Easter and Dogs

Who amongst us doesn’t love an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt with the kids on Easter Sunday morning?  Those squeals of joy when another chocolate egg is added to the ‘loot basket’ make memories that families talk about forever. But what about when Fido wants to join in or even worse, what if he grabs one of those treasured Easter Eggs and scoffs it! There’s no fun in an urgent Vet visit especially on a public holiday. And sometimes, all that noise & excitement can end in tears if Flossy is jumping around or barking her joy at the unusual party happening?

How about creating a special dog-friendly treasure hunt just for your special family member while everyone else is off chasing chocolate? It really is a super simple thing to do and not only keeps the dog safe, but also occupied so they don’t feel like they are missing out on the fun.

Plan ahead and have a little mix of quick to eat treats like Love Em’ cookies or some safe doggy chocs, and some that take a little longer to chew like duck jerky strips and a pigs ear.  Chop the duck jerky strips in half and the pigs ear up into a couple of bits – garden secateurs are your friend for this job! Next gather a pile of the quick to eat treats and if using cookies, just break them into smaller bits.

Now you need to pick a room to set the treasure hunt up in? TIP: Make sure that your dog has already been out for a quick toilet break first thing on Easter Sunday morning. You don’t want the stimulus of all these treats suddenly creating a need for speed … in getting to the loo!

Start at the entry point to the room and drizzle a modest trail of the cookie crumbles or doggy chocs from that point to somewhere else in the room. Don’t make it too far away. Leave a piece of jerky there.

Then a short bit further, start the yummy trail again with more cookie crumbles then leave a piece of pigs ear, and so on. Loop the trail around the furniture and try not to cross it over each other. You might choose to end the treasure hunt trail with a squeaky or soft toy that has a little peanut paste spot on it just to keep them occupied for a little more time.

If you have an open plan house, you could make the trail a little more spread out as well. Scenting work is a great sensory adventure for your dog at any time but on Easter Sunday morning, those 30 minutes of fun for them also keeps them safe while the human kids are having a blast seeing what the Easter Bunny has left them.