We live and breathe food toys around my house; almost every meal comes out of one. Maisy’s favorite kibble-dispensing toy is the Tug-a-Jug, so when the rubber rope on hers finally broke last fall, I immediately went out and bought another one.
Despite the fact that I had a working replacement, the hoarder in me just couldn’t throw away what was an otherwise perfectly good toy, so I started experimenting with ways to use the jug without the tug. I started with the old stand by: I threw a couple of tennis balls in the jug along with her kibble. That worked, but it wasn’t very challenging. Next, I crumpled up a piece of paper and stuffed it in there. This was better, but still too easy for my food-toy connoisseur. Then I hit on the winning combination: a series of cardboard layers inside.
I really like this method because it’s both cheap and easy to make yourself. It changes the way your dog interacts with the toy, basically making it like a brand-new toy. And best of all, it’s fully adjustable because you can add or remove layers to create the right difficulty level for your dog. In fact, compared to using a Tug-a-Jug the traditional way, Maisy’s repurposed one takes her almost twice as long to empty, meaning I get that much more time without a tennis ball in my lap!
Intrigued? Want to try it yourself? Follow along…
Materials Needed: Cardboard, scissors, and a pen or pencil.
Step 1: Take the lid off your Tug-a-Jug, set it upright on the cardboard, and trace it. Then, draw a second circle around that, about an inch away.
Step 2: Using your scissors, cut it out along the outer line. Then, cut a series of strips towards the center, stopping at the inner line.
Step 3: Tear out every other strip. Fold the remaining ones up in the same direction.
Step 4: Make a hole anywhere inside the remaining solid area. The easiest way to do this is to stab the cardboard with your scissors and twist until the hole is the right size. Bigger holes will obviously be easier for the kibble to fall through.
Step 5: Place the cardboard inside the Tug-a-Jug. Right now, Maisy is using three layers, with each layer arranged so that the holes do not line up on top of each other. Allow enough room between each layer for the kibble to move freely. Once you’ve put all the layers in, add kibble, replace the lid, and enjoy!
Last week, we made a list of things that our dogs like. Today, it’s time to rank those things by awesomeness. By doing this, we will truly be prepared to use reinforcements to their fullest potential.
First and foremost, it’s important to remember that awesomeness is defined by your dog. I know lots of people who would rate chocolate as their favorite treat, but since it gives me migraines, if you were to hand me a platter of brownies, I can’t say that I’d be that excited. I might fake it- I do have a certain level of tact, after all- but it wouldn’t exactly motivate me.
Unfortunately, our dogs can’t talk. They can’t say that while they appreciate that dry dog biscuit, they’d much rather have the piece of soft, stinky cheese. Instead, we have to watch their reactions. Does your dog snatch certain things out of your hands, while merely accepting others? If so, you can assume that the first tidbit was of higher value than the second.
But what of the dogs who are just stomachs with legs? My Maisy is one of those, and while it can be nice to use scented pocket lint in a pinch, it makes it hard to reward the exceptional efforts. So I created a test. I assembled a variety of foods that I knew she enjoyed. My original list of food items that Maisy likes was 27 items long (and growing), so I couldn’t test them all. Instead, I took the five that, based on her body language, I thought might be at the top of the list.
Once I had everything ready, I offered her one treat in each hand to see which one she would choose. I repeated each trial multiple times so that I could tell if her choice was consistent or not. I also switched things up so I could tell if it was a true preference, or simply a matter of always picking what was in my left hand, or the one that I showed her first. By doing this, I learned that potato chips are pretty much her favorite thing in the world, followed by raw chicken as a close second. (Also in the running were hot dogs, salmon jerky, and pieces of dog food rolls.)
Now, this is all well and good, but these tests are a bit trickier to carry out with things from our other two categories. How do you present choices between going for a walk and playing tug? I suppose that you could hold up a leash and a toy, but then how do you test that against things that don’t require props, like verbal praise or chase-the-handler games? I couldn’t figure it out (and if you can, please let me know) so I had to come up with something else.
What I ended up doing was seeing what caught her attention, and then what would distract her from that. If I could distract her from a neighborhood cat using a tennis ball, I figured that meant the ball was more interesting than the cat, and therefore, of higher value. Conversely, there is nothing more interesting than the possibility of chasing chickens or geese, so I have to assume that is a very rewarding activity. Again, I repeated my experiment many times to ensure that my findings were consistent.
I was quite surprised by what I learned. I thought her tennis ball would be the highest value thing, and indeed, it’s probably in the top three. But when I tried to distract her away from the door as I was leaving one day by throwing a tennis ball, she didn’t even track its motion. It was like the idea of coming with us was so much more awesome that she completely ignored her favorite toy. In fact, for a long time, I couldn’t find anything better than the possibility of going somewhere with her person.
