Easter Egg Hunt 2026

The hunt is well underway, and your spirits are high with the excitement of finding egg after beautifully-decorated egg. You glance down at your list, checking to see that you're in the right place. Basket in hand, you walk the garden path to the entrance of the small, cozy house, admiring the sprouting wildflowers and seasonal springtime wreath on the door. "Easter Party Inside!" reads a hand-painted sign on the door.

But the dog who answers your knock does not seem to be in a partying mood at all. A heavy-set dachshund greets you, his furrowed brows and tucked tail clashing with the festive bunny ear headband he wears.

"Ah, it's you," he says, not meeting your eyes. "My name is Mr. Moo. We'd been expecting you, though I admit, not so soon... I suppose you are here for the egg?"

You confirm that you are.

Mr. Moo lets out a heavy sigh. "I was afraid of that. While I am so happy you could make it, you arrived at a rather inopportune time." He looks at you, ears back and expression sheepish. "You see, there's been a... bit of a snag. While my companions and I were busy decorating for your arrival, I noticed that the egg that we prepared for you seems to... well, it seems to have gone missing."

Missing?

"Yes, missing," he says, letting out a small whimper of distress. "And I worked so hard on it, too! But I cannot find it anywhere, and none of my friends seem to know where it could be. But I think one of them must be lying. Please, follow me."

He leads you into the house. As you pass by the family room, you see four other dogz sitting silently, staring suspiciously at each other. They each glance at you, expressions unreadable.

Mr. Moo leads you into the kitchen. Sitting atop the counter is a velvet cushion with an indent the approximate size and shape of an egg, but there is no egg to be found. "No way it could have rolled off," says Mr. Moo, shaking his head. "No way someone could have accidentally misplaced it. One of those four dogz took it, and I only have one clue as to whom it could be."

He directs your attention down to the floor. Something is smeared across the black-and-white checkerboard tile. You notice creamy yellow, chunks of something more solid and white, flecks of red powder...

"A deviled egg," Mr. Moo announces. "Whichever devil stole the egg was eating a deviled egg while they stole it! All we need to do in order to find the culprit is to determine who was eating a deviled egg instead of decorating during the time the Easter egg went missing. Unfortunately, due to absent-mindedness or a desire to cover up their misdeed, my four friends in there seem to have conveniently forgotten who was eating which snack, or what they were were setting up for the party."

He turns to you, tail wagging. "But I can see from your basket that this is not the first mystery you've solved. If you could find all of those eggs, I am sure you will find the egg thief!"

Mr. Moo walks you down the hall. "I noticed four plates that had been left half-eaten when I announced the egg had gone missing and called everyone to the family room: a savory glazed ham, carrot cake, a sweet "chocolate" bunny (don't worry-- it's dog-safe carob), and of course the deviled egg."

"Similarly, there were four tasks that had not been completed when the dogz were called away: setting up our pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny game, preparing the cookie decorating station, putting treatz in plastic eggs, and filling vases with flowers from the garden."

He leads the way into the family room. The four suspects turn towards you. Mr. Moo introduces them one by one.

"My friend Capriole." An elegant black Great Dane steps forward and nods to you gracefully.

"My friend Blossom." A tiny orange Dachshund pirouettes at the sound of her name.

"My friend Gadzooks." A long-legged, gawky Dachshund jumps in surprise as his name is called.

"My friend Jellybean." A colorful Dalmatian trots up to greet you, then trips on his own feet and goes sprawling.

Mr. Moo continues, "I figure you could interview each dog, asking what they were eating and what they were doing before I noticed the egg was missing. They've promised to tell the truth and share everything they can remember with you. Right?" He gives each dog a stern glance, and they all nod enthusiastically.

"I'm sure they'll be able to share enough information in order for you to solve this mystery, but if you're having trouble, you can reach out to my friend Penny through any of the Petz Discords, where she goes by Penny @ Just Dandy. If you don't have a Discord, her email is lukkypenniedal@hotmail.com, or you can try messaging her on RKC or Whiskerwick. She might be able to offer some help."

Mr. Moo pants politely. "While you're asking questions, I'll put together some things to help you solve this mystery. Now, let's get investigating!"

Gadzooks begins speaking to you before you even have a chance to sit down, his voice quick and high-pitched with excitement-- or with fear of discovery?

"Boy, am I glad you're here! Terrible, terrible thing, to steal an Easter egg. Me personally, I'd never steal anything, you know, even if I really wanted it. Not that I didn't want the egg; it's a nice egg and you certainly seem interested for some reason, so it must be special, right? But I'd never take it, no, not me! Cross my heart."

Jellybean can't seem to sit still. He fidgets in place, his weight shifts from side to side, his ears perk at unheard sounds, and his nose twitches as if he smells something interesting. Every once in a while he will stand and trot around before returning to sit down. Could his restlessness be a sign of a guilty conscience?

