It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of interactive dog toys. Just about every dog I’ve met / fostered / babysat has loved to “work for their food”. Especially for young and or active dogs, having to gnaw their dinner from a Kong, Busy Buddy, the newish Occupi, or a simple treat stick or any of the cool, made-for-active-dogs toys at Cleanrun.com – these are all fun for your dog to discover, and relatively easy to keep clean.
In terms of money saved from the dog working (and working and working…..) at these legal chew toys as opposed to your remote controls, your carpets, your shoes, your furniture, your walls (this is true – it was a Belgian Tervuren with a medical problem, but still!) and other things around your home, these toys are relatively inexpensive. With moderate use, I have to replace the Busy Buddy about every 1.5 yrs, and a Kong lasts about 2 years in my house. Buster Cubes never seem to “wear out”, but Flop’s Molecuball was stolen by a certain brown and white Rat terrier in Brooklyn who shall remain nameless.
I always get a smile from people when I say that “Hours will go by!” as their dog peacefully works on his frozen Kong, stuffed with a mix of his own food plus treats and etc. This is a blissful prospect for many people!
One sticking point that I run in to again and again is when I have people who complain about their nippy, bitey, mouthy young dog. We discuss the merits of the Kong, and I propose to that family that their dog get fed only from interactive toys from now on….until the “must bite and chew everything!” phase is over. This is often met with consternation on the part of the family. A young dog, especially, has to have an outlet for all of that mouthy energy, and feeding from a Kong or similar is by far the easiest solution to the problem. Keep a few in rotation, and bingo – your crate times / dog being alone times are handled smoothly. The simple activity of extracting food from a toy has brought many dogs back from the brink of separation anxiety, and most likely from shelters. Pain from teething is easily alleviated by a frozen Kong, and so on. And yet, people balk – still wanting to set down a bowl of dog food in front of their dog.
I’m not making fun. It *is* rewarding for humans to feed their dogs! I personally find it very odd that a simple solution that will stop unwanted chewing, that is so easy for the human to implement, causes such consternation amongst humans. Dog handlers that do get a few different chew toys have got a much happier relationship with their dogs. Much less naggy “No – NO!!!!” noises coming from the human. A much calmer dog who happily goes in to her crate as that has come to mean fun time with a Kong, and then a nap. Thank goodness we all can exercise our dogs mentally with training, fun with our friends @ the park, and then relax a little bit with a happy, tired dog at home.
Some DIY-type doggy toys are very easy to put together. The tried-and-true plastic water bottle with kibbles inside is a cheap solution for a dog that enjoys a challenge. I also stumbled across another trainer’s cheap solution for this : a “doggie slot machine!” made from a muffin pan. Distribute treats in the cups of the pan, then cover the cups with tennis balls. Your dog has to remove the balls in order to get his food, and most dogs find this to be very amusing. Any time that we can get to tap in to the dog’s age-old need to seek out and hunt for his food is something that I’m all for.
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- Trig and Flop waiting to play the doggie slot machine
