Project by Stephanie Marsh
Snuffle mats are a great way to encourage your dog to sniff and search for hidden treats. You can easily make them yourself and encourage enrichment exercises for your dog.
You will need:
· Fleece, either in once colour or a variety of colours (amount depends on size of mat, the strips are 1” x 6”, to work out how many you need you need to count the bars between the holes horizontally and vertically, then times them together, then times by 2, e.g. 17 bars across, 12 bars down = 189 x 2 = 378). I used dimple fleece, but this works well with both dimple and normal. For a recycled version you could maybe try cutting up old t shirts/sweatshirts, anything that doesn’t fray.
· 1 draining rack mat (I used this one from Amazon, https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000CFPTY/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_glt_fabc_QZFMT3129TV4E4C1XGYM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1)
Instructions:
1. Work out how many strips you will need, see working outs above.
2. Then decide how you would like the colours laid out, I have the pink going one way and the grey going the other way.
3. Cut strips 1” x 6” in the fleece, the amount as per your workings out. I cut 189 pink and 189 grey. For quick cutting out I used a rotary cutter, quilting ruler and cutting mat, this allows you to cut many layers at a time.
4. Take one strip and feed one end through one of the whole, then the other end through the hole next to it, turn the mat over and tie once.
5. Continue this all the way along the row.
6. Repeat with all the other rows.
7. Now repeat the whole process going the other way, you may find a pokey tool or pen with lid on handy to poke the fleece through. Take care not to catch in the ends of other strips.
8. Give the mat a shake to get rid of any loose bit.
9. Now all left to do is to put some of yours dog’s small treats or dried biscuits in amongst the strips for her to snuffle out.
To see more from Stephanie, visit her on Instagram @stephanie_j_marsh
Made by Stephanie Marsh for The Craft Cotton Company 2021
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