LickiMat Review: Settling an Anxious Rescue Dog With a Lick Mat

The first time I tried to leave Moose alone for a quick grocery run, he stood at the baby gate and cried until I came back. He was about five months old then, a mixed breed rescue the shelter guessed was shepherd and hound, and we had been together for six weeks. I had a frozen KONG in the freezer and a crate in the bedroom, but I did not have a way to help him settle before I walked out the door. In April 2026 I bought the LICKIMAT Classic Soother and Buddy 2-pack, mostly because the listing said vets and trainers recommend lick mats and because Moose will do almost anything for plain yogurt. I have used both mats most days since. This is what they did in our house, what they did not do, and what I would tell another rescue dog owner before spending the money.

I am not a trainer, a behaviorist, or a vet. I am a retired dental office manager who adopted a puppy at 57 and learned most of this from a shelter volunteer, a stack of library books, and trial and error in a small ranch house in Myrtle Beach. So when I say the LICKIMAT helped, I mean it helped us in our house with one food-motivated dog. I do not think any mat fixes separation anxiety, thunder phobia, or a dog who is truly panicked. What I think it does is give a dog a safe, repetitive job for the ten minutes before the scary thing happens. For Moose, that was often enough to change the shape of the morning.

How I've Used It

I bought the LICKIMAT two-pack in April 2026, when Moose was about five months old and weighed maybe 25 pounds. He is about a year old now and closer to 45 pounds. The mats are 8 by 8 inches and the listing says they are made of TPR rubber. That size was fine for a puppy. For a 45-pound dog who eats like the food might disappear, it is a small surface, and I have learned to spread the yogurt thin and freeze the mat sometimes so the job lasts longer. The listing gives the weight as 7.05 ounces. In my hand, one mat feels light and flexible, not stiff.

My routine is not complicated. I put a thin layer of plain yogurt, wet dog food, or a little peanut butter on one mat and set it on the kitchen floor. I sit at the table with my crochet hook and let Moose work at it. When he is licking, he is not pacing. That is the whole thing. I use it most days, and I rotate the two mats so one is always clean. The Soother and the Buddy are the two mats in the pack. I use whichever one is dry. I have not noticed that Moose cares which is which. He cares that there is something on it.

I also use a mat for the ten minutes before I leave on an errand, during summer thunderstorms, and during nail trims. For the errand, I set it down while I put on my shoes and find my keys. For a storm, I set it down when the thunder starts and sit nearby. For nails, my husband Gary holds Moose and I put a mat with peanut butter in front of him. I always pick the mat up before I walk out the door. Moose is never left alone with it. That is not because the listing warns me. It is because I do not leave a dog alone with a food toy until I know how he uses it, and I would rather be careful.

Gary thinks I am overthinking it, which is fair. He is the one who pointed out that Moose does not need a fancy routine. He needs the same thing every time. So I try to keep it boring. Mat on the floor. Food on the mat. Same spot by the kitchen sink. I do not talk in a high voice or make a big deal of it. I set it down, sit nearby, and let him work. When he finishes, I pick it up. The boring version is the one that worked.

What It Actually Changed

The listing says a LICKIMAT helps calm and soothe a pet by releasing endorphins through licking, and that vets and trainers recommend lick mats. I am not a vet or a trainer, so I cannot verify the endorphin part. What I can tell you is what changed in our house. Before the mat, Moose would follow me to the door and pace while I put on my shoes. He would whine before I even touched the handle. After a few weeks of using the mat before errands, he started lying down with it instead of pacing. He still looked up when I left. He still whined sometimes. But the ten minutes before I left were quieter, and I was calmer too, which probably mattered.

The change was not instant. The first time I gave it to him, he licked for about thirty seconds, got up, and followed me to the door anyway. I had spread too little and used a mat that was not frozen. The second time I used more yogurt and froze it, and he stayed with it longer. By the third week, he started to move toward the kitchen when he saw me take the mat out of the cabinet. That is not a trained behavior. It is a dog who has learned that the mat means a job. I will take it.

I want to be honest about the limits. The mat did not stop Moose from crying in his crate the first ten nights. It did not make him brave about the vacuum or the neighbor's leaf blower. It did not fix his pulling on the leash. It helped with settling, and it helped most when I used it before something predictable, not after he was already upset. If your dog is already panicked, a mat on the floor is not going to talk him down. That is when I call my vet or a certified trainer, not reach for a food toy.

