Your dog and puzzle toys

Do your dogs like puzzle toys? Are they any good at them?

Juno loves puzzle toys but I started using them with her as an itty bitty puppy, so she grew quite accustomed to the concept. She gets pretty darn focused when presented with one. I was a little bit disappointed when she figured out how to do the Nina Ottosson Twister in about 5 seconds... was kind of hoping it'd occupy her for a while She's a problem solver at heart and she's food motivated enough that she gives these toys 150%.

But I thought of this thread because I decided to give this a go with Cajun's dinner tonight, and it was a little pathetic lol. I started her off with something easy - the Kibble Nibble. EASY PEASY. Just roll the stupid thing around! For as balls to the walls as this dog is and as much as she likes to play, she has to be the laziest Kibble Nibble roller on the planet. I think it took 30 minutes for her to fiiiiinallyyyyy get 3/4c of food out. :rofl1:

So, do your dogs like these toys or not so much?

All of them are pretty enthusiastic, though Copper likes to chew and bash them against things if you aren't watching.

Shadow prefers quieter ones.

laika thinks shes above puzzle toys... tug jug: not really a puzzle toy but takes some work to get treats or food out... shes above that and justs bites the plastic which pops the back off and she empties it out -_- so I haven't found any that she needs to work at

They like them, but Squash learned just to pick the whole thing up and drop or fling it to make the treats fly everywhere soooooo.... yea. They have limited value at my house.

Roxie is good with the ones we have. Nina Ottoson red and blue thingy, Kong satellite and wobbler, and the Buster maze. She was super confused with the satellite, and ruined the first one (I replaced it) by chewing on it. Now she's finally figured out that she's gotta smack it around, lol. Used to pick it up and gnaw on it, which got her nowhere and I'd have to keep starting her over.

Roxie doesn't push kibble through the Buster maze like she is supposed to, just picks it up with her tongue. So she cheats a bit with some things, lol. As for the wobbler, I put a tennis ball inside that... Otherwise it's too easy and only takes like 10 mins and I want her to work on it longer, lol.

I'm thinking about getting Rox some more complicated food toys, but I'm very picky. For now, I just rotate them around during dinner. Sometimes I will use two toys and she will take hardly any time at all. She's really good and eager, and smart too.

Abe thinks they are stupid and below him and Zooey is mystified by the magic!

Pretty much explains my dogs right there...

Pen just won't eat if presented with a puzzle toy LOL. Bubbles will, but it takes her a bit to figure them out. Jari has only used the Tug-a-Jug and Wobbler and likes them OK but would rather train with me for his food - he "gets" them but just likes the interaction with me better I think. Kimma loves them all because she thinks that food is the best ever, but figures them out too quickly. She also breaks them in order to get food out faster. We've said goodbye to a Buster Cube and 2 Tug-a-Jugs so far because of her craziness

Bristol will happily roll, dig at, lick, nose or tug anything with food or treats inside, she seems to like it because she is happy when I start filling one.

I have never let Gage try one, it just seem cruel to make him try to paw something that small with his giant feet, and his mouth is too big to fit in the holes so he would be using his tongue to try are get the food out.

Diesel would rather starve. If Bristol opens one and grabs a kibble and takes it to her bed to eat, which she normally does, he will sneak in and eat the rest while she is gone.

I tried all the Kyjen puzzles on Rowan at my old job and he's too good at them. He cleaned each of them out in about 10 seconds each, some less.

I haven't tried Riff with them.

edit: double post, sorry!

I have never tried any. I imagine that journey would figure it out quickly but find it boring, like she does Kongs if she has to work too hard at cleaning them out haha. Dance would probably be awesome at it but finish super quickly and obsess over more. I think the Dobermans would not be good at them at all and would look to me for help. I could be wrong, but they really are not problem solvers.

I should try one someday. I do have one that has just never been opened and used.

Any of the ones that resemble board games (Nina Ottoson etc.) he figures out in 2.5 seconds, eats everything, and looks smug.

That said, he could be a poster child for any of the difficult puzzle toys like buster cubes and tug-a-jugs. Dude goes NUTS for them and flies around the house making wookie noises trying to get every last bit out. If I fill one with his meal he sings. :rofl1:

Tucker LOVES him food toys. When I'm home he gets his meals out of squirrel dude and kong genius toys (he eats a mix of wet and dry). It doesn't take him terribly long, but I'd say a good 20 minutes. And sometimes he flings squirrel dude at you and it hurts but at least he looks like he'd enjoying himself. He prefers eating out of the toys to eating out of a bowl...if I put both a food filled toy and a food filled bowl down he'll grab the toy and leave the bowl. He also has a starmark everlasting fun ball which I use if his anxiety/reactivity is bad. I fill it with chunks of jerky (I can adjust the difficulty by the size of the hunks) and it keeps him distracted for a while.

We like the IQ ball and this little food pod thing we have. Anything else is too easy for Mia and she'll empty it in about a minute. The tug a jug too.... I got her the big do one on accident but she still broke it.

Summer does not understand food toys and thinks it's mean you won't just give her her food.

Cobain enjoys bashing all the food out of a Buster Cube, but seldom actually eats the food. I guess the satisfaction of knowing he's doing it right is enough?

Oz is terrified of them, but will gladly follow Cobain around with his and pick up the leftovers.

Rigby is good with the Buster Cube as well but I don't often give it to her because 4 dogs in a house, and her with food aggression wouldn't go over too well. She's good with the hide-a-squirrel though.

All of my dogs enjoy treat dispensing toys, but Kes and Snipe are the masters at them. Maggie had them all beat, however. She's the only dog I've known who could empty a stuffed and frozen kong in 15 minutes.

All the dogs get a frozen Kong daily - usually stuffed with canned, freeze-dreidel kibble, or a mixture. They're all pretty good about cleaning them out.

It took Heidi a long time to figure out the concept of a Kong, and she still hasn't figured out the concept of any toy that she has to roll around - we're trying, though!

I have several Planet Dog toys (the Orbee Tuff Bulb, the Diamond Plate Double Tuff, the Mazee, and the Snoop) that I'll fill with kibble or small treats for Missy and Jack. I've used a Tug-a-Jug, a Kibble Nibble, and a Buster Cube before, but Missy always manages to chew them apart or crack the hard plastic within a couple weeks. I've had the Planet Dog toys for MONTHS and they all look as good as new! They're both pretty good about emptying any food toy.

I've never done the board game-type puzzle toys, but I'm sure they would figure those out pretty quickly.

I never used them with him as a pup, but when we dogsat, he was really into the dogs kong wobbler so I decided to buy one and he loves it! I bought a few others but he goes through them too quickly. The Kong Wobbler is our favorite.

Nola loves them and even the hardest ones are a snap for her to figure out.

Abrams loves anything that has food in it, so food dispensing toys are a love of his. I haven't exposed him to much, however, and I've never actually tried him with a puzzle toy (like, the ones that look like mazes). He'd probably kill some of the other toys (like a Tug-a-Jug), so I haven't bothered. I do plan to buy a food dispensing toy for his mealtimes, I just haven't had the extra cash.

Cynder doesn't care about them.