My puppy is 8 months old and is quite good at settling himself when we're busy. However there are times, like in the morning when he first gets up when he wants to play and we're trying to get ready for the day. What chews would you recommend that will keep him entertained for a long time but are healthy? He has carrots but they don't last long! He also has a deer antler and chew toys but he's too excited for these at this time, it has to be food! Thanks for your help!
I recommend filled, frozen Kongs. I take food from their allowance, put it in a Kong and soak for an hour, put a little salmon paste on top, then freeze. This is ideal for keeping them busy for a while.
I’ve tried many chew toys but find frozen longs to be the best. I also use some daily kibble allowance (soaked in hot water) topped with either Fish4dogs mousse or boneless sardines and sometimes peanut butter (I buy the dog friendly variety from my local pet store). I also use cans of wet dog food such as Lily’s Kitchen recovery food because it’s not rich. I’d tried other varieties but they just gave her diarrhoea. You will know your dogs favourite foods just use those. I did use some online recipes using banana but they made her sick.
If he already has chews, but isn't interested, it might not be the type of chew that's the problem. It could just be that he is bored stiff with them. At any one time we have about 20 different chews. 2 or 3 are available at any one time, and the other 17 are in the chew box. Every day we swap a couple in and a couple out. Quite often it will be a week or ten days before he sees the same chew again. To him it is practically "new" and he chews enthusiastically. As the others have said, kongs stuffed with soaked kibble and then frozen, is a staple for our boy. Keeps him occupied for an hour or so.
My dog tends to love rawhide chews and in my experiance they tend to last her longer than most other food ones. Since it's food, we usually take it away when we dont want her to have it though. We also have a few others out permanantly. Snuffles loves nylabones, her kong, etc.
Kongs get my vote. The 'Kong Quest' series are interesting as they have several small pockets so you can put different things in each one. We sometimes jam bits of dog biscuits into them. It takes H a while to get them out.
No one has mentioned a Buster Cube, which would fit the bill here. It is like a giant die with a hole for the entry and eventual exit of treats/kibble (depending on size). Please look it up online. It can be a noisy affair as the dog butts and shuffles it about to dislodge the treat. We had one from our previous Lab and introduced it to Caspar a couple of weeks ago. It keeps him busy for longer than a Kong, though we do use these as well. You never have any doubt about where he is, either!
