Reddit reviews PAW5: Wooly Snuffle Mat - Feeding Mat for Dogs (12" x 18") - Encourages Natural Foraging Skills - Easy to Fill - Fun to Use Design - Durable and Machine Washable - Perfect for Any Breed

Here's what I've picked up for christmas gifts so far:

• Husband: Nintendo Switch, Zelda and Mario; and a microwave popcorn popper with a variety of popcorn kernels
  
• Mom: Kate Spade handbag from the surprise sale
  
• Dad: Chipolo Classic 4-pack
  
• Every parent and stepparent in my husband's family: 23 and me ancestry kits
  
• Brother in law: Books (his request)
  
• BFF: She requested bright, cute and practical kitchen accessories so I got her this sponge caddy, blue le creuset salt and pepper shakers (acquired locally), these tea bag holders, this cast iron trivet and this spoon rest.
  
• Work friends: These are more like gag gifts that make more sense if you know the people-- but I got one guy a blind box from an aquarium-themed cat hat collection and another guy a fidget pen.
  
• Dog themed secret santa: This was a pretty high budget exchange that I took part in this year. My recipient has a blind dog so I got her a snuffle mat, a giant bone and I found a company on aliexpress that literally has someone HAND-PAINT whatever image you want onto canvas and mail it to the US for like $20. So I ordered a painting of a modern pop art style greyhound. It hasn't arrived yet though.
  
  Still need to arrange a low budget work group secret santa, pick out some liquor for my boss, a nice candy set or something for some of our support staff downstairs and maybe something more personal for each of my in-laws-- I did find a beautiful painted glass Turkish bowl for my MIL but I'm at a loss for the others.

Oh Lordy I have a ton...I'll try to categorize them...

Best for Puppies
These are all easy toys that dispense a lot of kibble with very little movement. Perfect for baby puppies or really low-confidence dogs. These can also be upgraded in difficulty later by stuffing them with wet food and freezing, or stuffing with a large, hard to extract treat (like a slice of lunchmeat).

• PetSafe Busy Buddy Twist 'n Treat...total pain in the ass to fill if you put more than half a cup of food in it, but it's a great "intro to puzzle toys" for a dog that has never had to work for food before. Also very easy to clean.
  
• Soda Pup Coffee Cup...representative of a whole genre of "rubber toys with large holes" that make great easy kibble toys or challenging stuff and freeze toys. Some other toys in this genre are the Kong and the West Paw Toppl. I like the Soda Pup ones best because they have higher capacity and a flat bottom.
  
• Planet Dog Orbee Tuff Snoop...pretty easy by itself with kibble, can be made more challenging by stuffing a Mazee ball in the large hole.
  
• Plastic Milk Jug...or a water bottle, raid your recycling bin. You'll have to supervise to make sure your puppy doesn't shred and eat the jug, but it's a relatively easy and fun (and free) enrichment item. Another puzzle toy you may find in your recycling bin is a cardboard box filled with paper balls. Sprinkle some treats in the box, fill with the balls, and let your dog forage around in your DIY ball pit.
  
  Easy Rollers
  These basically just dispense kibble by rolling. Not particularly complex, but good for the dog that prefers to solve puzzles by brute force.
  
  
• IQ Treat Ball...this toy takes the longest to empty out of all my toys, but it is way too freaking small and loud as hell on my hardwood at 6am. Really easy to fill and clean though, as it comes completely apart.
  
• Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball...a lot quieter but it empties faster and isn't as easy to fill (or clean).
  
• Kruuse Buster Cube...this one is also ungodly loud, but it takes a good while to empty despite the fairly consistent payoff per roll. It's a cube (but they also make a spherical one) and the insides have a few baffles to keep kibble from just falling out.
  
  Wobblers
  These require a more finessed rolling motion to empty, so they're the next step up from just batting a toy around.
  
  
• PetSafe Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble...more of a wobbler/roller hybrid. Surprisingly time-consuming for how huge the holes are, and it gets an A+ for filling and cleaning. Unfortunately my GSD knows how to unscrew it, so it's not much of a challenge for him.
  
• Starmark Bob-A-Lot...lots of ways to adjust the difficulty on this one, which is nice. I had a foster chew the yellow piece off of mine, but it still works well.
  
• Kong Wobbler...pretty standard toy, I actually do not have one of these but I know a lot of people that like them. They're available at big box pet stores which is nice.
  
