Let Your Dog In On the Easter Festivities!
Can you believe it’s almost Easter? Man, this year is already flying by fast! For those of you who want to include your dog in on the Easter fun, here’s a fun way to give your dog their own doggie Easter egg hunt. Word to the wise: if you do have both children AND dogs, we advise having two separate egg hunts. But, this may be a great activity to set up with your kids for their dog! Have fun, and Hoppy Easter!
Tips for a safe Doggie Easter Egg Hunt:
- As always, safety first! Your dog should have a reliable “leave it” or “drop it” command to release the eggs once they find them. This includes not playing the “keep away” game if they get something in their mouth! If your dog will swallow plastic eggs in one gulp or those commands aren’t reliable, don’t use plastic eggs. You can use either stuffable dog toys, or just hide the treat itself. However, if your dog will pick things up and release them nicely – then by all means stuff some plastic eggs with treats for them to find 🙂
- Help them see the plastic eggs (if you pass the tip above). Here’s something most people won’t remember: dogs see mostly in shades of yellow and blue. So those red eggs that come in the package might be hard for them to find if they are put in dark shrubbery. To help give your plastic eggs some contrast to the environment, try these tips:
- Layering them with strips of black or white tape
- Draw stripes around them with a permanent marker.
- Make sure all eggs are accounted for. If you need to do two separate egg hunts, try using stickers to differentiate between the dog’s eggs, and the kids’ eggs; or go metallic eggs (kids) vs. plain eggs (dog). Count them after the respective egg hunts to make sure there aren’t any left over eggs. You don’t want kids finding eggs with liver treats or dogs finding eggs with chocolate or candy!
- The stinkier the treats, the easier for your dog. Your dog’s nose is going to be his biggest ally when hunting Easter eggs – help him out a bit by using smelly treats. Hey, those eggs are closed…so the scent won’t permeate as well. You can aid the scent escaping by carefully poking a few small holes in the shell to let the scent out; or you can smear some peanut butter or cheese on the outside.
- Make the game fun, but start off easy. If this is your first time doing this, your dog may need some help figuring out the game. Prep your yard or floor by sprinkling some eggs all around and then hide a few to make it more interesting. Start by putting the first egg in front of your dog, let him open it (or help him if you need to), and enjoy the treat inside. Lead him to the next egg in the yard and let him have fun finding all the easy treat-filled eggs. When you’re ready, lead him to the first hidden egg. After a few of those, he’ll probably figure out the game…but even if you have to lead him to every hidden egg, that’s OK! This is all about fun and bonding with your dog!
- More than one dog could mean more than one hunt. Not only do you have to think about separate hunts for dogs vs. kids, think about doing it if you have more than one dog. This is supposed to be fun – so make sure your dogs are going to play nice. For example, if you have a resource guarder, that is a great reason to give each dog their own hunt.
Related: 6 Tips for Dog Enrichment
Thanks to Dogster Magazine for the inspiration and tips behind this fun blog post!
I hope you have a safe and “hoppy” Easter weekend!
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