December Enrichment: Santa’s Lost List and the Enrichmas Challenge

In December 2025, Metro Animals daycare dogs in Fort Worth and Plano started Santa’s Lost List, a four-week holiday enrichment adventure with a new activity every day, opening with a sniff search and a hunt through Santa’s toy sack.

December in Barksville opened with an emergency: Santa needed sniffing specialists. For twenty-four days our daycare pups in Fort Worth and Plano took on the Enrichmas Challenge, a new activity every day, all to help Santa Paws get his Nice List back.

The story

It began with breaking news. The Chaos Cats crept to the North Pole and shredded Santa Paws’ Nice Dog List, scattering the pieces on the wind. No list meant no presents, no stockings and no Christmas cheer.

But hope remained. A mysterious figure, the Ghost of Canine Christmas, had been spotted in the snow carrying something that glowed. Could it be the key to restoring the list? Barksville’s bravest pups set out to find out, one sniff, one puzzle and one good-manners moment at a time.

Twenty-four days of Enrichmas

Every day of the challenge brought something new to discover, with fresh treats, scents and textures, plenty of holiday decor and a clear goal: prove you belong on the Nice List.

• Week 1: Santa’s Sniffing Specialists — the Lost List Sniff Search, Santa’s spilled sack and the first Nice List stations.
• Week 2: Stockings and Candy Canes — stocking sniffs, a candy-cane course, holiday photos and the hunt for the Chaos Cats.
• Week 3: Santa’s Workshop in Shambles — ice floes, workshop puzzles, gingerbread scents and mistletoe manners.
• Week 4: The Final Chapter — peppermint pawprints, a quiet Christmas storytime and the Christmas Eve finale.

Week 1: Santa’s Sniffing Specialists

The month opened with the Lost List Sniff Search, a one-day-only mission for Santa’s sniffing specialists. The next day, a peppermint-scented adventure had the pups sniffing their way to a glowing pawprint.

Then Santa’s sack spilled right into daycare. The pups dove in nose-first to uncover toys, treats and holiday surprises, and by the weekend they were working through festive stations to earn their place on the Nice List.

• Day 1: the Lost List Sniff Search.
• Day 2: a peppermint-scented adventure to a glowing pawprint.
• Day 3: Santa’s Bag of Toys, searching the spilled sack for toys, treats and surprises.
• Day 4: best sit, stay and recall, to prove they belong on the Nice List.
• Day 5: a snowstorm of bubbles for dashing, pouncing and holiday zoomies.
• Day 6: a very important Christmas lunch, a festive foraging challenge to sniff, search and enjoy.
• Day 7: the Nice List stations. Guided by glowing lights, pups paused to sit, paw and touch at each one to prove themselves to the Dog of Christmas Past.

In Fort Worth, Clyde got into the Enrichmas spirit, and in Plano the pups dug into Santa’s Bag of Toys.

Watch the week

This month’s adventure

• The story begins (week 1) (this post)
• Week 2: Stockings and Candy Canes
• Week 3: Santa’s Workshop in Shambles
• Week 4: The Final Chapter

How to join the next adventure

Enrichment is an add-on to any daycare day at Metro Animals — ask for it at drop-off, by the day, the week or the whole month. It’s part of the program that earned us the highest score in the country at the 2024 Dog Gurus Daycare Games. Read more about how our enrichment works, and if your pup is new to the pack, find your nearest location — every new dog’s first day is free.

It’s a great day to play!

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