• Nina Ottosson Pyramid...very similar to the Kong Wobbler, but the hole is in a more difficult location. Good toy but the bottom could use more counterweighting for the wobble action.
  
• PetSafe Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom...really good wobble action, but for some reason it's common for dogs to try and chuck this one down the stairs and break it. I've heard of a few dogs doing this, including my GSD. I have no idea what about this toy screams "fling me down the stairs!"
  
  Complex Action Toys
  These need movement in more than one direction (or very specific movement) to get kibble out of, which makes them pretty challenging.
  
  
• PetSafe Busy Buddy Tug-a-Jug...this toy is hard to learn but easy to master. Once your dog figures out the mechanism it doesn't last long. Also that rope gets SUPER GROSS.
  
• Nina Ottosson Board Games...I don't personally have any of these because my dogs cannot be trusted with small parts, but I've heard people say good things about them.
  
• Trixie Mad Scientist...this toy is cool because the dog has to learn to spin the tubes slowly or centripetal acceleration holds the food in. Good exercise in impulse control. I had a DIY one for awhile but my dogs decided to brute force this toy.
  
  Soothing, Low Energy Toys
  Along with the stuff n' freeze toys, these are good for dogs on crate rest or who need some extra help relaxing before bed.
  
  
• Snuffle Mat...great toy for activating a dog's foraging instincts and calming their minds. This is a good DIY project, or you can get extra lazy and chuck a bunch of food into the grass for nature's puzzle toy.
  
• HyperPet Lickimat...my cats eat their wet food from the orange kind ("buddy"), and my dogs use the green kind ("soother") with some PB or cheese as a distraction during grooming. You can spread a thin layer of something tasty on them and freeze for a long-lasting treat that promotes the calming behavior of licking.
  
  
  My dogs (and cats!) eat all their food out of puzzles so I am constantly on the lookout for new challenges! I'd be happy to provide more details on any of the toys I have, or buy and review any toys people have been wondering about :)
  EDIT: btw this Jackson Galaxy Asteroid is my favorite cat puzzle toy. They really need to make one for dogs because it is kinda quirky with its bounciness and super quiet.

If your dog likes sniffing around and foraging, you should look into a snuffle mat! I have a super smell driven pupper and she loves it. Meal time taking 10-15 minutes is great and exercising her sniff senses definitely chills her out a bit.

That said, if you have the type of dog that will immediately search for the fastest way to get the food, you might need to teach them to use by starting with only 5-10 pieces of kibble. I'm sure my lab growing up would have realized flipping it over is the fastest way to get the food if we just dumped food on it.

Not the OC, but I've used the IQ Treat Ball and Omega Paw ball with success!

I also recommend a snuff mat, especially if you'd rather keep your floors kibble-free! Not necessarily recommending that specific brand of snuff mat as I think snuff mats generally work the same, just wanted to show you the product. :)

A rescue local to me has started using things like

https://www.amazon.com/Wooly-Snuffle-Mat-Encourages-Foraging/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=sr_1_32?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1538592079&sr=1-32&keywords=dog+food+mat

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To slow down their fast eaters. Those are just the first that came up on amazon for an example BTW

Puzzle toys are great too. Kong Wobbler, The Foobler, and Snuffle Mats are great options. You can make your own snuffle mat pretty easily.

Kongs are the simplest and its really easy to "level up". Start by just putting in dry kibble, then wet kibble, then freeze the wet kibble and seal up the big hole with yogurt or peanut butter. Then you can layer it so its frozen wet kibble, cheese, kibble, yogurt, kibble, peanut butter etc. It'll start taking longer and longer to get everything out. My pup loves the Kong Wobbler too! Not only does it tire him out, but it spreads out his meal so he doesn't eat it as fast. Same with the IQ ball. The puzzle board was great for awhile but then got too easy for him. Snuffle mats are pretty easy to DIY too if you don't want to fork over the money to buy a real one.

This isn't a puzzle toy, but we feed our dog using a snuffle mat. It slows her dinner down from 5 seconds to 5+ minutes, her poops have gotten better, and it has the same kind of energizing/entertaining/mental stimulus factor.

Not sure if this allowed couldn’t find anything in about section that prohibits sharing links but here ya go!

Nina Ottoson Outward Hound Dog Brick Treat Puzzle Dog Toy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711Y9XTF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dzNPDbQ0N6AW1


PAW5: Wooly Snuffle Mat - Feeding Mat for Dogs (12" x 18") - Encourages Natural Foraging Skills - Easy to Fill - Fun to Use Design - Durable and Machine Washable - Perfect for Any Breed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dANPDbB4NDWAG

The last thing we did was get tennis balls and a muffin tin, filled a few with treats and covered the muffin slots with the balls to have her sniff them out.

