Kongs

I seal the bottom hole with a banana or PB and then fill it with yogurt (plain) or cottage cheese and other things he enjoys, pears, plums, banana, etc. and then seal it with PB and then freeze it.

There are few things that settle him down and keeps his attention as long as a frozen kong! 

If you use the search feature (top of the page to the right) for 'kong stuffing' there are several threads that have lots of great ideas.

I feed meals out of our Kongs (their breakfast every work day) so I mix their kibble with yogurt (or peanut butter, or bone marrow, or all of the above) and freeze overnight.  

Ella loves her kongs.

But I haven't fed her out of one in a few weeks because...isss cold outside, dontcha know?

And Princess Ella...well, crap, nevermind, I doubt she cares.

actually I stopped feeding out of them for a bit since she had a bout of bad diarrhea and I stopped adding raw meats to her meals for a bit and put her on just plain kibble.

I'm waiting for the two deer hearts I have to be frozen long enough to cut up and then we'll be going back to kongs. 

Wow! Peanut butter, yogurt, frozen kong? I never thought or knew of all those possibilities! Thor usually has carrot or apple and cookies... I'm definitely going to investigate more about more ingredients to give him a nice treat!!

When I'm feeling lazy I just fill it with his kibble and then smash a piece of bread on top to "seal" it in. a piece of bread on both sides and whatever's inside doesn't goop out very much.

Another easy filler is some meat broth squished in with a mashed white or sweet potato. You can put kibbles in with it too. Easy peasy.

Usually I just take scraps from dinner - whatever's relatively seasoned and healthy, such as steamed veggies or the gristly parts of a cheap steak - and put them in with his kibble.

Right now since I'm not working I'm only using the kongs for when he's really, really annoying me (lol) or when I go out, like with friends or grocery shopping. I leave him with a filled kong in his crate to keep him occupied, even though he usually won't eat it until I get home.  

 Dogs can usually get these frozen treats out gradually?Does it make a mess? I have been giving Lillie stuffed toys but recently she figured out she could kill it and pull all the stuffing out. I figured I would get a couple of kongs. Jayde would probally benefit from kongs considering she's teething.

I noticed too, on dog.com they actually sell stuff to put in kongs!  Misty loves hers...but I always forget to freeze it!  That would be a great idea especially if you have a dog like Misty who goes thru it so fast!

If the dog wants what's in it bad enough, yep, they get it all out even when frozen.

When you start a dog on stuffed Kongs though unless the dog is CRAZY food-motivated, it's a good idea to start them out with things that are easy to get out. Think of it as teaching them a new game, so you have to make it easy for them to win the game a few times so that when you make the task harder they keep at it because they know they can win. So you can start out with just a few treats in there that are easy to get out, then just a bit of peanut butter that's not frozen that they can lick it out, that sort of thing. After a few successful experiences they'll learn that if they work at it enough they'll get some good stuff out of it.

 I haven't found it makes much of a mess, but I usually give them when the dogs are in their confinement areas (Conrad has a crate, Marlowe has his own room). But dogs are pretty good about hoovering up any leftover crumbs when they are done.
 
Just be aware of the health aspect. Peanut butter has a lot of fat and I wouldn't be giving more than a tablespoon a day. That's why I feed kibble out of the Kongs, because that way they are getting the stimulation and fun of the Kong without me adding anything extra unhealthy in to their diets. Just a little bit of something wet and sticky plus their usual healthy kibble.
 

http://community.dog.com/forums/p/59497/487252.aspx#487252  

I'm always surprised to hear that some dogs like yogurt and vegetables enough to work to get them out of a kong. I usually just fill the kongs up with supper- kibble mixed with wet food.

MP, if it is edible, Marlowe will move mountains in order to eat it. Kale stems is a favorite treat of his. He's ridiculous and not at all normal.

A lot of dogs really like yogurt though. I feed the full-fat variety and they know there's lots of calories and fat and protein to be had. I only feed like 1 tblspoon a day though.

Last night I froze up the mother of all Kongs for this morning. Kibble, a mushed up sardine each, some left over bone marrow, shredded NB food roll, a little peanut butter (just like 1 tsp each of the marrow and PB). I feel like it eases them back in to the work week a little easier if their Monday Kongs are really special.  

I gave Coke a kong b/c he was bored and he likes toys.  I plug the little hole with peanut butter, fill it with kibble, and then smear a little peanut butter around the big hole to hold it in.  I just put it in his food bowl with the rest of his kibble that doesn't fit in the kong.  He eats his food and then takes the kong out to play with.  Even after he gets the food out, he plays with it for a long time because it smells like peanut butter.  That's all I really use because I don't want a big mess or to have to shut him in his crate. 

Kong Sundae!

I haven't made one of these in a while, but as soon as I get the deer heart thawed and cut up, I probably will be making one of these again for her.

There's kibble, plain yogurt, ground beef, and beef heart in that.

 That's Kong Heaven, there.