Puzzle Toys and Interactive toys

Got a bored dog? You’ve walked miles and miles and we still have energy to spare. Most dogs might get the physical energy worked out of their systems, but mentally they’re still very restless. Built up mental energy can cause costly repair to your house and unneeded visits to the vet. And no one likes to pay for extra vet bills. Mental exercise is probably just as important as actually physical exercise. So in the long run a mentally worked dog will save you many, many headaches. Why because, we’re chewing our toys and not your personal items, we become confident, we become independent. Who doesn’t like that in a dog? My students in my classes know that I’m very big on puzzle toys. For the reasons listed above. Like any pet parent I will say that my dog is ‘smart’ and I believe she is very smart, (she just has a lot emotional baggage still hanging around) but she has a collection of puzzle toys, and it keeps growing and growing. She’s actually figured out that she can drop a toy down the stairs to get treats come out. That’s just an example of one of many different strategies your dog might come up with to solve a puzzle. If you have a big chewer you might, look for heavy duty chew toys that serves as puzzle toys. A lot of times big chewers are big barker. A common bark is a boredom bark, if we have nothing better to do then bark. It’s like big talkers many of them need to chew gum to keep the jaw going.

So what toy is a puzzle toy? Pretty much anything you can put food or treats in. Probably the most well know dog person to promote puzzle toys is Dr. Ian Dunbar, who believes no dog should be feed out of a bowl. And they should be fed from a KONG. Now that’s silly, right? Not really, its self rewarding, you dog will think “we lay down and we get treats, that’s pretty cool we should lie down more often and chew on our stuff”. It prevents dogs from eating to fast (scarf and barf). Also helps dogs build self steam and teaches them also to be creative when they’re bored. Once a dog has chewed on a toy its forever theirs no matter where the toy is or who it really belongs to. I have many dogs in my classes who will go to the class toy box and pick out the KONG, and probably 80% of the time if it’s the first time the dog has done that before the owner will tell me “Oh he has one at home like that”

Now on to the toys!!!

• KONG-http://www.kongcompany.com
• Types-Puppy, Senior, Classic, Extreme
• Made of :Rubber
• Made in: USA
• What size to get- See Kong’s website or package details

If you’re using it for just a chew toy then whatever, weight is recommended on the package. Now if you’re using it as a stuffing or food dish toy, I recommended going with a size above the package size. Example my dog is roughly 20lbs. she has med. toys for chew and packing canned food it. But she has a Lg. for meals

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Other KONG products to try-

Stuff a ball:

• Kong’s pastes needed
• Kibble can be placed in center part
• Helps with dental care

Biscuit Ball:

• Holds varieties Biscuit bones on the outside
• Can hold kibble as well in the inside

Planet Kong Goodies line:

• Short term puzzle toy
• Mostly a biscuit holder

PREMIER-http://www.premier.com/

Made of:Rubber

Made in:

Squirrel Dude-

• Lazy man’s Kong easy to stuff toy with little work on the human end
• Inter “teeth” randomly dispenses food
• no need to freeze toy
• Strong chew strength

Kibble Nibble

• Mentally and physically stimulates dog’s natural stalk and prey drives
• customizable duel treat meter, randomly dispenses foods as we tumble it around
• holds up to 2 cups of food

Twist n Treat-

• Med Strength chew
• Most adjustable toy in the Premier line, to keep any level of interest
• Can be spun or dropped to “win game”
• Soft or hard treat works as well as smear-able treats works

Tug a Jug-

• We can see, smell, hear food inside
• strong against big chewers
• Great for tug lovers

OTHER PUZZLE TOYS

TreatStik-http://www.treatstik.com/

• -Hard Plastic
• -Removable top for humans
• -roll it, nudge it, carry it
• -holds up against strong chewers
• -slowly and randomly disperse food
• -good feed control for over weight dogs

Canine Genius-http://www.caninegenius.com/

• only toy that I know of that can interlock with another to make a harder puzzle
• Mike and Leo two different styles
• Leo has 4 holes to dispense food
• Not as easy as it looks

Kyjen Hide a Squirrel-http://www.kyjen.com/

• Plush so its not really a food toy
• Helps build problem solving skills
• Squirrels have squeakers
• Remove squirrels from plush tree
• Helps build eye paw coordination
• help satiety your dog’s natural instinct to search, stalk and capture drive
• Can place treats and other toys inside
• Can buy “extra” or replacement squirrels
• (they have other types of Hide a toys)

Omega Paws’ Tricky Treat Ball-http://www.omegapaw.com/TrickyTreatBall.html

• soft rubber ball
• Easy to grip
• Hardwood floor friendly
• Dispense food at a fair rate to keep focused and entertained

The Buster Food Cube-http://www.bustercube.com/

• very hard plasic
• not hardwood floor friend and be loud on hard surfaces
• A lot of times its to large to fully fit in mouths
• Adjustable
• Can hold a larger amount of food

Nina Ottosson’s Dog Fighter Toys- http://www.nina-ottosson.com/PRODUCTS.htm

• Extreme Puzzle Toys (recommended for advanced puzzle dogs)
• Wooden Parts
• Move parts to reveal treats
• Occupy and stimulates, Encouraging, dog to use their brains
• Hard to find and can be pricey. (I found some at a store close to my house that’s about $60

Triple Crown/Starmark’s FirePlug-http://www.triplecrowndogs.com/product

• Puncture Resistant material
• Can insert “everlasting cookie on ends
• Mentally stimulates

I'm Sure there's many other Puzzle/Interactive toys out there, these are the ones I've personally seen myself or read about. Remember each dog is different and have different levels of skill, start off easy and make your way up to the hard ones. If it take to long (5mins) your dog will give up and probably never touch the toy again. So make it fun!!! A dog is happiest when they have to work for their stuff, its just in the hard-wiring and plus you don't want an ungrateful dog

~Heather