Puppy vs. Kong

Devil Ledbetter

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I am sold on the idea behind the Kong stuffable chew toy. Really I am. I've been reading Ian Dunbar and he swears by Kongs for keeping dogs occupied, entertained, working for their food and all that good dog stuff.

I bought a puppy Kong (the rubber is slightly softer than an adult Kong) and have been stuffing it daily with treats for my 9-week-old pup. However, he just doesn't get it. He'll eat whatever is easy pickings, about a 1/2 inch or less into the Kong opening, and then he gives up. Even if it's just full of loose kibble and he's hungry, he won't try any harder than that.

Dunbar actually recommends feeding the puppy all of his food either by hand (as in training treats out of his daily food portion) or stuffed in the Kong to get him appropriately obsessed with it. If I were to feed him primarily out of the Kong he'd have starved by now.

How do I get him engaged with this thing? Do some dogs just not get it ever, or do I just need to be more patient? I actually put some steak in his at lunchtime today (small, cut up, cooked) and he pulled out the easiest piece and left the rest. Same with cheese and peanutbutter. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't get much people food but whether it's dry kibble, kibble mixed with wet food or something truly scrumptious, he's just not willing to dig it out of the Kong.

Any puppy experts experienced with this?
 

Shadow_Ferret

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Yeah, I gave up on that Kong thing. It never occupied our dogs beyond getting the food out. I tried their spray substance and they'd lick until it was gone then go on to something else. Never did figure out what good putting food into it was because they'd just tip it out and then be done.

We even tried this disc shaped toy you'd unscrew the two halves, fill with their (expensive) treats and as it rolled and bounced only a few treats would come out of the hole. Well, the hole was only there if the two halves were perfectly aligned and it would come unaligned after a few bounces frustrating the dogs to the point that they tore them apart.
 

Brightdreamer

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Not a dog person, but it sounds like a bit of a silly gimmick to me. Unless your dog has one treat that he'll crawl through fire to get, or he's a glutton, (or maybe OCD - some dogs are, I swear), it seems kinda pointless to hide food to make them play. And I'd think the things would attract ants or mice or other critters if they're left lying around with spoiling food inside. (Maybe the idea is for the dog to chase the mice?) You are probably the best dog toy your dog could hope for. Play with 'em, wear 'em out, and don't expect the toys to do the work. JMHO...

(As a side note, the Kitty Kongs were the best cat toys I ever owned. I never stuffed them with food, and I didn't bother with the catnip "tails", but all my boys loved 'em because they were so lively and unpredictable when they bounced.)
 

Devil Ledbetter

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I wash his Kong thoroughly and don't let food spoil in it. I play with him a lot, but I can't play with him all the time and it's important for him to learn to occupy himself, too.

It just really surprises me that something that is recommended as the end-all be-all of dog toys by a top trainer would rate somewhere around "meh" with my puppy. And the food I've put in there is stuff he gets really excited about otherwise.
 

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It's likely to be that then. If it smells strong to you, imagine what it is like for the dog.

And if you're using treats he usually likes, I would bet my bottom dollar it's the smell.
 

Devil Ledbetter

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It's likely to be that then. If it smells strong to you, imagine what it is like for the dog.

And if you're using treats he usually likes, I would bet my bottom dollar it's the smell.

Maybe I'll try boiling it in some chicken broth or something. The worst that can happen is he'll still hate it.

You'd think they could make these things odor neutral somehow.
 

chompers

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Maybe I'll try boiling it in some chicken broth or something. The worst that can happen is he'll still hate it.
I can't tell if you're being serious or not. If you are, yikes, can you imagine how gross it'll smell. And then you'll just have to wash it again after one time or else it'll rot.
 

GingerGunlock

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There was a time period in Elka's life where she got her meals from the Kong. She's very active brained, and we really needed to "take the edge off" and make her work her brain during some of those puppy months, where just physical exercise was not enough.

Of course, she's a nut for peanut butter. Even today, I can just put a schmear in the Kong, no other treat, and she'll lick it with happy concentration for ten or more minutes (most things only buy me ten minutes. "Long lastting" has been a lifelong lie in my Doberman experience). Frozen Kongs takes longer, and we've also had "good reviews" on a Kong stuffed with frozen banana and yogurt mashed together.

She does get people food, but still quite enjoys her kibble. It could be your guy doesn't understand the payoff. Have you tried "stuffing" it in a non challenging way, just putting 1/2 cup of kibble in it and letting him roll it around until it's empty? That kind of thing might kick off his puzzle toy interest, leading him by the nose, as it were, to the payoff and making it incrementally more complicated.

