Every Day I'm Snufflin’: How to Make an Easy DIY Snuffle Mat For Your Dog
Southern California has faced its fair share of rainy weather in recent years. While our friends in the Pacific Northwest might not bat an eye at a week or two of gloom, all of us down here in the Orange County area aren’t quite as prepared! If your pup isn’t a big fan of adventuring in the rain, you’ll be on the hunt for some indoor activities to stave off cabin fever. Snuffle mat making is a perfect rainy day activity for the humans in your home of all ages, and the finished product can help keep your pup entertained!
What is a snuffle mat?
So what is a snuffle mat, anyway? They may look a bit like a slice of 1970s shag rug carpeting, but these little things can keep dogs entertained for ages! All you have to do is hide kibble or treats in the densely packed strips of fleece or felt, and your dog gets to enjoy hunting for all of the goodies. Sniffing is such an important act for our dogs (about 30% of their brains are dedicated to processing scent!), and this is a perfect way to build some natural enrichment into their day.
You can even use snuffle mats for training! Especially if you have a young and active pup, adding extra mental stimulation into their day can definitely help work off that excess energy.
Here are some easy ways to use a snuffle mat for dog training:
Add duration to settling on a mat in a crate by placing the snuffle mat in front of them and periodically re-loading it with goodies. You can use this to promote relaxation while you cook or eat, in the car, on the couch, or anywhere you’d like your dog to chill out!
Practice recall away from distractions by sprinkling low-value food (ie: kibble) in the snuffle mat, calling your dog away and rewarding with high-value reinforcement (e.g. roast beef), and then releasing them back to the snuffle mat.
Put sniffing on cue (i.e: “go sniff” or “find it”) by saying your cue, then sprinkling food in the snuffle mat. Once you can ask your dog to sniff and explore with just a verbal cue, you can start to use it to reinforce other behaviors!
Have the snuffle mat at the end of an indoor obstacle course to reward your dog! A broom handle balanced on two chairs or stools makes a perfect jump, and a simple cardboard box can be transformed into a DIY tunnel.
So let’s get crafting so our dogs can get snuffling!
You will need:
Craft felt or fleece cut into strips
1-2” wide and 7” long works best
Get creative and pick fun colors and patterns!
A rubber anti-fatigue mat
Home Depot sells 36” x 36” mats for $25 (That’s enough for 9 small snufflemats!)
Sharp crafting scissors
You can get scissor sharpeners for about $11 to expand the lifespan of your tools!
Patience!
These on average take about 1.5hrs to make. Invite your dog-owning friends over for a snufflemat and movie party!
Step-by-step instructions:
Cut the rubber mat to your desired size. If you’re using the Home Depot anti-fatigue mat, you can cut along the solid borders using scissors or a sharp utility blade. A 12x12 square is suitable for most sizes of dog, but if you’re feeling ambitious, you can always aim for a larger one!
Prepare your fleece by cutting them into strips. They need to be long enough to easily tie in a double knot with a few inches on each side to spare. If you have a specific pattern in mind, do yourself a favor and arrange the strips by color.
Begin at one edge and tie a single piece of fabric in a double knot around each junction on the anti-fatigue mat.
Continue on until the entire mat is filled!
For those snuffle mat pros out there, why not up the ante by making your dog a snuffle ball or snuffle basket? Using the same instructions above, you can create even more challenging enrichment items for your pups!
If you make your dog their own snuffle mat (or ball, or basket), we’d love to see it! Tag us on Instagram or Facebook with your DIY creations. Stay warm and dry out there!
Looking for more help with enrichment and dog training in Orange County, but don’t know where to start? Schedule a free discovery call with us!