A Busy Dog is a Happy Dog!

Food dispensing toys are a great way of keeping your dog busy when you can’t. They combine several great motivators for our canine pals - Food, Play and Chewing. They are a convenient way to keep your pet mentally active or distract your friend during your absence. Dogs can even be fed their meals from these toys.

There are two types of food dispensing toys. Both require the dog to interact with the toy to cause it to drop out treats.  You should consider your dog’s  play style when picking his toy.

One type is a puzzle toy. With this toy, the food is dispensed because the dog pushes, shoves and rolls the toy. Dogs who use their paws in play and pounce and bat at things like this kind of toy. The Tug-a-Jug is an example of this type of toy.

Chewable toys are the second type of food dispensing toy. These require licking and chewing and are perfect for the mouth oriented dog. The Atomic Ball is a chewable. These toys are great for feeding your pet their raw food meal as well. The Leo and Mike toys actually span both categories because they can be configured as a puzzle or used singly as a chewable.

It is important to select the size and stability of the toy that is appropriate for your pet. Consider your dog’s muzzle and jaw size to ensure that the toy is neither too large or too small. While any unsupervised toy is not 100% risk free, these toys, matched to your pet’s size, are very safe. Even at that, it would be a good idea to supervise the first couple of times your dog uses his new toy.

When you first start to use any food dispensing toy, you should start with small, easy to remove treats and work up to more difficult stuffing. This will slow down any destructive tendencies your pup may have. Making the toy more challenging can be done in many ways.  You can use larger treats, peanut butter glue or you can freeze the stuffed toy.  So, get stuffing. Your dog will have a blast!

Some Stuffing Tips

• Jerky type treats can be cut in strips so they go in easily but are hard to get out.
• Large and small treats can be mixed in a toy  to come out at varying rates.
• Peanut butter can be used as glue around the inside of the toy.
• The opening of the toy can be jammed with a large treat  for a challenging start.
• Slices of carrots about the size of the opening can be interspered with meat treats for a  healthy challenge.
• Load several toys  and place them in different rooms for a treasure hunt.
• Toys stuffed with food can be frozen for longer lasting activity.