I am looking for good Dog Toys and Games for Fit Dog Kilo.
It’s already getting cooler outside, so our 5 daily walks are getting just a little shorter. Neither of us like the cold it appears. Kilo needs lots of mental and physical stimulation, so I need to find things for him to do in the house. He is also a very fast greedy eater, so I thought I would test some things to slow him down (weight loss tips- slow down HERE). He LOVES scratching, chewing, playing and hiding the toys he likes in his crate (along with the odd sock and flip flop).
His favourite toys are his smelly old soft stuffed teddy, and a small red Kong toy. He also likes the new stuffed ones I got him and can play chase and tug for hours. (Thrilled to see the Tug game is exercising his little back legs- thanks Slim Doggy. We have been practising exercises from last week and got some tips on squats from our friends Nichole and Joey this week HERE). He is a little unreliable on fetching i.e. bringing things back to me, but will drop them nicely now if asked (always in the hope of a treat). He prefers playing with me, but will amuse himself chewing and chasing alone too. Occasionally, I will put a little peanut butter or hide some treats in the Kong, and he is delighted. I just got a fun new rope toy with little cups and hid a few bits of his breakfast kibble in there. He loves the toy, but has a lot of trouble getting the kibble out. It can keep him busy for quite a while, and he buries it under his bed in his crate if there are still bits stuck. However I just found out from wonderful trainer Joan Weston that I have to be very careful about rope as little bits may shred off and get caught in the intestines etc. I tried a pink ball with holes for kibble or treats, but that one is too easy, and not as satisfying to grab for his mouth size. I also tried a cute little soft disc as I thought he might like playing with that. He is great at sprinting, jumping and catching. I followed the tips from our post on disc HERE , but he doesn’t seem to enjoy the shape and texture as much as some of the other toys, and has not wanted to grab it.
I went looking for other toys and games to slow down eating and/or keep him mentally and physically active. Some seem quite expensive so thought I would check here is anyone can recommend some good ones for his size and personality and where to get them? We have a large stretch of wooden floor, so I can even try bigger games and jumps.
Joan had a great suggestions for freezing things like Kongs stuffed with different foods and treats, or she even freezes raw bones so I am off to buy a few more Kongs.
Marketing and SEO for Fit Dog Friday Blog Hop
I was thinking about how to get the most out of this Blog Hop. Maybe we could do a “Meet the bloggers” week and share links, then a “Bring a Friend” or some sort of marketing week to grow awareness and numbers for the Hop a little? The Linky Hop system is very convenient, and the comments and views are good, but I do not believe the links count as back links. I would like to increase my number of back links for SEO. I also believe the subject of this Hop is extremely important, and the information we share is really useful and interesting, so we should try to share with as large an audience as possible. Anyone else interested?
We love mental exercises and play them all the time. Thanks for suggesting increasing the awareness of the Hop – we’re all for it. Let’s see what folks think.
Thanks SlimDoggy. Let’s discuss further. X Susie & Kilo
We had one of the worst winters ever last year. It got really difficult to find ways to fight the boredom. We tried one of those treat toys, it was a waste of money. Basically we just tried to run around the back yard for short periods of time when we couldn’t get our long walks in. And any new squeaky toy makes me want to play more. Hang in there! Love Dolly
Thanks Dolly. Yes, I tend to think simple is best. The stairs and lots of retrieving and games in the house. We had such a bad winter in TO last year, I am dreading it. X Susie & Kilo
Do you have nose work in your area? We are all mellow pups at my house, but nose work really wears out even the hyper dogs in class. We do homework 3-4 times a week besides which is done in and outdoors. You can go to a park and practice or even in a small bathroom. Nose work is much more than just the old hide the treat game if you get into it. Dogs have a mental puzzle to solve that is constantly changing and they are rewarded when they solve it. The mental aspect may tire your little buddy out! Thanks for joining the hop and for your suggestions!
Thanks Emma. Great idea. Kilo is making great progress but is not able to cope with other dogs yet, so I will Google some nose work exercises and try that out at home. Not sure his sense of smell is as good as yours with that squished puggy nose, plus I don’t think he was exposed to too much, so he gets a bit overwhelmed by all the variety of smells out there now. He sometimes has trouble finding hidden little pieces of kibble, but I’ll find some nice high value treats to test. Have a great weekend. X Susie & Kilo
Nose work sounds like something my pups would love!!! Maybe we need to play some scent games inside and in the garden at home now that the weather is getting nicer here 🙂
The dogs enjoyed the Kong Wobbler although I don’t know how that would be on hardwood. Food puzzles never take Mr. N very long so I don’t bother buying them anymore. I’ll sometimes put treats in a plastic bottle or in boxes (I stack the boxes unevenly so he has to navigate through them). You could also get a muffin pan, put kibble in it and put tennis balls over it.
We’re always working on some trick or another. I taught Mr. N how to open cupboard doors using a towel recently and I’m planning on teaching him to jump rope at some point.
Thanks so much. I thought that might be the case on the puzzles- glad I did not spend the $. Great ideas. Love kibble and balls in a pan and the skip rope- I’ll ask Sara and Hero to do a post and show me how to teach him that as I noticed they do it well- he loves jumping and we happen to have a jump rope on the front table! Kilo is now good on sit, stay, shake a paw, jump up, jump down, and today we did “lie down”, leash walking, retrieving and passing strangers with Joan for a few hours. He enjoyed the attention and the treats a lot.
We use a Kong Wobbler for feeding and Laika loves it. I know it comes in a couple different sizes. I think the large is about $16. It’s pretty sturdy so it makes some banging noises but it’s a lot of fun and definitely slows down Laika’s eating. Bad winters are no fun, last year it was a lot of tug and nose games indoors. Luckily Laika doesn’t mind the snow but it’s hard to get out as much when it’s dark when you get home from work.
I tried to get on your blog over the weekend and I couldn’t. I guess it must be going around, because mine was acting funky for me earlier today.
I am glad you found so many good things to keep Kilo busy. Mine used to get stuffed kongs when they were young, but they figured out how to get things out of them too easy and then they made a mess. The trick is drool all over it and get the contents wet and then bounce, bounce, bounce until the wet crap comes flying out…lol.
Have you tried the game of using a muffin tin with tennis balls to hide treats under a couple?
Fridays are tough for me. I usually post to the hop and run (as you can probably tell). My weekends are booked for months so I have to keep things simple and quick.
Thanks so much for following up and letting me know- I really appreciate it. We keep getting attacked by bots from China apparently, every time we go on a HOP. They go after every user name on the site plus more and try passwords incessantly until they crash the site, which they did again on Sunday. I have upped security and they never get through, but so distressing and bizarre as we are a small, lean team and nothing to really gain as not much useful data, even if they did get through and no $.
Kilo makes a big mess with his Kong too but loves it. I use it for go to bed. Frozen sounds like a good idea. I love tennis and play every week so trying that. We had such a great time with Joan- lots of ideas which keep him busy training. Lucky he loves food and treats- so cute. Plus a few new toy ideas from FB and pals. I am optimistic. X Susie and Kilo