On a blustery September Sunday afternoon, while others were watching football, I joined six other handlers with their dogs to try out various interactive dog toys. We had a range of different sizes and breeds of dogs, including Italian greyhounds, Shelties, Giant schnauzers, German shorthaired pointers (GSP), Golden Retrievers, Cairn terriers, and an Afghan hound! Each handler brought a different toy for everyone to test, and we each brought kibbles or treats for our individual dogs. I’ll show which toys we tested, and important information we discovered about each one.
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| PetSafe Rip'n'Tug Lotus Ball |
Many owners already had some experience with PetSafe’s Rip’N’Tug Lotus ball. Some owners like to play fetch-- the dog receives a treat from the ball when he/she brings it back to the owner. Others toss the toy and let their dog rip it open for an instant reward. Everybody agreed that this is never a toy to leave alone with the dog –it would be destroyed quickly.
The toys that seemed to be easiest for the dogs to figure out were the ones that only need pushing – the Omega Tricky Treat ball, Buster cube, and Hol-ee Treat Ball. The toys should provide frequent treats initially to keep the dogs motivated, but once the dogs understand the game they can be very persistent in working for even one last piece of kibble. The concern about these toys was that some of the dogs would pick up and toss the toy (these were the dogs that also liked chewing or mouthing the ball).
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| Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball |
The Omega Paw is a softer, plastic ball and adjusts its own payout because as the cookie/kibble inside it gets low, less comes out for the dog. One drawback is the Omega ball can be chewed through if your dog is not satisfied with just the kibble inside. One benefit of the Omega ball is that the soft plastic will not scratch up wooden floors or bang up the wall, nor can a dog break it by throwing it down the stairs.
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| Buster Cube |
Yes, apparently a GSP figured out how to throw the Buster Cube down the stairs to break it open! One benefit to the Buster cube is that the payout can be adjusted manually and the dog cannot bite through the hard plastic. Caution: both the Omega Ball and the Buster Cube aren’t supposed to get wet, as mildew will form on the inside and cannot be cleaned. It was suggested to use only dry cookies/kibble on the inside and a moist towel for cleaning the outside.
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| JW Hol-ee Treat Ball |
The JW Hol-ee Treat Ball is slightly different because it has a soft, flexible outer shell and a hard plastic inner container where treats can be poured through the screw-on lid. Treats can be taken out fairly easily if you need to clean the ball, and the soft outer ball means the dog won’t be making as much noise or damaging your floors if they toss it around a little. Although it is a similar idea as the ones above, a much smaller treat compartment means that you will have to refill it more often.
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| Trixie Chess |
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| Aikiou Interactive Feeder |
The Trixie Chess game and other toys where the cookie was hidden by a slide were much more challenging for dogs that didn’t want to use their paw or wouldn’t bite onto the toy. The Aikiou feeder looks like a giant dog paw, with a sliding door over two compartments on each toe, and a rotating center door which covers multiple treat areas. Some of the smaller dogs had trouble with the depth of the compartments, and found the slippery plastic too difficult for them to get the treats. The benefit of plastic toy games and containers is that they can easily be washed. I’m not sure about the Trixie, but the Aikiou toy is dishwasher safe.
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| Ethical Pet Seek-a-Treat Shuffle Bone Puzzle |
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| Nina Ottosson Dog Tornado |
Another variety of slider/compartment toys were wooden toy puzzles like the Ethical Pet Seek-a-Treat Shuffle Bone Puzzle. Some of the big dogs had difficulty maneuvering the sliders. They quickly got frustrated and either gave up or tried to chew on the wood. They are definitely not as easy to clean, and little splits of pressed wood started cracking off almost immediately. The Nina Ottoson Dog Tornado toy was much easier for dogs to spin for treats, clearly a higher quality of wood, and didn’t end up with any teeth marks on it.
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| Yuppy Puppy Dog Treat Machine |
The Yuppy Puppy Dog Treat machine was the most difficult for all the dogs to understand. The dog is supposed to press on the end of the bone-shaped lever to produce a payout of treats from the clear dome. This is a very heavy and sturdy toy, but the Giant schnauzer seemed intent on destroying it and knocking it all over to get at the goodies inside! We all agreed this particular toy is best taught with shaping and was not going to be learned by the dog alone. When practicing with this, sometimes the dog could get a huge payout (1/2 cup of kibble-sized treats) and sometimes only one or two kibbles.
Our suggestion is: whatever toy you are considering, please think about what your dog enjoys best: does your dog prefer using his nose or his paws? Is it a toy where the dog can be let safely alone for a small while? How much time do you have to teach the toy (some are faster than others)? Finally, consider your dog’s size relative to the toy --- for instance, some dog’s noses are just not long enough to get to the bottom of the compartments.
Have you ever bought any interactive toys for your dog? Were there any surprises--- like your dog chewed through it, or it was too difficult for your dog to figure out, or cleaning it was a nightmare? Let me know in the comments below!
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