I also used it in the crate a few times, but that is not how I use it now. The first week I put a mat in the crate and closed the door, Moose licked it and then cried anyway. The mat was not the problem. He was not ready to be closed in. I went back to the frozen KONG for crate time and used the mat outside the crate, on the kitchen floor. That was a better fit for us.

The Two Mats in the Pack

The pack comes with two mats, the Classic Soother and the Buddy. Both are 8 by 8 inches and made of TPR rubber, according to the listing. I use one for yogurt and one for wet food, mostly because I am lazy about washing in the middle of the day and because having two means one can dry while the other is in use. The listing says the textured surfaces promote licking and saliva, which it links to dental health. I am not going to tell you a mat replaces a toothbrush. I will tell you that Moose licks it longer than he licks a plain bowl.

Cleaning is the part I did not think about before I bought them. The care instructions in the listing say hand wash only. Another line in the listing says they are dishwasher safe. Those two things do not match, and I am not willing to test it on a mat I use every day. I wash both by hand in the kitchen sink with a little dish soap and warm water, rinse them well, and stand them on edge to dry. The textured surface takes a little work with a brush if the food has dried. It is not hard, but it is not nothing. If you are the kind of person who will not hand wash a dog dish, this is the detail to weigh before you buy.

I have frozen one mat overnight with wet food and yogurt, and it lasted longer for Moose. I do not know if the manufacturer recommends freezing. The listing does not say. I tried it because a frozen KONG had already worked for us, and I watched Moose with it the first few times. It worked in our house. If you try it, watch your dog and check the mat for damage afterward. I have not seen any tears or pieces come off, but I check every time I wash it.

Where It Falls Short

The biggest drawback for us is size. An 8 by 8 inch mat is a small target for a 45-pound dog. Moose can clean one in a few minutes if I spread the food thin and do not freeze it. That is fine for a quick settling job, but it is not a long-lasting chew or a meal replacement. If you have a very large dog or a dog who eats fast, you may want to use two mats at once or freeze them. I would not buy this expecting it to occupy a dog for an hour.

The second drawback is supervision. I do not leave Moose alone with the mat. The listing does not tell me to supervise, but I know my dog. He is a rescue who came to us with no manners and a strong interest in swallowing things he should not. I pick the mat up before I leave the room. If your dog guards food, a lick mat can make that worse, not better. That is not a product flaw. It is a dog who needs a different plan, and a certified trainer is the right person to help with it.

The third drawback is that it is easy to use the mat as a substitute for training. I did that at first. I gave Moose a mat every time he whined and told myself I was helping him settle. I was helping him stop whining for a few minutes, but I was not teaching him how to be alone. The mat is a tool that makes a moment easier. It is not a training plan. If your dog has real separation anxiety, a mat is not the answer by itself. Talk to your vet or a certified trainer.

One more thing: the mat is not a puzzle. It does not make your dog think in the way a snuffle mat does. It makes your dog lick. That is a different job. If your dog needs to burn energy, this is not the tool for that. If your dog needs to slow down and settle, it might be.

The change was small and specific: he stopped pacing while I put my shoes on.

Who This Is For

This is for a rescue dog owner who has a food-motivated dog and a predictable moment that is hard, like putting on shoes, crating for a short errand, a thunderstorm, or a nail trim. It is for someone who wants a simple tool to try while they work on the bigger training plan. It helped us because Moose is food motivated and because I was willing to sit nearby and use it before he got upset. It is also for someone who does not mind hand washing a mat. If that sounds like your house, the LICKIMAT two-pack is a reasonable thing to try.

Who Should Skip It

Skip it if your dog guards food or toys, if your dog eats non-food items, or if your dog is severely anxious. A mat will not fix a dog who is panicked, and it can make guarding worse. Skip it if you will not supervise, or if you want a product that occupies a dog for a long time. Skip it if you have a very large dog and you are not willing to freeze the food or use both mats at once. And if your dog has a medical issue, a behavior issue that includes biting, or anxiety that is affecting his daily life, talk to your vet or a certified trainer before you try a food toy.