"Just awful, isn't it? Whoever stole that egg, I mean. Who would do something like that? Certainly not me. Why, stealing against the spirit of Easter!"

Capriole seems unbothered by your investigations, and yawns widely as you approach. She sits on the rug in front of the fireplace, gazing evenly at you... but do you detect a flicker of guilt in her eyes?

"I'm not sure why you're talking to me," she says. "I didn't take the egg. Why would I? What would a dog like me even do with an Easter egg?"

Blossom sits demurely on the chair in front of the fireplace. Her eyes, pale blue, never seem to meet your own as they dart nervously around the room.

"It's such a shame something like this had to happen on Easter, of all days. Instead of looking for a thief, we could have been playing games or eating delicious treatz. We all worked so hard to make today perfect. Oh, how I wish more than anything we could just go back to the party..."

Mr. Moo approaches you. "All done questioning the suspects? Good! I've put together a little grid to help you keep the information straight; you can print it out or doodle one yourself. Or maybe you can solve it all in your head! If you've never seen something like this before, it might be helpful to read about grid-based logic puzzles and how to solve them. Again, if you have any questions, my friend Penny can help!"

"Good luck!"

Mr. Moo approaches you. "Ah, it looks like you've sniffed out the Easter egg thief! Please, you must let me know who it is so we can find that egg."

"First, what was the dog who stole the egg doing just before they stole it?"

Why are you in the basement? There's sure to be no clues here, and besides, you didn't think this place even had a basement. There's really nothing down here but some dust, empty treat boxes, and last year's decorations. It's probably best to just go back upstairs...

Ignoring the feeling that you should go upstairs, you stay in the basement long enough for your eyes to adjust to the dark. In the gloom, you notice something on the floor: a handwritten (or paw-written?) note. It seems to be a collection of all of the clues that you found interviewing the dogz upstairs, handily compiled into one easy-to-read list.

The dog who was eating ham was setting up the pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny game.

The dog who was eating the "chocolate" bunny was filling plastic eggs with treatz.

Gadzooks was either eating savory glazed ham or the "chocolate" bunny.

Jellybean was either filling vases with flowers or filling plastic eggs with treatz.

Neither Blossom nor Jellybean were setting up cookie decorations.

The dog setting up cookie decorations was eating carrot cake.

Gadzooks was eating something sweet.

Neither Capriole nor Jellybean were setting up the pin-the-tail-on-the-bunny game.

But who wrote this? Is there another detective on this case? You take a closer look around the basement, peering behind dusty boxes. One of the boxes trembles when you approach.

You become suddenly aware that you didn't tell anyone where you were going. Could the thing the box be dangerous? What if it's a hungry wild animal, like a bear? A basement bear?!

You reassure yourself that there is no such thing as basement bears, and make your way over to the box. You carefully peek behind the cardboard...

It's not a bear at all, but a fuzzy orange dog wearing a pair of bunny ears. He jumps, startled, when you discover his hiding place, then makes a break for it, legs scrambling to get away. You call for him to come back, but he is, as the kids say, booking it.

Noise from the stairs. The steps creak as Mr. Moo descends. "Are you down here? I was wondering where you'd gotten to. I didn't expect anyone to come down here, so forgive the lack of springtime decor--" He stops when he sees the orange dog scurrying across the floor.

"Dapper!" Mr. Moo shouts. The orange dog, Dapper, skids to a sudden halt. "What are you doing here? I didn't invite you to this party! Did you... did you break into my basement?!"

Dapper covers his face in shame.

Mr. Moo continues, "If I had realized you had wanted to come so badly, I might have just invited you in the first place. But breaking in my house and hiding in the basement so you can follow along with my Easter party missing-egg mystery?? That's... that's a little strange. See, Dapper, this is why no one likes you. I would think that you were the egg thief, if I thought you had the brains to pull off such a heist... which I don't. You are the single silliest creature I have ever met!"

Dapper begins to whimper as Mr. Moo continues to bark, growl, and berate him. You start to feel a little bad for Dapper... after all, he did try to help you in your investigation. You show Mr. Moo the note.

He raises one bushy eyebrow. "Dapper made this? Dapper? Are you sure?" He examines it more closely. "Hm, I didn't realize he had the wherewithal to follow such a complicated case, much less to write it down so neatly." He takes another look at Dapper, who replies with a hopeful wag of the tail.

"Oh, all right," Mr. Moo sighs. "You can stop skulking around my basement and come upstairs to the party. But I would appreciate an apology, or at least some sort of gift to show that you're sorry for breaking into my home."

Dapper pants happily, and presents you and Mr. Moo with a stamp.

"Hmph, that's not quite the kind of gift I had in mind," grumbles Mr. Moo, but Dapper is already hurrying up the stairs to join the Easter fun.