And the easiest is to hide treats and have her sniff them out throughout the house.

I don't know how we lived without snuffle mats.

This is the best one you can buy that I'm aware of for meal feeding and regular use. We've had a couple for a long time and machine wash them frequently and they've held up beautifully. I personally wouldn't waste my money on a fleece one.

Snuffle Matt with an IQ Ball is my genius invention I haven’t seen anywhere else.

https://www.amazon.com/Wooly-Snuffle-Mat-Encourages-Foraging/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=asc_df_B01N1FV55I/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198071232162&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3592997858012089969&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031939&hvtargid=pla-349638453770&psc=1

You hide kibble under the felt and it triggers the dogs instincts for digging through grass. It takes our 14 week old about 20 minutes to sniff it all out and holds a 1/3 cup easily.

https://www.amazon.com/Our-Pets-Treat-Interactive-Dispensing/dp/B003ARUKTG/ref=asc_df_B003ARUKTG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198111066934&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10592075457433977437&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031939&hvtargid=pla-355229308255&psc=1

She pushes the IQ ball around to get kibble out and they fall in to the snuffle matt, forcing her to find them again.

Lots of kibble and easily a 30 minute effort that she naps after.

I recently made a snuffle mat for my dog. It is essentially a rubber bar mat with fleece strips tied through the holes to resemble grass. You make on yourself or buy one on Etsy or this one on Amazon

The best part is that the dog makes a wicked cute "snuffling" noise when sniffing for the food :)

Dogs need two types of exercise, physical and mental. Although what you are doing with him does have a lot of mental stimulation it's mostly physical. Spend some time every morning and evening doing some type of training, either a new trick, or reinforcing the things he already knows.

Also get toys that will keep his mind active. I feed my dog with this every evening. You could also try a Snuffle mat.

I've found that most dogs chew because they're either bored or they teething. Keeping them active both physically and mentally will help cut a lot of unwanted chewing. After that just keep consistent and when you find them chewing on something they are not supposed to chew give them something they can.

It's up to us to teach them what is or is not allowed, they eventually catch on, but sometimes it can take a bit.

You could always order one from Amazon - this one has good reviews - and have it delivered to an Amazon Locker in the city for pickup.

I made mine out of a rubber sink mat and strips of fleece fabric. There's a link to the pre-made one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_kElXDbWQ1JWSR

If you want to make one just google snuffle mat and you'll get like 15 different tutorials or videos about it!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6Mn7Bb97KF4V6

This is the one we have, wouldn’t let me copy the link directly for some reason. They have all sorts available!

I have had the same issue. I adopted a Australian Shepherd who lived most of his life in shelters. It is so sad that he can't play yet. When I fist got Timber he couldn't even enjoy being touched. It's been a long road. I can recommend two things whole-heartedly:

1. A Snuffle Mat! You hide food in it and it takes him a while to find them and we do make it like a game and it reinforces his beagling skills https://www.amazon.com/Wooly-Snuffle-Mat-Encourages-Foraging/dp/B01N1FV55I/ref=sr_1_3?crid=38K8RUHNRBC2V&keywords=snuffle+mat+for+dogs&qid=1562695856&s=gateway&sprefix=snuffle+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-3
   
2. This toy it is awesome and my dog loves it and he can play with it alone or with me - kind of play soccer with it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054C9B1I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   I'm also playing a game - that I hope doesn't make me sound like a slob - my house is clean - I promise. But I get small treats that he really loves (cut up franks or cheese cubes) and I throw them in the house and he egg him on to run and chase them - he loves it - and I'm hoping to parlay this into fetch with a ball/frisbee. It takes a while but so rewarding to see them make little strides in 'dogging'. Good luck - please share a photo of your pup!
   
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   ETA: I'd also love to hear other advice/strategies!

I have a pup who occasionally gets in a picky mood so I got one of these wobbler feeding balls to mix up his mealtime routine.


If he still seems disinterested, sometimes I throw in one or two pieces of a small treat that I know he will smell and go after. It's a lot of fun to watch, too!


Edit to add: Since you mentioned that she sometimes eats it when scattered on the floor... have you looked into a Snuffle mat? They are basically small fringed rugs that the food "hides" in and they have to sniff it out.