The Lowdown On Lickimats (And Whether You Should Buy One)

Lickimats are small textured rubbery mats designed to be smeared with food, with the aim of encouraging dogs to lick them clean.  And, they have become very popular with dog owners in recent years. 

I bought some Lickimats and put them through their paces with my young Lab Bonnie. And I’ve got the results for you below. I’ll also share some interesting comments about Lickimats from our Labrador Facebook community.

In case you are not familiar with the concept, I’ll just explain what Lickimats are used for first, and look at the claims that are made for their benefits.

Lickimat did not sponsor this article and the opinions are my own. I have included some Amazon links in case you want to buy one, please note that these are affiliate links and if you make a purchase after clicking on one, the Labrador site will earn a small commission that does not affect the price you pay.

What are Lickimats for?

The main purpose for Lickimat is to provide the dog with pleasure and entertainment. And I ordered some for my dogs because I thought that they might enjoy them, even if I was a little skeptical about the marketing claims made by the manufacturers!

I started by putting one teaspoon of wet dog food in a bowl for Bonnie and timed her eating this. I then spread the same amount over each Lickimat and timed her again. The results were very different!

Before I started, I assumed that if I give my dog a teaspoon of wet dog food, it would only take her a second or two to swallow it. But if I smear the same teaspoon all over a Lickimat, then the pleasure of eating it is going to be extended significantly! 

Just how significantly, we’ll see in a moment.

The manufacturer makes quite a few other claims for Lickimats. They say that the mats:

• Calm and soothe pets
• Reduce crate training time
• Promote good dental health

So I will be looking a bit more closely at those claims in a moment

Different types of Lickimat

There are several different types of Lickimat. Classic Lickimats come in three different surfaces

• Playdate(paid link) (squares) for kibble, raw meat, or fish
• Soother(paid link) (dots) for runny food
• Buddy(paid link) (crosses) for chunky, spreadable treats

Each mat type comes in several different vibrant colors. There are also now different variations on the mat style.  You buy a Lickimat Tuff(paid link) for dogs that are rough with their mats, and you can also buy the Lickimat Slomo(paid link) aimed at rapid eaters (what Lab isn’t) and the Wobble(paid link) which is more of a bowl.  

At the time of writing there is also a Yoggie Pot(paid link) which looks fun, and no doubt more designs are in the pipeline

First impressions

For this review I focused on the mat styles. I ordered three different mats, the classic Soother, Buddy and Playdate.

My first impressions were that the mats are quite small, and thinner, than I was expecting. I appreciate that they are not chew toys, and not something you’d want to leave the dog alone with. But I was concerned that Bonnie would just want to pick the mat up and eat it! Or that it would slide around all over the place.

The wet food test

I used a pouch of Pedigree moist dog food for my wet food test. Bonnie is raw fed for the most part. But I’m not a purist about raw feeding and I’m quite happy for her to have kibble or commercial dog food occasionally.

The results

Bonnie took just eleven seconds to eat the teaspoon of food that I put into a dog bowl. I actually thought it would be a bit quicker. But no big surprises there.

Some of the results of this test really did surprise me. In particular, the vast difference between the soother and the other two mats.

We tested the Playdate Lickimat(paid link) first. It took Bonnie over five minutes to clean it up. And she did manage to get almost all the food off it.

The next mat we tested was the green Buddy(paid link) and she was a little quicker with that one at around 4 minutes. Again, she managed to lick this mat almost clean.

Finally, I gave her the blue Soother Lickimat(paid link). And this was the real surprise. At five minutes Bonnie still had plenty to do, then ten minutes came and went. And she finally lost interest after over 16 minutes of licking.

This particular mat is designed to be for more liquid food but it was quite easy to spread the wet dog food into it and so much more effective than the other designs.

Observations

Bonnie put her all into the test of course, and the blue mat sustained her interest for a reallly long time. I started off with the first mat on the table but it was much easier for her when I moved the mat to the floor.

I was pleased to see that the mats didn’t slide around at all despite being on fairly slippery ceramic tiles. And I was surprised that Bonnie made no attempt to pick them up.

