. Supervise, and do not use one with a dog who eats fabric. Check the knots every so often and re-tie any that have worked loose. Machine wash it regularly, because old food left in the fabric goes rancid.
Throwing your dog's meal across the floor, a rug, or the grass instead of putting it in a bowl. Free, takes thirty seconds to set up, and works.
Shopping list
Food
- Your dog's normal meal. Nothing else, and nothing extra: this replaces the bowl rather than adding to it.
Around the house
- A textured surface. A shaggy rug indoors, or grass outside. A smooth floor turns it into a looking game instead of a smelling one.
How to do it
- Pick a textured surface. A shaggy rug indoors, or grass outside. Smooth floors turn it into a sight game rather than a nose game.
- Put your dog behind a door, or ask for a stay.
- Toss the food in a wide, loose scatter over an area roughly six feet across. Don't make neat piles.
- Release your dog and leave them to it.
- Aim for ten to twenty minutes of searching. If it's over in ninety seconds, spread it wider and use a rougher surface.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- A small patch of hard floor, big pieces.
- Lvl 2
- A shaggy rug, thrown wide.
- Lvl 3
- Long grass, or in and around furniture legs.
Safety
Not for multi-dog households unless your dogs are genuinely relaxed around each other over food. Scatter feedingThrowing a meal across grass, a rug or another textured surface instead of putting it in a bowl.Read more → creates competition. Feed separately if there's any tension. Count the food out of the daily ration so you aren't overfeeding.
An old bath towel rolled up with treats in the folds. The cheapest puzzle in this library, and the one you can put together in ten seconds while the kettle boils.
Shopping list
Food
- A handful of treats, or a portion of their dinner.
Around the house
- An old bath towel. One you will not mind losing a corner of.
How to do it
- Lay the towel flat.
- Sprinkle treats across the whole surface.
- Roll it up loosely from one short end, like a sleeping bag.
- Hand it to your dog. They'll nose and paw it open.
- When they're good at it, roll tighter, or tie a loose knot in the middle.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Loose roll, treats near the outer edge.
- Lvl 2
- Tight roll, treats down the whole length.
- Lvl 3
- Knotted, or folded concertina-style so unrolling it does not work.
Safety
Not for dogs who eat fabric. Supervise. If your dog starts shaking or shredding the towel rather than unrolling it, stop the game and switch to a snuffle mat.
Treats in the cups of a muffin tin with balls sitting over the top, so your dog has to move a ball to get underneath. The classic first puzzle, because the answer is obvious on round one and gets less obvious every round after.
Shopping list
Toys
- Enough tennis balls to cover the cups, and big enough that your dog cannot get one to the back of their mouth.
Food
- Small treats, or a handful of their kibble.
Around the house
- A twelve-cup metal muffin tin.
How to do it
- Put a treat in every cup. Leave the balls off entirely. Let your dog eat them all. Do this twice.
- Now put a treat in every cup and cover only three of them with balls.
- Build up to all twelve covered.
- Final version: treats in only four of the twelve cups, all covered. Now your dog has to search, not just empty.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Every cup baited, no balls at all.
- Lvl 2
- Every cup baited, three of them covered.
- Lvl 3
- Every cup baited, every cup covered.
- Lvl 4
- Four of twelve baited, all covered. Crumpled paper instead of balls is harder again.
Safety
Use balls too big to swallow. Don't use tennis balls with dogs who shred them: the fuzz is abrasive on teeth and the halves are a choking hazard. Metal tins have sharp-ish rims, so skip this for enthusiastic dogs who slam their face in.
A floor covered in open cardboard boxes with food hidden in and around them. It costs nothing but your recycling, and it is the closest thing at home to letting a dog properly search a space.
Shopping list
Food
- Treats, or a portion of their dinner.
From the recycling
- Six to twelve cardboard boxes of different sizes, lids open or taken off. Tape, staples and shipping labels off first.
- A bit of packing paper to crumple into two or three of them, so there is something to dig through.
How to do it
- Scatter the boxes across a room. Some upright, some on their sides, some tucked partly under furniture.
- Bait about half of them: a few treats in the bottom, one under a flap, one balanced on a rim.
- Crumple a bit of paper into two or three boxes so there's something to dig through.
- Let your dog in and leave them to search. Don't help.
- Reset with different boxes baited each time.
Change it up
- Lvl 1
- Fewer boxes, all baited, food in view.
- Lvl 2
- A dozen boxes, about half baited, mixed orientations.
- Lvl 3
- Three of twelve baited, food under folded flaps and balanced on rims.
Safety
Not for dogs who eat cardboard. Shredding is fine. Swallowing is not: cardboard can cause choking or a blockage. Remove all tape, staples and shipping labels first. Supervise the whole time.
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