Lick Mat Topper Sampler Kit
Share
The mat is not the problem. Peanut butter is, once it becomes the only thing that ever goes on one. This kit is a 4 inch suction mat, a suction holder to pin it down, and four single ingredient toppers that crumble into the grooves: cheddar, beef heart, sardine heads and pink salmon. Every kit we have built is listed on the Bundle Guides hub.
Where a sampler earns its place
You already own a mat and the dog already knows what it is for. What stopped was the variety, because one jar covers every session and your dog worked that jar out months ago. Our guide to single ingredient lick mat toppers lists the wider set. This page is the four we would buy together, plus the mat sized to match them.
Pass if your dog is over 40 pounds and you want one mat for everything. The Camp eMat is the larger surface to build around in that case, with these same four toppers bought alongside it.
Four flavors and the mat they sit on
The Turtle eMat Mini measures about 4 by 4 inches. SodaPup describes it as an FDA-compliant, BPA-free, PVC-free, phthalate-free TPE mat rated easy to medium difficulty. Small is the whole point here. A sampler only works if each flavor gets used up while it still counts as news, and a square this size holds one flavor at a time. Suction cups stick it to tile, glass or a tub wall, and it cleans up on the top rack of the dishwasher.
The Hold 'em is the piece nobody believes they need. SodaPup built it to secure an eBowl, eTray or eMat to a smooth surface, which is the answer to a mat that travels across the kitchen floor while the dog works one corner of it. Light blue TPE, top rack again, no parts. If your mat lives on a tub wall and never moves, leave this one out.
Our Lick Mat Topper Trio is the flavor engine. Three of our single ingredient treats in one box: Cheddar Cheese Bites, Freeze-Dried Beef Heart in the 1.5 ounce size, and Freeze-Dried Sardine Heads, all made in Malvern, Pennsylvania in small batches. You crush a few, press them into the grooves, and add a splash of water only if you want the mat to go in the freezer. Skip the trio only if your dog has already turned down both fish and cheese, in which case you are buying the wrong sampler.
Fourth flavor is Freeze-Dried Pink Salmon, one ingredient, Alaskan pink salmon, in a 1.5 ounce pouch. It is the one to reach for if the trio lands flat, since fish is usually a flavor a dog either goes straight to or ignores entirely. Pieces break into small sizes, so one pouch covers more than a single session. You can skip it if your dog has already told you what it makes of the sardine heads.
Why there is no jar in here
Peanut butter is the standard answer and we do not sell it, which makes this an easy thing to say plainly. Even if we did stock it, a jar undoes the point of a sampler, because the mat then carries the same load every session and stops being anything new. The second omission is a second mat. Four flavors across one small surface is the experiment, and a second mat only doubles the dishes.
Running the four in a week
One flavor per session, and keep a rough note of which ones emptied the mat. Cheddar goes first, because most dogs already know it.
Beef heart second. Crush it finer than feels necessary, since the trio is meant to be pressed down into the grooves rather than laid across the top of them.
Sardine heads third, and that is the session to run outdoors or on a floor you can mop. Salmon last, with a splash of water, then into the freezer until the mat sets.
By Sunday you will know which two you reorder and which two were a one time experiment. That is the entire job of a sampler.
One box instead of four half used bags
Buying flavors one at a time leaves four bags open at once, three of them going stale in a cupboard while your dog works through the one it likes. The trio turns up as a single box with sizes already matched to a mat this small. The mat and the holder together replace the improvised setup most people land on, which is a dinner plate and one hand holding it still.
Questions from owners who already have a mat
Can I use the toppers dry, with no water?
Yes, and for a quick session dry is faster. Crushed cheddar presses into the grooves on its own and stays there. Water only matters if you want the whole mat to hold together after a stretch in the freezer.
Will the suction cups hold on a painted wall?
No. SodaPup lists tile, glass and tub walls for both the mat and the Hold 'em, which is another way of saying it wants a smooth surface. A painted wall is not on that list. A tile floor is the easiest surface most houses already have.
Is a mini mat too small for a big dog?
For a long session, yes. Four inches square is a couple of minutes for a retriever. The Camp eMat measures about 8 by 8 inches and is the version to buy if you want one mat covering both jobs.
How this one arrives
The Turtle eMat Mini and the Hold 'em ship out of Longmont, Colorado, so expect two packages rather than one box. SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC items are sold and shipped by SodaPup/True Dogs, LLC through Shopify Collective, not made or shipped by Sniff and Shift. The trio and the salmon pouch come from our kitchen in Malvern. If a fifth flavor is already on your mind, Explore filters our treats by protein, life stage and format, while the other sampler kits run the same four flavor idea across different products. Open the cheddar first and leave the other three bags sealed until their own session comes around.
Related guides
- Lick mat enrichment kit
- Senior dog low effort enrichment kit
- Multi-Dog Parallel Enrichment Kit: What to Put In It