If you are thinking of buying a Lickimat, I think that the Soother style(paid link) is a really good choice. And if I could only have one, that’s the one I would pick.

And if you scroll on down, you’ll be able to see what our Facebook fans think of Lickimats too. But first let’s briefly look at those claims in the marketing blurb.

What about those claims?

So, does licking reduce stress and anxiety. Is it soothing and calming? And how can a Lickimat help keep your dog’s teeth clean?

Then there’s crate training. Can a Lickimat really help with that? Let’s take a look at the calming and soothing claims first.

Do Lickimats reduce stress?

Well, it seems logical that dogs might find licking soothing, but it’s actually quite hard to pin down the evidence.

The Kennel Club state that “Licking plays an important part of how they bond with others, causing them to release dopamine and endorphins that help make them feel relaxed, calm and happy.” An article by veterinarian Kasey Stop DVM makes the same claim.

If licking does cause a release in dopamine and endorphins that would indeed suggest that licking can be a stress reliever. Unfortunately, neither the KC or Dr Stop state their sources. And I cannot find a scientific study that supports this claim.

Do Lickimats improve dental health?

Then there’s dental health. Can Lickimats help with that? Well, dogs do produce saliva while they are licking. And with food spread on a Lickimat they are taking longer to eat the same quantity of food than if they swallowed it down in one, so presumably that means more saliva.

And dog saliva is slightly alkaline which may offer protection against dental caries.

Whether a Lickimat session makes much difference in terms of affecting the overall alkalinity of the dog’s mouth, I’m not sure that it does. And it would be interesting to see the evidence that supports the action of Lickimats in protecting dental health. Again, I couldn’t find any.

Do Lickimats help with crate training

The answer to this one I think, is “it depends”. I personally wouldn’t use them for this purpose and I’ll explain why.

Placing an item that a dog will enjoy licking or chewing on for several minutes can be helpful in establishing a feel good factor around the act of leaving your dog in a crate.

I occasionally use frozen stuffed kongs for this purpose, although in general, I find that if you build up your dog’s crate confidence appropriately in a structured way, you actually don’t usually need to do this.

However, it is important that what you do leave in your dogs crate cannot be chewed up and swallowed. Lickimat state quite rightly that these mats are not chew toys, and it is clear to me that they are not built to withstand persistent chewing.

So I personally would only use one under supervision

So what do I think of Lickimats?

Despite my reservations about their claims, I actually really loved these Lickimats and so did Bonnie. And I will definitely be using them regularly for my dogs, not to solve problems, but simply as a thoroughly enjoyable treat.

I think that Lickimats fall into the category of environmental enrichment.

Modern feeding methods are fairly unnatural. Our pets no longer have to forage or hunt for their food, it’s often just served up in a bowl and swallowed in seconds.

Environmental enrichment aims to make the environment around an animal more stimulating and interesting. And I think Lickimats can contribute to that.

I do think that dogs enjoy their Lickimat sessions, and it feels instinctively right to me, that a dog would benefit from a more extended time eating than just one quick swallow.

What the Labrador community think?

When I talked to our facebook community about Lickimats there was an overwhelmingly favorable response. With lots of great suggestions for what to spread on your Lickimat, and when to use it.

Did anyone not like Lickimats?

One person said that their dog ate the mat, and a couple said that they were having trouble cleaning theirs. Others made some helpful suggestions for fixing that, such as putting it on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Or using an old toothbrush to loosen dried on residue.

I held mine under the faucet after each test and all the residue rinsed off without any problem. But I guess this will vary a bit depending on what you spread on them. For hygiene’s sake I later laid my mats on the top rack of the dishwasher and ran them through on a quick wash. .

Using your Lickimats

I’ll be loading my three mats up with something tasty, and freezing them, ready for a moment when I want to give the dogs a reward or just occupy them for a few minutes. When I’m loading the dishwasher for example.

That’s it for today, but I will update this when I’ve had a bit more use out of these mats. I’m definitely recommending the Soother Lickimat(paid link), and I’d love to know how you use your Lickimats. You can leave a comment below.

References

• Happy hormones and their significance in animals and man
• Why do dogs lick you – Kasey Stopp