Canine Partners

Our instructions show you how to use materials you may find at home, such as a sink mat or rubber mat with holes, and simply thread strips of fabric and tie in a knot. Once completed, kibble or treats can be hidden amongst the fabric strands, meaning your dog can then snuffle and route around to find their food.

Snuffle mat instructions

What you will need:

• Sink mat – rubber or plastic is fine
• Sharp scissors to cut your fabric
• Fabric strips – 1 ½ inches wide and 10 inches long. You can use thin fleece fabric or use material from old t shirts. Avoid using fabric that frays, is really thick (as it will be hard to thread through the holes) and any fabric that has buttons/embellishments.

Step one

• Thread one of your fabric pieces through the first hole and then back up through the next hold. Feed the fabric through until it is even
• Tie a simple knot in the fabric and pull it tight
• You may want to tie a double knot to make it more secure
• Continue threading and knotting your pieces of fabric until you have a completed first row

Step two

• Once you have completed the first row, you can then start to thread your fabric the other way
• Continue tying knots in the same direction until you have completed this row

• Continue tying knots in the same direction until you have completed this row

• The back of your mat should now look like this:

Step three

• Next, start tying knots along the row going the other way. So the same way that you did your first row
• Keep repeating this until you have knotted a fabric strip in each hole
• Tip! You can trim your fabric strips if you think they are too long

Voila, you are now ready to use your snuffle mat! You can use your dog’s kibble or dry treats to hide amongst the strips so that your dog can snuffle and find them.

Want to improve your skills? Next time you can use different coloured fabric strips to make different patterns or you could get technical and do the initial of your dog’s name!