Foraging mats
What is a snuffle mat?
A snuffle mat looks like a shaggy bath mat and works like a forest floor. Here is what one does, how to introduce it, how to keep it safe and clean, and where your dog will meet one at 210 Eastern Ave.
What it is
A snuffle mat hides food in fabric, so a dog has to forage for every piece
The AKC describes a snuffle mat as a pad covered in pieces of fabric where you hide treats for your dog to find. Most have a rubber or mesh base with strips of fleece knotted through it, standing up like long grass. Scatter dry food across the top, rub it down between the strips, and the dog has to push its nose through the fabric, find each piece by smell and pick it up one at a time. A bowl of kibble that would be gone in half a minute becomes a search.
It belongs to the same family as puzzle feeders and lick mats, but it asks for something different. A puzzle asks the dog to work a mechanism. A lick mat asks it to lick. A snuffle mat asks it to forage, the nose-down searching that dogs do on every walk. VCA's guidance on enrichment suggests offering a snuffle mat or a food puzzle, and even serving a meal in a foraging toy instead of a bowl.
- A base with fabric strips that stand up like grass
- Dry food scattered and rubbed down into the strips
- The dog sniffs out and picks up each piece
- Foraging, not chewing, licking or solving
Slow and calm
The mat slows a fast eater down and gives a bored or anxious dog a calm job
For a dog that inhales its food, a mat is the simplest change you can make. The veterinarian quoted in the AKC's article calls snuffle mats a lifesaver for dogs who devour their food in seconds. Speed is worth taking seriously in big, deep-chested breeds, because Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center lists eating too quickly, one large meal a day and exercise soon after eating among the risk factors for bloat. A mat does not prevent bloat, and bloat is an emergency, but slowing a meal is a sensible habit.
The calm comes from the searching itself. The AKC article says snuffle mats provide a fun distraction that helps relieve boredom and anxiety, and notes that senior dogs at risk of cognitive decline can benefit from having a puzzle to solve. In practice a mat earns its place at the moments a dog struggles to settle: the first evening after an adoption, a nor'easter afternoon indoors, or the half hour before you leave the house for work.
Using one
Start easy, teach a cue and stay in the room, in six steps
A mat introduced at the hard end frustrates a dog, and a frustrated dog starts chewing the fabric. The AKC suggests sprinkling a few treats on top so they are easy to find, teaching a cue such as find it, and having your dog wait while you fill the mat. VCA adds a useful check for any foraging toy: if your dog walks away from it, it is probably too difficult, so make the next round easier and build up again.
Count the food on the mat as part of the day's ration rather than extra, and use your dog's own kibble for most sessions. A whole meal on a mat suits a dog that eats too fast; a handful works as a calm-down. When the food is gone, the session is over and the mat goes away. The AKC's advice is to pick it up after each use, so your dog does not destroy it once the treats run out.
- 01
Scatter a few treats on top of the mat where they are easy to see
- 02
Say find it as your dog starts to sniff
- 03
Ask your dog to wait while you rub the next round into the strips
- 04
Use kibble from the day's ration for longer sessions
- 05
Stay in the room while your dog forages
- 06
Pick the mat up as soon as the food is gone
Safety and cleaning
Supervise every session, and skip the mat for dogs that chew or swallow fabric
The AKC's safety advice is short and worth following: always supervise while your dog is snuffling, pick the mat up after each use, and keep a close eye on dogs with a history of swallowing objects. It also says a snuffle mat is not the right choice for aggressive chewers, for dogs that treat everything as a chew toy, or for dogs that are not motivated by treats. A dog that starts pulling strips out has told you the mat is not for it, and swallowed fabric is a call to your vet.
Food and fabric need cleaning. Shake out the crumbs after every session, wash the mat as the maker recommends, and let it dry completely before the next meal goes on it. If you use one every day, keep two, so there is always a dry one ready. Check the strips each time you put the mat down; a frayed or loose strip is easier to pull out and swallow, and a worn mat is cheap to replace.
- Supervise every session
- Pick the mat up when the food is gone
- Not for heavy chewers or dogs that swallow objects
- Shake out, wash and dry fully between uses
- Retire a mat with loose or frayed strips
At Dogtown
At Dogtown foraging mats are part of Academy enrichment, and the $7 puzzle game is the add-on to ask for
There is no separate snuffle-mat line on our menu. Dogs meet foraging mats on Academy days, where scent and puzzle games are part of the enrichment rotation, and our photos from the Academy deck show hounds working a snuffle mat and a snuffle bowl. A full Academy day is $89 and a half day $69, and every one includes a training session with our trainer, enrichment, fitness, play and one-on-one trainer time.
On a daycare day or an overnight stay, the closest add-on is the $7 puzzle game, which uses puzzle toys and slow feeders, or the $7 Sniff Room for searching with the whole body. Ask the front desk if you would like your dog's session to be on a foraging mat, and bring a labeled portion of your dog's own kibble if it has a food allergy. New dogs start with the free evaluation, on weekdays between 6:30 and 9:30 AM.
At Dogtown
Foraging and puzzles at Dogtown
Academy days with scent and puzzle games built in, and puzzle game or Sniff Room add-ons on any day.
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
Can I feed my dog's whole meal on a snuffle mat?
Is a snuffle mat good for puppies?
How is a snuffle mat different from a lick mat?
Can I make my own snuffle mat?
How long does a snuffle mat session last?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
- AKC: snuffle mats for dogs
- VCA: using enrichment, predictability and scheduling
- Cornell Riney Canine Health Center: bloat (GDV)
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Let your dog forage.
Book the free weekday evaluation, then try an Academy day or add a $7 puzzle game to a daycare day.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
