Making Kong Toys More Challenging For Your Dog
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!
