Description
HELP CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE SIZE
SMALL – is suitable for smaller dog breeds, puppies, cats, and small furries such as rabbits. This size is also useful for larger dogs as a portable mat for taking on holiday, for settling in the pub or cafe or for use as a training aid.
30cm x 25cm
REGULAR – this size is suitable for all puppies and dog breeds and will fit a whole kibble meal i.e. half of their daily kibble allowance or can be topped up. Also great enrichment for cats.
35cm x 35cm
LARGE – great for medium to large dogs, or just for providing extra foraging enrichment for smaller dogs plus cats.
50cm x 35cm
XL – for larger dog breeds large or if you simply want to treat your pet to a larger foraging area. Bigger is always better when it comes to snuffle mats 😊 😊
Size XL is essentially a double size regular mat.
65cm x 35cm
All measurements are approximate and may vary slightly from mat to mat due to being handmade
WHY USE A SNUFFLING MAT?
Originally developed in The Netherlands for dogs, snuffling mats are :
🐾 a great way to engage a dog’s brain and enables them to use their natural sniffing and foraging instincts
🐾 sniffing out dry treats or kibble is tiring and uses energy – as dogs have huge sniffing systems compared to us humans
🐾 relieves boredom and adds enrichment to their lives
🐾 sniffing helps to stimulate the release of calming hormones, so can help to reduce stress in an anxious dog or calm an overexcited dog
🐾 useful for enrichment and boredom busting in dogs that are sick, elderly or on restricted exercise
🐾 can provide a positive distraction and calming enrichment whilst settling in a pub or cafe, or during activities such as grooming
🐾 for dogs that eat too quickly feeding their full kibble meal hidden in a snuffling mat greatly slows them down
🐾 useful training tool, for example when teaching self control or settling, or can be used as a reward during general training or dog sports
🐾🐈 🐇 🐹 originally developed for dogs but also great enrichment for other pets – such as cats, rabbits and other small furries.
HOW TO USE A SNUFFLING MAT
Give the mat a good shake before use to fluff up the fleece strips.
If your pet is new to snuffling mats just sprinkle some tasty dry treats on the surface of the mat so that your pet can easily find them and they will quickly learn that snuffling results in food. Gradually hide the treats further into the mat to enhance their foraging experience and increase the time it takes to snuffle out all the food.
I suggest giving the mat a good shake after use too to remove any remaining food.
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR DOG CHEWS THE MAT
If you have a dog like ours who initially trIed to chew the mat then:
1. If your dog has a ‘leave it’ cue, a ‘drop it’ cue or similar use that to ask them to leave the mat and remove the mat each time they try to chew it. They soon learn they only keep the mat if they do not chew it 😀
2. If you do not already have a suitable cue then teach a ‘leave it’ type cue and reintroduce the snuffling mat.
NOTE: Only use this technique if you know it will be suitable for your dog, and they do not resource guard or food guard.
WASHING YOUR SNUFFLING MAT
I suggest washing by hand. Soak in a small amount of gentle detergent in cold water (no fabric conditioner), rinse well to remove the smell of the detergent, wring out gently to remove excess water then air dry.
The fleece is machine washable at 30 degrees C so the snuffling mats can be washed on a gentle cool cycle (preferably inside an old pillow case or similar, plus added towels to balance the weight) but bear in mind that the mat will be heavy when wet so I leave it up to you whether or not you wish to wash in your washing machine.
Do not tumble dry. Leave to air dry.
DISCLAIMER
As with all snuffle and pet products we recommend that you always supervise your pets with our products, and discard if damaged.
Regularly check there are no loose strips of fleece and re-tie as required. Always check after washing.
Not for children.
TREATS
Walker and Drake make tasty soft baked treat which are:
• Grain and Gluten Free
• Free from artificial flavours, colours and no added sugar
• Pocket sized re-sealable bag
• Made in the UK
• Easy to break into smaller pieces
• Suitable for dogs from 8 weeks
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