Learn how lick mats enhance your pup’s life
What Is a Lick Mat?
Lick mats are exactly what they sound like. This popular new dog accessory is a flat mat that you use to spread delicious treats on for your dog to lick off. Lick mats often have ridges and different textures. They come in all different shapes and sizes and look similar to a maze. Typically, they are made of a silicone material which makes cleaning them easier. You simply spread your choice of snacks for your dog on the mat, and then they lick away!
Benefits Of A Lick Mat
There are many reasons pet owners might pull out their lick mats for their favorite pups to enjoy. This dog food accessory helps encourage healthy eating habits for your dog and creates an interactive meal to help keep your dog’s mind stimulated. If you’re one of those dog moms who either has a lick mat and doesn’t use it a lot OR hasn’t purchased one yet, then listen up. Here is a list of reasons lick mats make your dog’s life better:
1. Reduce Stress & Anxiety
As an ultimate dog mom, you never want your pup to ever feel anxious or stressed out. When a dog experiences anxiety, they often experience a burst of energy that causes them to pant, pace, or cause destruction around the house. Lick mats are a great tool to use for your pup to exert that energy somewhere else. The constant licking they do helps in soothing them and ultimately calms them down in stressful situations.
2. Cures Boredom
There are no bored doggos allowed in an ultimate dog mom’s household! As superior pet pawrents, we want our favorite pups entertained at all times. Afterall, that is the easiest way to ensure that your dog has a better, more fulfilling life. Lick mats are extremely entertaining since you put various spreads and snacks on the puzzle like mat for them to slowly gather up and lick to completion.
3. Stimulates Mind
We dog moms love taking our fur-iend on a long and tiring walk. Let's be honest, they love it too. Walks and physical activity easily drains your dog’s energy levels, but did you know that working their mind will tire them out too? Lick mats force your pup to use their mind by forcing them to strategize on how to get the mat completely clean. Mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise for our best friends.
4. Creates A Distraction
The dreaded bath time. Some pawrents know the struggle is real when it comes to bathing their fur-child. For those who don’t know the struggle, we envy you. Pulling out the lick mat for activities that often cause anxiety in your dog or stress makes a huge difference. The lick mat will be something that can distract your dog and capture all of their attention while you complete much needed tasks like grooming.
5. Training Aid (used as reward)
There are so many delicious treats you can spread or place on a lick mat. Blueberries, bananas, carrots, peanut butter, bone broth, you name it! Making this delicious and often aesthetically pleasing treat for your dog can make for a great reward after training sessions.
What To Put On Lick Mats
This is the fun part. There are SO many yummy treats to put on a lick mat for your pup. However, you do want to ensure that they are safe for your dog before you prepare the treat. Here are a few of our favorite foods/spreads to put on a lick mat:
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Carrots
- Cheese
- Green Beans
- Pumpkin
- Bananana
- Sweet Potato Puree
- Peanut Butter
- Bone Broth (frozen)
Lick Mats To Try
There are so many different types of lick mats out there. If you’re searching for a lick mat to test out, here are a few of our favorites that are dishwasher safe, freezer safe, and microwave safe:
