I’ve been hearing about these snuffle mats everywhere. These are fluffy mats where you can hide your dog’s food or treats under the fluff and your dog has to search for the treats. It is supposed to keep them occupied for a while and slow their eating. I wanted to try it out. We have a smart dog that seems to swallow her food whole. I looked at the snuffle mats that other people made and decided that I could probably make one myself.
It turns out that they are pretty simple to make. All you need is some type of mat with holes in it and some fleece in whatever colors you like. Some people recommend using a mat from Home Depot but this mat costs over $30. Its a great mat, but if you are looking to save money by doing it yourself, this is probably not the way to go.
I found a great alternative on Amazon. Its a shower mat, but it is large enough for our medium size dog. Best part, it was only $7.99.
If you have looked at snuffle mats before, you have probably noticed that they are mostly bright colors and flowers. I don’t know about you, but my house is a little more modern with neutral color and so I wanted a mat that could be out in the living room and not stand out. This is why I chose black, grays and tan fleece for my design. It took about 6 yards total of the fleece to cover my 30X17 shower mat.
Once you have everything, it is very simple. The first thing I did, is come up with a design and then I drew it on my mat with chalk. I did a wavy design, almost like a hilly landscape, but you can make flowers or color blocks or whatever you and your dog will like.
Then I cut my fleece into about 8″ X 1″ strips. These do not need to be perfect. Cut a lot of strips. How ever many you think that you will need, you’ll probably need more than that.
Start tying. Just loop it between two adjacent holes and tie a knot. Nothing fancy because you won’t see it when its done. This is where it is nice to have the chalk marks. Tying this reminded me of the latch hook rugs that I used to make when I was a kid only larger and no tools required.
It took me about 2 1/2 hours to finish this mat. I think it turned out pretty nice.
Our dog loves it.
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