Introducing A Kong Toy To Your Dog: Part 3

December 22, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Making Kong Toys More Challenging For Your Dog

Make Kongs More Challenging — eldadcarin/Adobe Stock

Food stuffed toys make for fantastic mentally enriching puzzles, and all dogs should be able to enjoy them every day. If your dog will approach and dig out loose treats stuffed into a Kong (part 2), then it’s time to make Kong toys more challenging for your dog.

Tightly Pack Kongs With Food

Packing food tightly inside a Kong toy makes the puzzle more difficult to solve. Start slowly by placing a Greenie inside a Kong, then press bananas or cooked sweet potato around the Greenie to keep it in place. Place the food filled toy on a soft mat and walk away. If your dog empties her Kong, it’s time to experiment with different food stuffers and also try feeding your dog her meals out of the Kong.

A few stuffers you can fill your Kong with include:

Stuff the toy with kibble and add layers of canned food to keep them in place.
Press and fill a Kong toy with sweet potatoes and molasses.
Press bananas and blueberries inside a Kong.
Firmly pack cooked oatmeal with honey inside a Kong.
Stuff hard treats inside, such as fish skins, inside the toy.

Advanced Kong Filling

This Kong stuffing idea is difficult. Stuff a slice of bread deep within a Kong toy. When bread mixes with your dog’s saliva, it sticks inside the Kong and your dog must really work hard to remove all bits of bread. 🙂

Freeze Overnight

Once your dog is able to empty different types of food from Kongs, it’s time to make the game even more challenging. Now, some dogs dislike licking frozen food stuffed Kongs. If that’s the case with your dog, stick with tightly packed Kongs.

However, if your dog becomes a master puzzle solver, stuff Kong toys with a few fillings listed above and freeze overnight. Licking a frozen Kong toy takes a bit longer to solve, and it’s a wonderful crate game when dogs are left alone.

Now, toss out your dog’s food bowl and feed all meals out of Kong toys!

WATCH: Making Kong Toys More Challenging

Introducing A Kong Toy To Your Dog: Part 2

December 20, 2017 by Fanna Easter

How to Introduce a Kong to Your Dog Part 2

Introducing Kong to Dog — eldadcarin/Adobe Stock

Keeping your dog mentally and physically enriched is important, and Kong toys are an excellent way to fulfill that need. Most dogs are unsure of Kong toys until they’re properly introduced, which can take a few days. If you’ve already read our guide to choosing the right Kong size for your dog and started to introduce a Kong to your dog, then let’s go over step 2!

Is Your Dog Ready for Step 2?

During step 1, we slowly introduced your dog to a Kong with a bit of peanut butter smeared on the outside rim and a few loose treats inside the toy. If your dog will happily lick away at the smeared peanut butter outside of the Kong, then it’s time to move onto step 2. Now, it’s time to make this food stuffed toy a bit more difficult for your dog. Remember, food stuffed Kongs are like puzzles, and your dog needs to solve it before getting all the treats out.

Digging Treats Out of a Kong

Smear a bit of peanut butter or cream cheese inside the outer rim of the Kong, so your dog must lick inside of the toy to get the food. Toss a few treats inside the Kong, such as bits of cheese, diced hot dogs or blue cheese crumbles.

Place the food filled Kong on a soft mat and walk away. Now, your dog is thinking, “Oh, this weird rubber toy smells really good and I must dig out all the goodness!” Practice twice a day for 2-3 days.

Multiple Dog Households and Kongs

When offering food stuffed Kongs to several dogs at once, it’s best to separate all dogs. Toss the dog toys inside secured crates or behind baby gates to prevent resource guarding among your dogs. Even the very best of friends will squabble over a peanut butter filled Kong, so prevention is key every time.

WATCH: Introducing a Kong Toy to Your Dog: Part 2

Choosing & Introducing A Kong To Your Dog

December 18, 2017 by Fanna Easter

A Guide to Kong Dog Toys

Introduce Kong to Dog — cbckchristine/Adobe Stock

Mental stimulation is an important daily requirement for all dogs of all ages; it keeps their brain busy. An easy way to provide your dog mental stimulation are food stuffed Kongs. As a professional dog trainer, I recommend putting your dog’s meals in Kong dog toys in place of bowls.

Before tossing your dog a food stuffed Kong, it’s important to properly introduce a Kong to your dog.

What Size Kong for My Dog?

Kong dog toys are made of toxic-free rubber with a hollowed out center inside. These dog toys look odd, but dogs love them because they bounce when tossed. Most dogs enjoy a large Kong while smaller dogs may need a medium one.

When giving any toys to dogs, bigger is better to prevent them from swallowing toy pieces. For strong chewers, choose the black Extreme Kong. This one is made of tougher material and can withstand a power chewer. When in doubt, larger and stronger is always best.

WATCH: Choosing a Kong Toy Size for Your Dog

How to Introduce a Kong to Your Dog

After you’ve chosen the right sized Kong for your dog, it’s time to introduce it to him! Proper Kong introduction is key. Many dogs will simply walk away from a weird looking rubber toy. However, once your dog realizes food falls out of his Kong toy, he’ll quickly become super interested.

