Dog Community

Nina Ottosson Puzzles

Posted : 8/6/2010 8:58:24 PM

Last week, I bought this Nina Ottosson puzzle. I opted for the plastic version because two of our guys are wood chewers.

It seems to be very durable, & it's wash and wear, which is a must here. My dogs love it & they get very excited to see it come out. That said, I am a bit disappointed in how easy it is for most of our guys. I opted to skip acclimating them to it slowly, so I just filled the holes, & let each dog try it out separately. Here's the rundown of how everyone did on their first try.

Cher- Assessed it for about 15 seconds, & then methodically moved everything around to get the treats out. It took her less than 3 minutes to assess & retrieve the treats.
Bevo- Assessed for 8-10 seconds. Then he grabbed the edge, tipped it over, gave it a small shake & retrieved his treats from the floor. He worked for 2 minutes at the most.
Shooter- Spent no time assessing. He smelled treats & went for them. He worked, diligently, for about 8 minutes until he had freed all of the treats.
Schatzi- Wandered around it, sniffing, for almost 10 minutes before starting to work on it. Once she figured out how to move the pieces, she got through it with relative ease. She was occupied for around 25 minutes before finishing.
Brinxx- Was moving through it quickly, when she slid on of the panels over, & somehow caught her tongue under it. Her tongue was pinched, & she refused to play with it afterwards.
Chyna- Found the treats quickly, started slamming it all over the living room, launching treats throughout, & chipping a large piece off of the entertainment center. She was pooped after the 5 minutes of exertion.
Angel- Walked around sniffing for around a minute. Then she worked, fairly quickly, to free the treats. She was done in 10 minutes.
Brutus- Sniffed it. Whined at it. Then came, sat in front of me, gave me those big pleading Boo eyes. I promptly went over, uncovered the first panels exposing the treats for him. He looked at them, & then gave me the "can't you get them out for me" look. I retrieved all of the treats & fed him by hand. The entire process took around 2 minutes. (Yes, he has me wrapped around his paw.)

All in all, I probably wouldn't but this particular puzzle again. Even for my "slower" dogs, it's too easy. I tend to like toys that take more time & effort. I like for the dogs to be tired after playing with their toys, & this toy did nothing to tire them out. It was, IMO, not worth the money that I spent on it.

miranadobe

Posted : 8/6/2010 10:00:42 PM

THANK YOU for that review! I've been looking at these, but suspected exactly what you described. (Although, tbh, wasn't expecting dogs would pick them up and shake them.) I also wouldn't opt for wood, either. Not because G is any kind of wood chewer, but I hope to NEVER encourage any of my dogs to see wood as a toy.

Thanks again for the thorough review, from all of your dogs. At least you got 8 uses out of it... lol

Spazzy

Posted : 8/6/2010 10:02:15 PM

Ive always wanted to get a Nina Ottoson puzzle for Bailey, I wish the good ones werent so dang expencive.

Your crew must all be geniuses Stick out tongue (with the exception of Brustus, hes just TOO smart and knows he can get the food without doing any work)

spiritdogs

Posted : 8/7/2010 7:11:52 AM

I have the one pictured below, which is supposed to be one of the more challenging ones. Sequoyah didn't like the smell of it, I don't think. She can get the treats out quickly, but she seems to much prefer the Pyramid (also a Nina Ottosson toy) to this thing. She likes stuff that she can topple or fling around, too, like Tug a Jug. In class, we sometimes use Aikiou toys to keep puppies occupied. Those are plastic, and I got mine from Clean Run. I actually like that those are so simple, because all the pups seem to be able to figure it out and they don't spend time learning to "make dates" with the pups next to them, distracting the whole class. But, even with those, dogs need supervision - took one of our chocolate Labs only two seconds to rip one of the slides off! Most dogs that have tried the toy below seem inclined to try to chew the knobs rather than push them, which only the smart dogs seem to try. One Border Collie figured it out even faster than Sequoyah, which is unusual, but you put this in front of some dogs, they do the "stare and whine" routine.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 8/7/2010 10:47:23 AM

I bought a similar toy, that includes pegs and slides, for Emma, for Christmas. I also opted not to acclimate her. I set it up the hardest way I could think of, and gave it to her. Took 3 minutes, flat, she had the thing done and went off, looking for more wrapping paper to shred. Bean and Jewel took a bit longer, but it's not something we use on a regular basis.

Brutus is just too smart for words. Have the HUMAN figure out the toy. What a guy!!!! LOL

kpwlee

Posted : 8/7/2010 2:01:21 PM

thanks for the review Amanda - I'll take that off my list LOL

Brutus that is something Campbell would do - heck he once sat on his kong and whined because he couldn't find it LOL

micksmom

Posted : 8/7/2010 7:57:13 PM

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I, too, will be crossing it off my wish list (or should that be Caleb's wish list? ;)

BEVOLASVEGAS
...Bevo- Assessed for 8-10 seconds. Then he grabbed the edge, tipped it over, gave it a small shake & retrieved his treats from the floor. He worked for 2 minutes at the most...

Bevo, you rock, boy! That so sounds like something Caleb would do.