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Dog Owners- Question for you
I've noticed there's quite a few pet parents hanging around here. Do you have any good recommendations for smart toys for dogs? H and I have an 11 month old Husky/Golden mix. For the last month or so, we've been letting him hang out in the apartment outside his crate while we're at work. Although he's destroyed a few things (all our fault for leaving them out- pair of slippers, newspaper, nothing big), he's usually very well behaved as far as we know.
But I know he's really smart, and I'm just worried he's getting bored at home. I've heard there are puzzle-like toys to keep him entertained/occupied, but I can't find any. We looked at PetSmart and PetCo with no luck.
Any recommendations? Should we be looking online somewhere?
ETA: We've already gotten him a couple of those treat balls to use for feeding, and he figured them out in about 5 minutes. Same with that rope-in-the-bottle toy.
Re: Dog Owners- Question for you
Get a kong...fill it with treats...seal it with peanut butter...freeze...enjoy! It may still be quick but it will take them longer to get it out.
Also, because we both have intelligent high energy dog breeds I'd recommend changing out the toys every 6 weeks or so. I had a trainer/vet tell me once that they won't remember that they've already played with it before so it'll be like getting a new toy.
But with that being said we've also encountered some unfortunate things like you have already...chewed shoes on occasion, and they chewed a rung on our dining room chair once too. We can't leave any bathroom doors open either because Kaiser will shred the toilet paper.
Ditto on the frozen kong. Not a toy, but it will keep your pup busy for awhile. We put things like yogurt, cottage cheese and wet dog food in it (feeding her less to make up for the food she gets in her kong). I know other people put bananas, applesauce, green beans... but my dog is not so into the fruits and veggies.
Peanut butter is good too as Janelle said, mostly just to seal the top otherwise it's way too much fat to do regularly.
As far as toys go, have you tried a buster cube?
- Martin Luther King Jr.
Photo taken at 16 months old
I have a buster cube but we have hardwood floors and it makes a racket!! I've also heard that rotating toys helps. And for us, the longer we can let our puppy outside to play or go for a walk, etc. the less naughty she is at home. I've seen good reviews about these toys...
http://www.amazon.com/Nina-Ottosson-Brick-Puzzle-Game/dp/B003F1JYCQ
but haven't tried them personally. They're a little too expensive for me to jump on just yet.
Ironically he probably eats more random stuff when we are home than when we're gone. He's actually eaten a sock off of my foot while I'm napping before. It's swallowed before I can get off the couch and chase him down. I just shake my head at him when that happens
Thankfully, his random snacks have always made it back out, one way or the other. ha
re: the buster cubes. Yup! That's what we use to feed him his meals actually; it helps keep him from scarfing it all down in one gulp. He figured it out pretty quickly though. We will leave larger treats in there for him sometimes, though.
I think part of the issue is that we're in an apartment, so it's hard to close him off in one area. Our only options, really, are the closet (it's huge) or the bedroom, but I don't want to leave his water and food on the carpet in there, ya know?
Thanks though! Maybe we should pick up a second Kong for him and hide it or something. We do give him one frozen Kong with the Blue Buffalo canned food in it.
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
We do the frozen kong also. Miley LOVES applesauce so we fill hers with applesauce and seal it with pb every night before bed. I made a mistake once though and filled it with pb...BIG mistake! Poor girl was pooping for 2 days!
We also have the "almost indestructible ball" They sell it at petsmart. She will play catch with herself with this ball. It's too cute!
But she has made us question leaving her out again. She crawled on top of the couch (where she knows she isn't allowed! sticker!) and got a remote of the shelf on the wall behind the couch and THAT became a chew toy. We were VERY unpleased. She also likes electrical cords of any kind. Like she will pull stuff off the shelves so she can get to the cords.
Janell- I had heard that before about switching out toys. Maybe we need to do that. He's got a nice assortment at this point, so we could probably hide a few for awhile and switch 'em out in a few months.
Witty- ohhh. We might have to check that out. You're right, though, it is a little pricey.
Eat.Drink.BeMarried. Blog.
WHOAH! That's gutsy!!! :-)
Renzo loves his Tug-a-Jug. Last week when it was too cold to get to the dog park he was getting antsy so we gave him his breakfast and dinner in it. It kept him busy for at least 20 minutes! You unscrew the bottom, put the food in, and then they have to work to get it through the hole at the top. The rope toy serves as a barrier that makes it harder to get food out.
Filled Kongs are also GREAT!!!!!
We had a dog puzzle toy like this at the humane society when I was volunteering. The dogs loved it. It always took them awhile to figure it out the first couple of times, and they get quicker at finding the treats each time, eventually it's not much of a challenge, but it's fun for them for awhile. If you didn't give it to the dog every day, it would remain a challenge longer.
If you search on amazon for "dog puzzle toys" you'll get a bunch of options.
Sammy is a Kong fan. I usually take some of his kibble and mix it with a little bit of peanut butter or applesauce, just enough to get it to stick together when frozen.
Mr. Sammy Dog