DIY Snuffle Bin For Dogs

A snuffle bin is a brain game for your dog. It keeps them busy and keeps that brain thinking. Here is a simple DIY so you can make your own.

My dog destroys toys quickly….and when I say quickly I mean within minutes. I love her but its pretty frustrating when you spend money on something and *poof* five minutes later its destroyed. I was randomly scrolling through Pinterest one day and came across snuffle bins. I love a good cheap and easy DIY project so lets get into it.

What is a snuffle bin?

A snuffle bin is a fun engaging dog puzzle made from pieces of fabric and is meant to keep your dogs sniffer engaged and searching for treats. It gives the dog an opportunity to enhance their sniffing capabilities. Sounds pretty simple and straight forward. Dogs possess a sense of smell many times more sensitive and accurate than humans so it is important that we give our dogs more opportunities to use that nose and we can make it fun for them.

How to make a snuffle bin

There are a thousand ways you can make a snuffle bin. You can even make a snuffle mat or snuffle ball. You can buy them online already pre-made or save yourself some money and do it yourself. I opted to make it myself and it was very inexpensive. No measurements or fancy materials needed.

Supplies:
Colander (purchased for $1 at the dollar store)
Couple yards of fleece (about $6 at fabric store and was on sale)
Scissors

About those supplies. I originally wanted a cheap basket with holes but I could not find one. So I found this colander at the dollar store and thought I would give it a try. It ended up working great and did exactly what I was looking for in a bin. I purchased a few yards of fleece that was on sale at the local fabric store. You do not need that much but I used the excess as little blankets for my dog. One yard of fleece should be more than enough.

You will need to cut the fleece into strips and tie the strips into the holes of your bin or whatever you decide to use. I did not measure my strips I just cut them all into different lengths. The most important part is making sure you are cutting the fleece along the stretch. Fleece is stretchy but only in one direction. So make sure you are cutting your strips so they stretch, otherwise you will have no stretch when you try to tie the strips into the holes of the bin. You can see from the pictures below I did not put strips in every row of holes. I did it just enough to make the bin full so she will have to search for her treats.

I have used the snuffle bin multiple times with Millie and she loves it! She always gets excited when she sees me prepping it for her. She also has gotten very fast at sniffing out all the treats! Most times I put a little bit of kibble in the bin and push it into the fabric. I also will break up her soft treats and stuff them into the bin. It has been a great way to keep her busy and happy!

Thanks for reading!

– Rebekah

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