Tips for dog-friendly Easter searches from Susanne Reinke
It's just a stone's throw away: Easter! There are little surprises hidden everywhere, Easter baskets are filled and everyone tries to find as many Easter eggs as possible. But it's not just children for whom this festival is a very special experience: our four-legged friends also love the search and can easily be included in the celebrations. In today's post I'll show you what a dog-friendly Easter can look like.
Why searches are so great
To make Easter a fun event for your four-legged friend, you can organize your own Easter hunt for him. This gives him joy and at the same time keeps him busy, because working with his nose is very tiring for him. Letting your dog search diligently also has another advantage: the search builds up the retrieval process – an important element that precedes a safe delivery. If you want to know more about fetching, read my last post “Playing with your dog: Fetching instead of giving it away”. Here I will explain to you exactly how to approach the drop-off correctly and motivate your dog to pick it up.
Easter dangers
Easter time can be used to let your dog search, but be careful: If a search for two-legged friends takes place beforehand, caution is advised, because not everything that is hidden and searched for will be found by humans – if it doesn't end up in our Easter basket, it will quickly disappear in the dog's snout. So during the Easter season, pay particular attention to whether your dog discovers something that is not intended for him, such as poisonous chocolate.
Tip: If you want to know more about what dogs might find at Easter but should definitely not eat, then read the article “Sweet Easter for your dog”. Here you will find a list of potential Easter dangers.
If you are hiding something yourself that should only be found by humans, count how much you put out beforehand. It's best to remember the hiding places or make notes about them. This way you can then check whether there is any candy hidden somewhere that your dog could find.
Danger: Leftovers from the Easter hunt aren't the only thing to look out for. Poisonous berries also deserve your attention, as do the early bloomers that are now growing everywhere. Puppies in particular often find the latter exciting and dare to take a bite of the plant, even though it is also poisonous.
Choosing the Easter presents
Once you're sure you've found a suitable environment for an Easter hunt, you can start choosing little surprises for your dog. Whatever excites him is suitable for the search: dry food, treats or chewing bones can be quickly hidden and give your dog great joy when they find it. An Easter basket is suitable here, so that your four-legged friend doesn't find food scattered everywhere. Toys are also an option, as is a food dummy, but only use the dummy during the Easter hunt if your dog is already familiar with it so that he doesn't run away with it and chew it up to get the food. Otherwise, resort to toys or food. It's best to choose one option. In this way you avoid that your dog, for example, only looks for the treats and leaves the toys behind.
A little insider tip: Make sure you don't hide anything blue or white. This is as easy for your dog to see as a blob of paint on white paper and is therefore no longer exciting to look for.
Now we're looking!
Once you have decided on the right Easter surprises, you can start hiding them. So that you can look for hiding places without being disturbed and your dog doesn't start looking immediately, put him down – you can also put him on a leash or send him to another place for a short time with a second person. Once you have laid out everything and are ready, you can start the search with a command like “Search”. If you want to make the search a little easier for your dog, you can search with him after laying them out, i.e. walk through the garden and pretend that you are also looking for hiding places. Your dog will quickly find you and what you do exciting and join in. As soon as he finds the first hiding place, he will be happy and think you are the greatest person in the world.
You can think about how the search should work beforehand. You have various options. Among other things, you can do the following:
- You can hide several treats, send your dog on a search and let him eat them as soon as he finds them (For more Easter cheer, you can also hide the delicacies in Easter baskets).
- You can lay out several things and let your dog bring everything he finds to you first. However, you should make sure that you only hide things that your dog is willing to give away again. Reward him after each delivery and only then send him on his way again.
- There can only be one hiding place at a time that your dog has to discover. Here, too, you can consider whether he can immediately eat up what he finds (if it is food) or whether he should bring it to you first.
During each search, you can either accompany your dog or – if you feel safe – let him go on the search alone. However, it is important that you have enough distance from your dog when he brings the Easter surprises to you so that he is motivated. If you're too close to each other, he won't even think of bringing you something. For a nice ending, you can hide a (food) toy at the end that your four-legged friend can keep and play with immediately.
Good to know: The Easter hunt for your dog can also take place with children. The children can help with the preparations, such as baking dog biscuits or choosing the hiding places and being part of the search. However, it's best to let your child and dog search separately so that they don't accidentally collide, your dog doesn't find candy for children or thinks he has to defend his little gifts. It is important that the children are allowed to search first, otherwise your dog will want to continue searching when it is the kids' turn and thus disrupt their search.
Conclusion: A celebration for people and dogs
Egg hunting is the time of searching. You can – perhaps with your children – organize your own Easter hunt for your dog, where you hide something tasty or a toy that he can either pounce on immediately or that he should bring to you first. This way your dog has fun and is kept busy thanks to the work with his nose. In addition, in the search you can also set up the delivery that you need if the delivery is to work later. However, especially at Easter time, it is important to keep your eyes open so that your dog does not find anything when searching or on walks that is not intended for him and, in the worst case, is even poisonous to him. If you pay attention to this, you can have a wonderful Easter time with your four-legged friend. I wish you a nice Easter and successful searching!
Here is the relevant podcast episode on the topic.
Tip: Further contributions from Susanne Reinke
Was this amount interesting or helpful?
Your rating shows us what you and your furry friend like – it's like a treat for us.