Snuffle mats are awesome, but my dogs have gotten pretty good at sniffing out their food quickly. I wanted to give them more of a challenge. I searched Pinterest and found this pin.

You can find bins pretty much anywhere, but I got mine at Dollar Tree. I got 2 yards of fleece from Fabric Depot. I could have made all 3 bins with 1 yard of fabric; but with all the experimentation with strip lengths, I’m glad I went with 2.

I used a loop knot instead of a square knot because I like the way it looks. I tried varying the strip lengths: long, short, long, etc. I tried extra long strips. I tried one row and alternating rows. I had Lexi test out all the different variations and we figured out what worked best.

I cut the strips so they reached 3/4ths across the width of the bin and created 2 layers. One layer worked fine, but I like that I can hide food at the bottom of the bin and between the 2 layers. Anything to slow the dogs down and make them work for their meals or treats.

For Joie’s bin, I flipped the bin upside down, swirled a hole in the center, poured her food in the bottom, then combed the strips with my fingers over to tangle them up some. But then I realized all she had to do was snuffle to the bottom and find the pockets of food.

With Lexi & Gambit’s bins, I poured their food over the top and mushed it around with my hands a little to mix the food into the strips. It worked much better to have some food on top, some between the layers, and some at the bottom.