What to put on a lick mat: recipes built around freeze-dried treats

A lick mat is a textured mat, usually silicone or rubber, with ridges and shallow pockets you spread something across so a dog licks instead of gulps. We make freeze-dried treats in a garage in Malvern, Pennsylvania, not lick mats, but our treats turn out to be a solid building block for one. Here is how we load ours before handing it to Ella, our tester dog, and a few ways to build your own, whether you want something plain for a Tuesday afternoon or a small project for a rainy weekend.

None of this takes special equipment or a trip to a specialty store. A mat, a spoon, and whatever is already in your kitchen will get you most of the way there. The freeze-dried part is where we can actually help, since that is the part we make ourselves and know inside and out.

Start with a plain base

You do not need a recipe with ten ingredients. Plain yogurt, canned pumpkin, a splash of low sodium broth, mashed banana, or even just water will hold things onto the mat and give a dog something to work at. Spread a thin layer into the ridges first. That base is what keeps a dog licking for a few minutes instead of finishing in ten seconds and wandering off.

Build it up with freeze-dried treats

This is where our treats come in. Crumble a piece or two of freeze-dried beef liver or chicken hearts into the wet base, or press whole pieces into the deeper pockets so a dog has to work them loose. Because our treats are single ingredient, you know exactly what is going onto the mat: liver is liver, sardines are sardines, nothing else riding along for the crumbs to hide in.

Freeze-dried treats also crumble at whatever size you need. A fine crumble spreads thin across a whole mat for a lighter session, while a rougher break leaves bigger pieces for a dog who likes something more solid to chase around the ridges. Either way, the piece holds its shape until a tongue actually gets to it, which is the whole point of putting it there in the first place.

One protein at a time

If you are trying a treat with your dog for the first time, put it on the mat by itself instead of stacking three new things at once. That way, if one does not agree with your dog, you know which ingredient to leave off next time. We keep several single ingredient options for exactly this reason: beef liver, chicken hearts, chicken feet, sardines, cheddar, so you can rotate flavors without guessing what caused what.

A few combinations worth trying

Plain yogurt with crumbled chicken hearts pressed into the ridges. Canned pumpkin with a whole piece of beef liver wedged into the deepest pocket, for a dog who wants a project. Water with sardine crumbles scattered across a flatter mat, for a hot afternoon when a heavier base would just melt off. None of these need measuring, a spoonful here and a crumbled treat there is plenty.

Cleanup, garage style

Most mats rinse clean at the sink, though care details vary by mat, so check the product page before you toss one in with the dishes. We keep a stack of ours by the sink at the shop. It is not glamorous work, but neither is running a treat business out of a garage with a red car parked outside, so we are used to it.

If you make a mat part of the regular routine, a second mat is worth having so one can dry while the other is in use. Rotate them the same way you would rotate dish towels, and neither one sits around getting stale between sessions.

In the Toys aisle

If you need an actual lick mat, that is SodaPup's department, not ours: it ships to you directly from SodaPup in Longmont, Colorado through Shopify Collective, separate from anything that leaves our kitchen.

What goes on the mat is ours to answer for. Our freeze-dried beef liver treats crumble easily and hold their shape when pressed into a ridge, and they ship from our kitchen in Malvern, not from Colorado.

Questions

Can I put freeze-dried treats straight on a lick mat, no recipe needed?

Yes. Crumble a treat over a bare mat or press a whole piece into a ridge and let your dog work it loose. A wet base just makes the mat more interesting and keeps a dog there longer, it is not required.

What is a good wet base if I do not have yogurt or pumpkin on hand?

Plain water works fine. So does a splash of broth without onion or garlic in it, or the liquid from a can of tuna packed in water. The base is there to hold things in place, not to be the main event.

Is a lick mat okay for a puppy or a dog with a sensitive stomach?

Supervise play and size up for strong chewers. If something looks wrong, stop and call your veterinarian.