Welcome to the Wednesday Dogs of Dogster! Every Wednesday, we share a story from one of our Dogsters. This week is about Kate & Gizmo, her scruffy Pug mix.
Gizmo’s a smart little dude, and especially when I first adopted him, he needed a lot of entertainment and enrichment, for both mind and body. My dog trainer gave me a great bit of advice: meals are his favorite time of the day, so why would you waste that on a bowl? His breakfasts and dinners quickly became the best time of the day for both of us, as I devised elaborate games and he joyfully unraveled them. Here are some of his favorite mealtime puzzles and games:
The Scavenger Hunt
This one is always a winner and is the game I use most often. I take the kibble and hide it all over the house, putting one or two pieces along the windowsill, inside his toys, under furniture, on each step of the staircase, and really anywhere that he can safely reach. It takes him at least half an hour, depending on how intricate my hiding is, and he spends at least that long re-checking each place to see if he missed anything. This game also works well with the other ideas on this list, and sometimes I’ll combine it with the snuffle mat or the Puffin Game (see below) to really give him a challenge.
The Puffin Game
Gizmo is the proud owner of The Puffin Game, a slow feeder from a company called Fable Pets. It’s similar to the classic Kong Wobbler, but the Puffin Game is significantly more challenging. Both of these feeders have a weighted base and a top that unscrews so you can add the kibble. The difference is that the Puffin has a spinning insert that you can use to set the difficulty level, from a simple hole to a little tunnel the kibble has to travel down to reach the hole. And yes, Gizmo’s is always set on hard.
Because Gizmo is such a brilliant boy, he’s learned that if he gets the Puffin spinning just right, he can get the top and bottom threads to unscrew, leading to a kibble jackpot! It’s always fun watching him get into this super-focused mode, spinning it intensely with his paws while whining with excitement and then racing around eating the individual kibbles.
The Snuffle Mat
This one is simple but oh-so-effective and surprisingly versatile. I have an actual snuffle mat – a rubber mat with felt strips tied all over it, creating a soft mound with many hiding places (kind of like this one) – but you can also use a variety of things around the house, and even just your backyard!
The snuffle mat concept is that Gizmo has to search through something to find his kibble, engaging his senses of smell and sight. The snuffle mat basically replicates a field of grass, where dogs scavenging would search among the blades for something they want to eat. To use the snuffle mat, I take a handful of kibble and weave it in between the felt strips, pushing many of the pieces all the way down to the rubber so he has to do some intensive searching.
I’ve also used a crumpled-up towel or blanket and thrown kibble in the actual grass or across a patio. Just make sure there isn’t anything there that your dog shouldn’t eat!
The Box
Like many of us, my housemate and I are guilty of ordering slightly too many things online. The upside is that we usually have shipping boxes on hand, often stuffed with cardboard or paper. These old boxes make the best games because I can let him destroy them as much as he wants (getting out some destructive energy without ruining any real toys or furniture).
To play this meal game, I sprinkle his kibble into the box, making sure it lands in different layers of paper or cardboard. If there’s brown paper, I’ll wrap it tightly around a small handful of kibble, then bury the whole thing under everything else. If I have smaller boxes too, even better! (Pro tip: those little berry boxes with all the holes are perfect for this) I’ll hide some kibble inside the little boxes and then bury them in the bigger boxes. Finally, I’ll close the box and flip it upside down.
Then I point at the box and say “Go find it!” He has to flip the box over (usually by pushing it over to the nearest wall), then use his little snoot to find each individual kibble among the boxes and papers. Best of all, he’ll keep coming back to the box and searching thoroughly, just in case there’s still a kibble in there somewhere.
The Licky Mat
Although Gizmo is generally a kibble guy, he does occasionally have wet food as a special treat. When I give him wet food feasts, I use a licky mat, pressing the wet food into the ridges and nubs of the rubber mat to slow down the eating process. Sometimes I add dog-safe fruits or vegetables on top of the wet food, and hilariously, he always carefully noses them off first so he can focus on the meat of the matter. Once he’s done licking up every atom of the wet food, he’ll go back and sample the side salad.
Game On!
Gizmo and I have so much fun playing these games at his mealtimes. They help him eat more slowly (inhaling that bowl of kibble in a matter of seconds is not it, folks), engage his active little brain, and help him feel satisfied enough for a cozy midmorning or evening nap. And I love engaging my brain to come up with new ideas.
Do you have any favorite mealtime games with your dog? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below! Gizmo’s always looking for new challenges…
This article features Kate and Gizmo in our Wednesday Dogs of Dogster series.