Also, "they" say a normal and healthy puppy will not starve him or her self. So, in theory, you don't really need to worry about that.

Some dogs are SUPER KONG MOTIVATED even un-stuffed. It's a frequent big ticket reward for military working dogs. Elka isn't glazed-eyes crazy for it on its own, but it has become a communicative shortcut. If she can find an empty Kong when she's hungry, she'll give it to one of us to indicate her need for kibble :D
 

Devil Ledbetter

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Have you tried "stuffing" it in a non challenging way, just putting 1/2 cup of kibble in it and letting him roll it around until it's empty? That kind of thing might kick off his puzzle toy interest, leading him by the nose, as it were, to the payoff and making it incrementally more complicated.
I have. That hasn't done the trick so far. I think he is probably put off by the smell. I'm going to try freezing it because I hear that cuts the smell down at least until the rubber warms.
 

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So, both of our dogs love the kong.

I put some easy to get out kibble at the bottom, top it up with peanut butter or yoghurt or liver paste and then put it into the freezer. A few hours later they get their ice treat.

They both have a crate to sleep in and for timeouts and retreat purposes.

So, after I've been out with them, running, or playing and they're hyper and we're coming back in... and they want MORE... I will put them into the crate, with their kong and leave them for up to half an hour.

It's a sort of timeout, they usually go to sleep and start licking their kong.

One always finishes and the other dog gives up after a while, she doesn't like to work for her treats. But they both immediately jump into their crates when they see me taking out the kong, so they must like it.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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What I'm wondering is why, given the variety of dog personalities, anyone thinks there is a universal dog toy.

My f-i-l has a boxer who adores her Kong stuffed with peanut butter. But that's her interest.

I've seen other dogs who ignore Kongs.

Surely it's personal to the dog.
 

Tazlima

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What I'm wondering is why, given the variety of dog personalities, anyone thinks there is a universal dog toy.

Surely it's personal to the dog.

QFT.

I have three dogs and only one of them likes fetch and kong-type toys (and that one grows bored with it after a few throws). The other two are into tug-of-war and squeaky toys respectively.

One of them likes to be picked up and tossed around. Another is so unnerved by not having his feet under him that he avoids walking through the tiled portions of the house. If he has to cross them, he goes as quickly as possible from one carpeted area to another.

One loves to swim, two prefer to splash around in the shallows. If they get lifted up by a wave, one of those two will calmly swim back toward shore and the other (Mr. I-like-my-feet-under-me) will panic.

One loves strangers and would actually make an excellent visiting dog for nursing homes and hospitals. The second will calmly tolerate the attention, but isn't really interested. The third hides behind me when the neighborhood kids try to pet her (and, because nature is cruel, the outgoing one looks a bit scary while the timid one is the cutest, so of course they all want to go after her).

One's incredibly intelligent and eager to please. One's a delinquent who could be awesome if he would use his smarts for good. One's dumb as a box of rocks.

In short: Every dog is different.
 

Roxxsmom

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Maybe the kibbles just aren't valuable/tasty enough for him to work at them? Or maybe he's one of those dogs that just isn't that food motivated in general. Does he have more interest in continuing to work at it if it's something special like baby food, canned food, peanut butter etc.?

Another toy you can try (to dispense kibble) would be those roll a treat balls or buster cubes. The dog has to roll the thing around so it drops kibbles at regular intervals.

If you want him to work for his food, another option is hand feeding. Withhold all or part of his ration and use it for training. Start teaching him simple things like watch me, hand touches, sit, leave it etc.

And of course, make sure he's not getting more food than he needs. It's amazing how small a portion of good quality kibble a dog needs to hold its weight (though growing pups do have extra metabolic demands). Dogs tend not to be food motivated if they're not really hungry ;) (though I've had dogs that would literally eat themselves to death if allowed).

I have kongs for my dogs, and do the stuff and freeze thing (peanut butter of pumpkin spiked with kibble) for when I need them to be quietand distracted (like during our rare thunderstorms, or when there's a firework display going on nearby). I play find it games with them too--hiding stuffed kongs and having each dog search for it. But they don't really like playing with/chewing on/fetching kongs as general purpose toys. They prefer gumabones for chewing, balls for fetching, and stuffed toys for dismantling (and leaving fluff all over the house).

And Flick's favorite toy is her plastic squeaky pear. She likes anything with a squeaker, though.
 
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