But I was even more surprised to learn that her Tug-a-Jug trumped even that. When I put it out, Maisy barely looked up as I left. I tried other food toys, too, but they didn’t seem have the same pull as the Tug-a-Jug did; for each of the other food toys, she either followed me to the door, but kept looking back at the toy, or went to the toy, but kept looking at the door. With the Tug-a-Jug, she barely noticed me leave. I have no idea why, but she loves that thing.
After all of this observation and testing, you should have a good idea of what your dog finds awesome. You probably won’t be able to create a linear list that states that going for walks is always in the number one spot- there are just too many variables to take into account. For example, I have no idea if Maisy was just especially hungry the day I tested the Tug-a-Jug. Perhaps it had nothing to do with the toy at all, and instead the kibble I put inside it. Still, it let me know that there are at least times where the Tug-a-Jug is better than I am. *sigh*
But, after all this, I know that Maisy’s favorite things include being with me, playing ball, potato chips, the Tug-a-Jug and chase games. How about you guys? Out of your huge lists of things your dog likes, which are the top five? How do you know? Is your response based on observations or have you tested things like I have? I can’t wait to hear what your dogs find awesome!
I think everyone knows that regular physical exercise is important for dogs. After all, the old trainer maxim, a tired dog is a good dog, is well known. And while I agree with this, I think dog owners often overlook the importance of providing our canine companions with mental stimulation. In fact, if I could only have one or the other, I’d choose mental stimulation, hands down.
For the “normal” dogs among us, mental stimulation helps relieve the boredom that can lead to problem behaviors like destructive chewing, digging, and excessive barking. It also helps burn off excess energy, to the point that Patricia McConnell says in her book For the Love of a Dog that she believes a half an hour of mental stimulation will provide the same energy-reduction benefits as an hour of physical exercise. For the reactive dogs, whose behaviors are often rooted in fear, mental stimulation can help build confidence by allowing the dog to solve progressively more difficult problems.
Mental stimulation can take many forms: training, going to new places, allowing our dogs to sniff new smells, playing games, and visiting other people and dogs. And while all of those are great, they do require a certain amount of time from the owner. Now, you all know that I have no problem spending time with my dog- it’s one of my preferred activities!- but there are times when I’m tired, busy, or even sick. Unfortunately, that’s when I have the least amount of time or energy to tend to Maisy’s mental needs.
Which brings me to my favorite type of mental stimulation: food toys.
I love food toys. In addition to providing mental stimulation, they slow down how fast my dog eats, and give me a break from the constant thudding of a tennis ball in my lap. It doesn’t hurt that Maisy thinks they’re pretty cool, too.
The most famous of the food toys has got to be the Kong, and don’t get me wrong- it’s pretty awesome. I feed Maisy breakfast from her Kong every day. It’s great to leave with a dog who will be alone during the day, and it gives puppies (and other dogs that like to chew) a legal object to chomp on. The biggest downfall to the Kong is that it takes a bit of time to stuff, especially if you feed kibble. Thankfully, there are so many kibble-dispensing options that are quick and easy to load…
Maisy’s first food toy was the Tricky Treat Ball. She got it when she was 5 or 6 months old, and loved it from the start. It’s probably her least challenging food dispensing toy as it rolls around readily, and the treats come out of it easily.
A similar toy, though more difficult, is the Buster Cube, which is a cube shaped toy. It is supposed to be adjustable so you can make it easier or harder for the kibble to come out, but I’ve never been able to get it to change. Ditto for the supposedly-removable core. Still, it’s a great option, though it can be loud unless it’s on carpet.
The next two toys are very similar: Nina Ottosson’s Dog Pyramid and the Bob-a-Lot. (Incidentally, if you do a Google search for “Nina Ottosson Pyramid,” the third result is two YouTube videos. Guess who is the second video?)
These toys are pretty cool. They have a weighted bottom, and the food comes out when you tilt them sideways. These were great for building Maisy’s confidence because she found the motion a bit scary and intimidating at first. Now she runs those things all over the house.(Both of these videos are from the first time she used the toy. I really ought to take new video to show how quick she is with them now!) I think the Pyramid is a bit more difficult, but the Bob-A-Lot is a bit easier to fill. Kong has also come out with a similar product, but I haven’t tried it.
Maisy’s final food toy is my favorite, and hers, hands down: the Tug-a-Jug. This is probably one of the most difficult food dispensing toys on the market, and it did take Maisy awhile to figure it out. (Actually, it was her second ever food toy, and it scared the bejeezus out of her when I first brought it home. I actually had to slather it in peanut butter to get her to approach it.) Still, it’s our favorite, and it makes for a great party game- really! When we were on vacation, and Maisy stayed with our aunt and uncle, I sent her Tug-a-Jug along. They were so tickled by her performance that they invited the entire neighborhood over to watch Maisy eat.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are tons of food toys on the market, and Maisy and I couldn’t live without them. But I want to hear from you: Do you use food toys? Why or why not? Which is your favorite, or your dog’s favorite? Do you see a difference in your dog’s behavior when you use them?
