Beyond the Shake: Enrichment Games That Put Your Dog to Work

Enrichment games teach a dog to work for what they find, and it feels very rewarding to them. Here's how to give your dog a job to do at home, using things you probably already have — and Lil Biscuit freeze-dried or chewy treats to make it worth the effort. Shop the pouches here, and if you go the subscription route, you get a discount on every order and never run out mid-game.

Muffin tin hunt

Drop treats into a few cups of a muffin tin, then cover each one with a tennis ball. Your dog has to move the balls to get to the treats. Simple to set up, surprisingly entertaining for most dogs. Small dogs and enthusiastic chewers should be supervised around tennis balls, which can pose a choking risk if punctured or chewed apart.

Towel roll

Scatter treats along an old towel, then roll it up loosely. Let your dog unroll and dig it apart to find them. Good for dogs who like to shred and tug.

Egg carton

Place treats in a few compartments of an empty egg carton and close the lid. Your dog has to nose it open compartment by compartment. Low-effort setup, high payoff. As with any paper or cardboard game, supervise so your dog interacts with the material rather than eats it.

Container lineup

Line up a few containers — cups, small boxes, anything your dog can't see through — and hide treats under only some of them. This builds real nose work skills: your dog learns to search systematically rather than just following the easiest scent trail.

Frozen treat hunt

Freeze a few treats into plain yogurt in an ice cube tray, then scatter the frozen cubes in a shallow tray or the yard. It's a good toy for a hot day — the cold is its own reward, and working the treat out of the ice gives your dog a bit of a challenge to solve along the way. Use plain, unsweetened yogurt only. Some sweetened and sugar-free yogurts contain xylitol, which is toxic to dogs, and dairy doesn't agree with every dog's stomach — introduce it in small amounts the first time.

Cardboard box teardown

Hide treats in the folds and corners of an empty cardboard box, then let your dog take it apart. Messy, but it's one of the highest-value enrichment activities for dogs who like to rip and dig. Make sure to supervise so they don't eat the cardboard itself.

A note on treat choice

For nose work, reach for the meat Lil Biscuit training bribes. Single-ingredient freeze-dried is high-value and scent-forward, which is exactly what gets a dog searching. If you're baiting a lot of hiding spots and want smaller, custom-sized pieces to stretch further, the Lil Biscuit chewy line is the better call — soft enough to break down to whatever size the game calls for. Shop the full lineup here.

Rotate it

The fastest way to kill enrichment is to do the same game every day. Swap between games, move the hiding spots, change the room. A muffin tin game your dog has mastered in the kitchen is a brand-new challenge the first time you try it in the living room.

Every game on this list works even better with a stash of Lil Biscuit treats on hand — freeze-dried for the hunts and chewy for custom sizing. Explore the collection.

Treats worth giving. Tins worth keeping.

As with any new food, toy, or activity, watch your dog the first few times and check with your vet if you have concerns about allergies, dietary restrictions, or ingestion risk.