I need your help . . . my Labrador Bella is now 1 and 3 months. I have been using frozen Kongs ever since she was a puppy. I soak her dry kibble in some water and then stuff it in the Kong before putting it in the freezer. I've never had problems before but about four weeks ago I had to replace a couple of older ones. After one use she had split the Kong at the top near the top, smaller dip in. She has done this with six now! It's costing a fortune. I buy the large red one as well as the large black one. Anyone else had a similar problem? I just don't understand why it's happening all of a sudden. I've checked her mouth and claws and there doesn't seem to be any obvious change/cause. I'm gutted because she absolutely loves them and they really settle her in the evening. Any suggestions our comments will be much appreciated!
I would imagine that over time the constant freezing/de-freezing will begin to have an impact on the structure of the kongs. Is it all older ones that have split or new ones too?
It's the brand new ones that are splitting and always in the same place. She will have one go at them and it will be split. It's weird that it's at the top too as she tends to chew the bottom as thars where the food falls out from.
This doesn't sound right, mine have disintegrated over time with minor cracks, but the ones which I bought nearly a year ago (though have probably only been frozen up to 8 times) but chewed on fairly regularly are still pretty intact. I agree with @Emily I have found some similar alternatives - the purple busybuddy toys are very robust, as are Aldi's Kong style chew toys.
Yes I agree, sounds like a manufacture problem, they are not cheap and I don't think that should be happening, can you go back to the shop you bought them in? @leejane. I looked in my local Aldi store and couldn't find any like you suggested, did you buy your's online?
@selina27 no, I got them in store- they still had some left last week, but i think @edzbird might have bought some online? I got the blue large and the red medium, which was attached to a rope, so part toy, part chew.
They sound faulty to me - I would email Kong (assuming they are original Kong). Did someone else not have a similar problem a wee while back?
I had two red large Kongs split in half at the middle, while my much older pink puppy kongs are still in perfect condition. I contacted KONG and they advised that freezing should not impact the integrity of the rubber (and there is only a 30 day warranty on the rubber) but that any splitting is related to the size being too small, as the thickness of the rubber increases as you go larger. They told me that I should be using X-Large black Kongs (and are sending me one free).
How odd that they should split. I have three labs all good chewers! Some of the older kongs have split, but not anywhere near as often as seems to be happening with yours. I would contact Kong direct as has been suggested. I also use the busybuddy purple squirrel my dogs LOVE those!
Homer managed to completely chew up one Kong, this was at the worst of his chewing phase. He has two now, a red and a black. The've lasted for years now. I gave a Kong to my Dad for his dog. While helping with the gardening his dog lost the Kong. Two years later is got dug up out of the compost heap. It's still going strong. Contact Kong as it sounds like a manufacturing fault.
Our Labs are both very vigorous chewers, but have never destroyed a black Kong. We don't usually freeze them though.
I bought squirrel dude large, around£6 from vet uk. Although I haven't frozen it I think the squirrel is faring better than the kongs, it's certainly thicker rubber.great for kibble or biscuits. I'd recommend all the purple busy buddy toys,all as robust as kongs and a bit more interesting in different designs.vet uk seems to be the cheapest supplier, at least a few months ago when I last bought stuff
