Hi, can anyone recommend some good puzzle toys for a 5 / 6 month male pup, who is quite lively and a bit of a chewer e. g. has pulled and chewed the rubber feet off his dog bed before now. He's just had an abdo operation so am looking at ways to keep him stimulated at home whilst we wait for him to be able to go out on lead walks again. Any tips please? Thinking of the types of toys you can put kibble and treats in and puzzle out how to get them. We have a couple of Kongs and a treat ball at the moment. (I'm based in the UK). Thank you!
I bought one of these recently for mine. He is a destroyer of toys but apart from a few teeth marks this is still in tact. It has to be rolled around the floor(picked up and thrown sometimes too) to dispense the bits of kibble. Harder than it looks due to design. Other than that I would use his nose and hide food for him to find.
My 6 month old loves his large Kong wobbler, snufflemat, West Paw toppl and tux, homemade snuffle ball, and jw hol-ee ball (I put fabric or paper in stuffed with kibble or small squeaky toys). We also play games using all sorts of recyclables - toilet paper, paper towel and gift wrap rolls, cereal boxes, shipping boxes, paper bags, packing paper, soda bottles, milk jugs... I remove caps and labels, check for staples, and supervise to make sure nothing is swallowed. Mine loves to shred but spits out the pieces, and giving him opportunities to do so has meant he never destroys his actual toys or my things. We play a lot of simple nose work games with treats and people. I started by just tossing a treat onto a rug and saying “find it!” so he learned the cue. I’d also put the treat in one fist, show him both closed fists, and ask him to find it (by sniffing). We gradually progressed to full-house searches. Starting with stinky treats like freeze-dried liver or fish helps, and you can use a leash and smaller area to keep him from running or jumping.
