An Interactive dog toy is an important element in a dog’s life. It come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, textures, and durability. An interactive toy is the one you can fill with dog treats, dog food, or food of some sort. It will keep your dog busy from 15 minutes to a few hours. Interactive dog toys are very beneficial to your dog by stimulating their brain. It mentally challenges your dog, keeps them out of trouble, cleans their teeth, and tires them out.
You can find the interactive toys just about anywhere. Pet supply stores are a good start. You can even find them at superstores like Walmart or Target. The greatest source is online where you can find plenty of varieties to choose from.
If your dog has never been exposed to an interactive dog toy, then I recommend starting them out on some simple toys. Interactive dog toys has different level of difficulty levels, so you want to pick ones that will be right for your dog.
- Kongs– Kong is the founder of interactive dog toys. They have different odd shapes with a wide opening at one end. Start your dog out by letting them watching you putting some dog food in the toy and handed to them to sniff the toy. If your dog starts trying to get the dog food out, that means they have already gotten the idea. If not, you can repeat the steps again and smearing some peanut butter inside to get the licking going. Once they learn there’s food inside, they usually will take off from there. You can do many tricks with the Kong and they have online recipes that you can get some interesting idea. Freezing the Kong add a notch up the difficulty level if your dog has become an expert already.
- Tricky Treat Ball– This is not as popular as they are mostly found online. It comes in an orange ball with a hole in the middle of it. It is easy to fill but the dog food is also easily falls out when rolled around. The objective is to get dogs used to the idea of food in a ball.
- Omega Paw Tricky Ball– This is a highly recommended ball for a beginner because it has a nice wide opening and makes the dog food easily comes out of the opening when rolled around.
- Interactive Dog Treat Dispenser– It is a fun seek-a-treat, flip and slide interactive dispenser. You can use a variety of spreadable and dry treats in this dispenser. This interactive toy is every easy to clean. It is also very fun to keep the dog engaged for hours.
It is good to have at least three to six different Interactive Toys around in the house for a few reasons.
- It gives variety and your pet won’t get tired of the same old toy.
- It is an innovative way to divide up portions of your dog’s food and give your dog two – three toys at a time. It kills two birds with one stone associating fun with food.
- You can also alternate and switch up the toys on different days. So that it is not the same toy every day.
- It is very useful to keep your dog occupied while you are not at home. Place them throughout your house or backyard and that will keep your dog busy even longer by hunting around.
- Offer it to them when you put them in a crate, pens or in the car to distract boredom.
- It can be therapeutic if your dog is afraid of loud noises, storm or lighting. Indulging in a nice filled kong will keep their mind off.
If you are up to a more creative project, homemade water or soda bottle funnel is an easy and cheapest way to do it. Cut the end of (the part you drink from) and add treats or food into the other end. The dog will have fun trying to get the food out and I find it entertaining just to watch them and relax.
There are some conventional dog toys that are everlasting that never goes out of fashion.
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- Rope Toys – They are versatile and tough. A large 5-knot dog rope toy, 36 inches long and about 1.25 inches thick is the best kind. It is a great tug rope, shake rope, and chew rope. Please pay attention to material it is made from because there are toxic dye chemicals that could put more harm to your dog ingesting it. If the threads pull out of the fringe, try cutting off the fringe.
- Dog Ball – Almost every dog loves a ball. A 6-inch Bounce n Play Ball is the favorite. This ball will not deflate when it is punctured with their teeth. This is a great size for chasing and fetch games inside or outside the house. These balls are the size of a tennis ball and have a squeaker in the middle.
- Plush Crinkle Toy – This are many good quality crinkle toys at a reasonable price. It is one of the toughest dog toy in the market that squeak.
- Grunters – A deep noisemakers. If your dog love to shake the toys, you will find this very entertaining because this super furry toy has a protected grunter in its body and a long tail.
For all the dog lovers out there, Happy Hunting!