Bored Dogs

kpwlee

 Chelsea Bugsy is a destroyer extraordinaire but the everlasting fun ball and the large orbee globe ball are still intact I put things in there that don't fit the holes, it can be a pain 'loading' them but he has to work to get them out.  To be honest I don't know how he gets some of the stuff out of the large everlasting fun ball.  My guess is those would work for you and how long it takes to get things out will depend on what you put in AND practice makes perfect LOL

YAY dog.com has both of those. At first i thought you ment this- http://www.dog.com/item/starmark-everlasting-treat-ball/311401/ My first thoughts where "how in the world would Bugsy not destroy this?" LOL. That everlasting fun ball looks like it might actually work. The orbee one too.. which one do you think is harder to get the treats out of? Bailey is an expert at getting food out of anything.

I need to try the Everlasting Treat Ball apparently.  My crew is pretty destructive.  I really wanted to try that hide-squirrel toy, but I know they would just destroy it.

I really want to try the Tricky Treat Ball, I think Nike in particular would enjoy it.  Honor and Nike are big fans of the Tug a Jug, which REALLY surprises me where Nike is concerned because he's very skittish around any clatter-y noise.  The MoleculeBall is another fave around here, especially of Eli, who likes softer and easier toys.

I too, want some of the Nina Ottosson toys, but being so expensive, I am asking for them for the dogs for Christmas.

Has anyone tried these?  They carry them at the place where I get my dog food, and apparently you can connect multiple Leos to make it more complicated...I am curious.

We have five Leos.  They work really well for everyone except Bevo.  He realized that slamming them against a wall, human's leg, ect...makes the treats come out faster.

Everyone else loves them, & it does take them a while to get them emptied out.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Mel, I use a bridge word to keep them holding on when I am teaching a hold.  It's usually simple like a repetitve hold it, hold it, hold it, then I when I mark it with the clicker, they drop it & the behavior is over.  As they learn what I want, I use my bridge word less frequently & eventually phase it out ccompletely.

Aw, that's a good idea! I'll give it a go. Thanks Amanda.

jennie_c_d

 LOL, Emma smacked into a tree, after a f-r-i-s-b-e-e, full speed, and as soon as she was able to stand again, wanted to know where it was. She's just a HUGE toy shaker, and I'm thinking that being smacked in the head, repeatedly, with that hard jug hurts. I know it hurt, the one time it hit me in the shin!

That was years ago, though, when they had actual ropes in them. 

Infiniti

I need to try the Everlasting Treat Ball apparently.  My crew is pretty destructive.  I really wanted to try that hide-squirrel toy, but I know they would just destroy it.

Get the everlasting fun ball, not the everlasting treat ball. I thought they were the same thing when i heard the name but they arnt. Bailey can pop the little treat thing out of the middle of the everlasting treat ball a couple seconds. Im getting the everlasting fun ball from dog.com, if it can stand up to Bugsy it must be good

 the everlasting fun ball is definitely more challenging than the Orbee for two reasons

1. the holes have like prongs so it isn't just wide open
2. the large is bigger than the large orbee

I do put kibble in sometimes but other things are liver cubes these are really tough in that they don't just crunch up and come out in pieces, I put pieces of a biscuit in again always larger than the opening, chewy treats (we have some beef jerky like things) are very difficult to get out. He does it though   Then only thing he has left in there is a liver cube that mashed up but didn't break up so it couldn't come out.  He fell asleep with it in his mouth LOL

The orbee is like a starter version in that the hole is unimpeded and it is smaller so he can crunch it better.

BTW we have a version of the hide-a toys and I just keep it away and do it with him.  Stuffies die quickly so that is supervised only.  Honestly he didn't find it a challenge.  I showed him the babies, put them in the toy and gave it to him.  He took them out, game over, repeat.  And it would be easier for a smaller dog or one with a pointier snout as his is too big to get in the hole.  He likes it but once is exciting, twice is enough.  Time to move on LOL

Cita

 The trouble I have with Rascal and interactive toys is twofold - 1) he's not at ALL "drivey," and if he deems something is too "hard," he just sits and cries and expects someone to solve him for it (not that I ever do); 2) see #1, he's not super food-motivated, so if it takes too much effort to get the food out, he just won't bother. but if it's too easy, of course, he just gobbles it up immediately and there's no interactive component.

We tried a hide-a-squirrel but he hasn't too keen on the "hiding" part. He never did decide that it was fun/acceptable to pull the squirrels out of their stump.

His twist-and-treat has moderate success in that it's not too hard, but he usually finished it off after less than 10 minutes.

Tug a jug and anything similar are too "scary" to be fun (he's not a big fan of hard, solid objects, or anything that makes a loud noise). He does, however, like to destroy stuffed squeaky toys.

Any particular toy suggestions for us?

To be honest, I don't spend a lot of time trying to convince non-toy motivated dogs to like toys, unless they are being destructive and then I might give it a try.  Instead, if I just want to exercise the dog's mind, I use training exercises.  Or, I teach tricks, or I jog with the dog, etc.  I fit the activity level to the dog, instead of trying to force the square peg into the round hole:-)

If he likes "stufficide" you might try tugging a Wubba with him, or getting a really tough stuffy toy for supervised evisceration. 

Krissim Klaw

Have you tried a waggle?  Kirby is also big into shaking and that is how the waggle is designed to be used.  It is plastic but it is soft and somewhat springing so when the dog shakes it back and forth it has its own movement.

I keep eyeballing them. I guess she needs one, since it is her birthday She likes to milk that, for all it's worth.

Doea anyone know if the kibble nibble will hold up to an aggressive chewer. I am thinking it would be the one for Mom's shih-tzu, but I am wondering if it will hold up to the puppy I am waiting to turn 8 weeks, who I can almost guarantee will be an aggressive chewer. it says it is made to dispense kibble instead of treats, and that is what I am wanting, something to feed and work at the same time, not to get more treats. Julie

 The kibble nibble is HARD. I'm afraid my dogs (Emma, in particular, who is a toy slammer) will shatter it.

Wow, I would hope that they would make it our of shatter proof plastic!

I just discovered the Premier Twist and Treat.  They LOVE this!  With all the rain lately, I needed something to keep them busily happy.  It works!

http://www.amazon.com/Premier-Twist-and-Treat-Small/dp/B0002I0RLW/ref=pd_sim_k_2

The kibble nibble only comes in one size and it's quite large.  My 24lb Corgi mix can operate it, but it's huge next to her - probably about 8-10" long!  The plastic is heavy duty so I'm not worried about shattering, especially with my smaller dogs (all under 40lbs).

The waggle is great - our has 4-prongs so is Maggie's most difficult toy.  She does not kill shake hers, just knaws on it like her kong mostly, with some wall chucking every so often. lol

The TnT is good, but if you have a chewer they can get a hold of the edges and do some damage, so be careful about using it unsupervised at least initially.