Tricky thought provoking toys?

[Abby&Fiona]

Fiona needs entertainment! haha Rarely is the rope enough. What are some fun toys that she has to work for her treat or really chew? She has kongs daily, frozen and not frozen and we have an everlasting treatball that we fill the other side with treats. She rolls the everlasting treat ball around the living room making the treats fall out and digging into it for them. I am seeing she is starting to become more interested in "thinking" toys that require effort. So, I thought I would ask you guys what some good entertaining toys are that your dogs love!
Fiona loves fetch, heck she plays fetch with herself by throwing her squeaky toys in the air and running after them but she seems to love the process of working for something... when her everlasting treat got down to just a ring inside the ball, SOMEHOW she managed to get the entire ring out of the ball still in tact. She ran away with it like she thought she did something naughty! I was pretty impressed so I of course told her "wow good job smarty pants!" haha
She is going through ANOTHER really chewy phase so I gotta keep that mouth busy!
Throw your ideas and experiences my way. Thanks!

 

[stephanieb]

Hi!

I spent a fortune on toys when we brought our new puppy home 3 weeks ago, and discovered yesterday that what beats ALL the toys is an empty 2 litre pop bottle. He chased it around to ages. Inside, outside. Repeatedly. It won't help with the teething, but is good for hours of entertainment apparently.

 

[Abby&Fiona]

Lol that's not the first I have heard of the 2 liter bottle. I guess I imagined her tearing it up, but maybe not. Thanks for responding!

---------- Post added at 11:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 AM ----------

We don't drink pop around here much- but a friend of mine brought over a 16oz rootbeer the other day... I gave the empty plastic bottle to Fiona. This is a RIOT! She keeps running from me like she is not supposed to have it haha

 

[Abby&Fiona]

We don't drink pop around here much- but a friend of mine brought over a 16oz rootbeer the other day... I gave the empty plastic bottle to Fiona. This is a RIOT! She keeps running from me like she is not supposed to have it haha

 

[Marrowshard]

It might not help with the puzzle-solving thing but cow hooves always kept Ebony busy for a while. I've heard some people stuff them and freeze them to make them last longer. We put peanut butter or Kong Stuff'n in ours and she'd be busy all afternoon with it.

~Marrow

 

[dsaw247]

I don't have one, mainly because I think my pup is too lazy for this, but you might want to look at the dog tornado by Nina Ottosson. It's an interactive puzzle for dogs that requires the dog to have to rotate discs to find treats. There is also the Nina Ottosson Dog Casino interactive puzzle. The Casino seems a little more challenging since your dog has to dislodge plastic pieces and open drawers to find the treats. I know that some of this can be a bit pricey, but I've seen many similar yet cheaper puzzles found through a Google search

 

[Abby&Fiona]

HaHa I am finding that is pretty common around here- too lazy I love mastiffs! hahahahah

 

[Abby&Fiona]

Fiona got her first Antler today! :-D She loved it of course

 

[dsaw247]

I love the laziness too And I'm glad to hear Fiona loved the antler! I really want to buy one for Moose...I was just waiting to hear someone say that their dog loves it

 

[Skilly]

When I had my Rotty, who really was a thiunker and needed to keep his mind busy, I found an old truck tyre lying around somewhere. I brought it home and rolled it around the yard and he would run with his paws on top and chew at it until it fell over, having to rebalance as it twisted and turned. He loved it!

Another thing hge loved was "hide and seek". I named every toy when we brought each one home. So he learned all the different names. I would put him inside, hide all the toys around the yard, then bring him out and say "Find your..." He loved hunting for each one, and sometimes if he couldn't find the one I'd asked for he would pick up a different one and slowly walk back to me as if to say "I can't find it but wiill this do?" I'd toss it back and say , "no, where's your..." - when he'd spot it, he'd come bounding back "smiling" from ear to ear! Some dogs really enjoy a bit of a brain work out. If this gets too easy, you can take photos of the toys, and then get them to look at the photo (laminated due to drool!) then get the toy.

 

[babyjoemurphy]

I need brain work gamesfor my guy too. He is 2 1/2, adopted him 7 weeks ago. Hide and seek only works when I go looking for what I hid for him lol

 

[Jayne]

OMG i didn't know they could get find it from a pic how do you teach this? fabulous !!
when i ask my DDB to find it - he goes to my coat pocket ( treat laden!!)

 

[ruthcatrin]

if you figure it out let me know, Apollo's not driven enough, but I gotta do SOMEHTING to entertain Arty....

 

[Robtouw]

My guy loves to demolish empty boxes, so we tape them closed with treats inside of them. And he loves empty water bottles. Buy expensive things and he is bored with them, freebies that go in the garbage he loves!

 

[ruthcatrin]

haven't tried water bottles, but boxes last about 5 minutes....the cardboard tubes I get from work last longer I will admit.

 

[Abby&Fiona]

update! haha Fiona is now like 18 months old.... and of course still needs mental stimulation AND physical obviously. She jogs with us now and then, we take her on hikes and car rides often. We also have done HIDE THE TOY and put a treat under a cup and move them around and let her sniff out which one has the treat. She is a smart cookie! Never a dull moment! She still loves water bottles but we don't let her have them long. She has chilled out a lot. THANK GOD but she also is still such a blast and always keeps us on our toes! :-D

OH and she also loves playing catch with herself (yes with herself!) and her teaser ball. We favors balls that bounce HIGH so she can toss them and catch them or we can bounce them and she jumps! FUN girl!

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

My two love to play 'find it'. I chop up bits of cheese or hot dog and hide them under blankets, under cusions, in corners around the house, under their beds etc and then tell them to GO FIND! They have to sniff the treats out, move the blankets to get at them, up-end pillows etc that they are hidden under. Granted they are getting pretty good at this game so from time to time I also hide them in the grass so they have to have a good root around outside as well. Pop bottles work a treat, especially if you put a few cookies in them and screw the lid back on. Cat food boxes (empty) are fabulous, my girl goes nuts for them. I put a few cookies in there and seal them back up, the cat food smell drives her potty and the cookies are her reward for destroying the box. I use empty cereal boxes too but cat food boxes are her favorite.