Step 1: Show Him Food is Inside

Make it super simple at first. Think of food stuffed Kongs as puzzles. Smear peanut butter around the outer rim of the Kong and add a few tiny treats inside. Place the Kong on a soft surface, and walk away. Refrain from tossing a Kong across the floor, as this might scare some dogs.

Ninety percent of dogs will walk over and investigate this strange rubber alien on the floor because it smells like peanut butter. Placing Kongs on soft surfaces, such as a mat, prevents them from wobbling away, which can freak some dogs out too.

Step 2: Practice Twice a Day

Randomly, throughout the day, smear peanut butter and a few tiny loose treats inside of a Kong, and leave it on a soft surface. Follow step 1 for 2-3 days. Once your dog is licking away at the Kong, it’s time to move onto step 2. Of course, continue feeding your dog his meals out of a bowl until he’s completely comfortable emptying out a Kong.

WATCH: How to Introduce a Kong Toy to Your Dog: Step One

How To Clean Food Stuffed Dog Toys

September 25, 2017 by Fanna Easter

Cleaning Kong Dog Toys

Every positive reinforcement dog trainer agrees on one thing: Dogs should have plenty of mental enrichment every day. Food stuffed dog toys, such as Kongs, are a quick and very effective way to keep your dog’s brain busy all day. But how do you remove all the sticky residue from the cracks and crevices of dog toys afterwards? Here are a few simple hacks for cleaning Kong dog toys.

Smart Kong Stuffing Tactics

For the most part, sticky and gooey foods make the best filling for rubber Kong toys. While the sticky texture of these foods help keep the filling inside the toy, it can leave a gross residue that’s impossible to remove. The toughest place to remove gummed up food is the very bottom or within crevices.

To prevent food from caking at the bottom, fill the bottom third of the Kong with kibble. Then, fill the remaining 2/3 of the toy with cream cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, squeeze cheese, banana, honey, bread or sweet potatoes. Freeze to ensure the food stuffed dog toy lasts longer.

Scrape With a Butter Knife or Bottle Brush

When dog saliva and peanut butter mesh together during an hour-long dog toy licking session, traces of food will inevitably get left behind. Use a butter knife to scrape out the larger chunks lodged inside and toss into your garbage disposal. Some pet owners use a bottle brush to scrub out the food stuck in cracks and crevices, but wire bristles just don’t reach all the way inside. Either way, it’s important to scrape out the large bits from the bottom to prevent mold from growing.

Soak in Warm Soapy Water

Once the larger chunks have been removed, it’s time to give the dog toy a long soak. In the past, I would put dishwasher safe toys on the top rack of our dishwasher, but then I would notice the color fading and cracks developing due to extreme heat.

Now, I fill our sink with hot water and liberally drizzle natural dishwashing liquid to form a hot soap soak. If you go this route, toss all of your rubber Kong toys into the water and let them soak for an hour. A long soak will help lift and remove the food stuck in crevices. Rinse each toy well after thorough soaking, air dry and stuff them with food for your dog again.

WATCH: How to Clean Kong Dog Toys

Kong Wobbler

October 2, 2014 by Fanna Easter

Games for Dogs

Does your dog or puppy have a ton of energy? First, this is totally normal. Second, learn how to burn some of that extra energy using games for dogs. I highly recommend a Kong Wobbler!

How does it work?

Kong Wobbler has a weighted bottom and it moves similar to a Weeble Wobble. When pushed, it bounces back forward. Your dog pushes, nudges and paws at the Wobbler and rewarded when food is dispensed!

Which game should I choose for my dog?

There are a ton of games and food puzzles, and I’ve tried 90% of them. After all the setting up and testing, my dogs really like the Kong Wobbler. It’s super easy to use. I like the ease of refilling and cleaning. 🙂

Before starting, set your dog up for success and make it easy for him to earn the kibble.

Fill the Wobbler.
Drop a few kibble pieces next to the Wobbler.
Move the Wobbler around so your dog watches kibble or treats fall out the opening.

Always supervise your dog when he’s playing with the Wobbler. As you can see in the video, my Rottie has tried to chew the top. I recommend feeding your dog’s morning and evening meals using the Wobbler. Also, the plastic does not scratch wooden floors nor is it excessively noisy, which is a huge plus.

Which size Kong Wobbler should you choose?

I recommend the larger Kong Wobbler for dogs over 30 pounds, and the smaller version for dogs under 30 pounds. When in doubt, choose a larger size, as small dogs are powerful chewers (hint hint, terriers!). Now, a tiny Chihuahua or Yorkie will not have the strength to push a large Wobbler around. They are pretty heavy and we certainly don’t want to accidentally squish a tiny dog. 🙂

VIDEO: Kong Wobbler

It’s your turn. Does your dog love his Kong Wobbler? Comment in the section below. I want to hear from you. 🙂