04/06/2026
Ready to tire out your dog while you sit comfortably in a chair and watch them do all the work?
Ditch the food bowl, and have a Garden Party.
What you’ll need:
✅ your dog’s kibble (if your dog is not crazy about their kibble use their favorite treats or even high value food)
✅ a food-motivated dog
✅ a long-line or a few standard leashes hooked together to create a long line (only needed if you do not have a fenced in yard)
✅ grass (or if you are like me, some weeds masquerading as grass)
✅ comfy seating for the human
✅ beverage of choice for the human
✅ your phone to capture your dog having fun doing what they are biologically wired to do!
The Steps
1. If your dog is very food motivated, and you know that they would already move mountains for food, just chuck the kibble into the air and let it fall wherever while your dog watches.
2. If your dog needs more encouragement, hang out next to them and put out handfuls of kibble in small spaces to get them “searching.” Actively encourage them!
3. Sit back and relax and enjoy watching biology working for you instead of against you.
4. Share pictures📸
Not only are we tiring out our dogs because sniffing is mental stimulation, we are also teaching them a way to occupy themselves with an activity we prefer. Sniffing is much better than barking, digging, or making escape attempts at least according to the humans I meet.
Pictured, my current Treeing Walker Coonhound Lanna, and my late Beagle, Geordi back in 2015 having their own Garden Party My dogs have not eaten from bowls in over ten years!
