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Animal Ed-Ventures At Home: Baffle Your Dog

Written by: Arizona Humane Society

Baffle Your Dog with Homemade Dog Puzzles!

Thank you for joining our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home! This week is National Pet Week and we hope you and your pets will celebrate with us. This week's Animal Ed-Ventures At Home activity will offer your dog enrichment with homemade puzzles made from recycled materials. Supplies:

Recycled materials: Plastic cups, plastic bottles, paper towel rolls, cereal boxes, towels, tennis balls, empty plastic peanut butter jars, junk mail and muffin trays are a few options
String
Tape
Scissors
Knife (ask an adult for help using the knife)
Markers: Non-toxic, washable markers to decorate (optional)
Dog treats: Small, bite-sized treats or kibble
Chairs or other furniture: Puzzles can be used to hang some of your dog puzzles

Instructions:

Follow along with our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home video on AHS' Facebook page for inspiration for your dog puzzles! The video will premiere on Wednesday, May 6 at 10 a.m.
Collect your materials and begin making homemade dog puzzles.
Set up your activities and let your dog explore! Remember to supervise your dog when he or she is playing with your homemade puzzles.

Homemade Dog Puzzles:

Tennis Ball Teaser (ask an adult for help with this activity)
- Find an old tennis ball.
- Ask an adult to carefully cut a slit in the tennis ball about 3 inches long.
- Push the sides of the tennis ball together so you can fill it with some kibble.
Determination Tray
- Find some tennis balls and a plastic muffin tray with holes large enough to hold tennis balls in place.
- Add some kibble to each of the cups.
- Place a tennis ball over the top of the kibble.
Jar of Discovery (ask an adult for help with this activity)
- Find an empty plastic peanut butter jar and some junk mail.
- Draw a circle of the side of the jar about 2 inches wide.
- Ask an adult to carefully pierce a hole in the middle of the circle so you can get the top of the scissors inside to cut out the whole circle.
- Remove the lid from the jar.
- Take your junk mail (you make need to fold it so it fits inside the jar) and roll it up securing with some tape.
- Place junk mail inside your jar and add some kibble and treats. Put the lid back on the jar.
Reveal Towel
- Find an old towel.
- Lay it out and place some kibble at the end of the towel.
- Roll the towel up about half way.
- Add some more kibble and treats.
- Finish rolling up the towel.
Tipping Cups (ask an adult for help with this activity)
- Find three plastic cups and about 5-6 feet of string.
- Ask an adult to carefully pierce a hole in the top of the cup. Repeat on the opposite side.
- Tape over the holes on the inside and outside of the cup.
- Re-pierce the hole.
- Thread the string through the holes on the cup. Repeat until you have all three cups hanging on the string.
- Add some kibble and a treat to each of the cups.
- Hang the cups between two chairs.
Tipping Bottle (ask an adult for help with this activity)
- Find a plastic bottle and two pieces of string about 5-6 feet in length each.
- Ask an adult to carefully pierce a hole in the top of the bottle. Repeat on the opposite side.
- Thread the string through the hole and the top of the bottle. Secure with a knot. Repeat on other side of the bottle.
- Add some kibble and a treat to the bottle.
- Hang the bottle between two chairs.

Treat Tube
- Find a paper towel roll and a cereal box.
- Cut three slits in the tube about 1.5 inches long.
- Cut rectangles in your cereal box about 1.5 inches wide and 4 inches long. Make sure the rectangles fit in the slits in your paper towel rolls.
- Trim of the corners of the rectangles so they fit well inside of the tube.
- Place the bottom rectangle in the tube and add some kibble. Repeat with the middle and top rectangles.
- Tape the tube to a chair leg.

We would love to see your recycled dog puzzles when you are finished! Please feel free to share with us on AHS' Facebook page and be sure to join us for future activities each Wednesday at 10 a.m.!

AHS' Education and Outreach team inspires a compassionate community of animal lovers through education events across the Valley and youth programs in schools and in our shelters. They also care for our Animal Teachers, who are ambassadors who help young animal lovers develop an appreciation and compassion for living things through interaction and up-close observation. Our Animal Teachers come to us from a variety of circumstances. Some were surrendered or transferred to us from another rescue organization, while others were rescued after being abused, abandoned or injured. They become ambassadors in our education programs as their stories are filled with a message of caring, empathy and hope. Both our Animal Teachers and our own companion pets will join us in our Animal Ed-Ventures At Home weekly series.

Learn More About AHS' Youth Programs

May 12, 2020