Teach Your Dog Kong

[Stanlo]

Thinking my boy might be getting a bit bored with his treat ball I bought him a kong 2 weekends ago. Each day I've put fresh treats in and watched as my boy pushes the kong all over the house sniffing around for the treats to fall out. I've been leaving him with the kong each day sometimes stuffed, sometimes frozen, sometimes filled only loosly - he's still not worked it out and is still pushing the thing all over (and must be getting very frustrated with this new non dropping treat toy!)

Can you teach your dog kong or do I just have to live with the fact that my boy although cute is just not too sharp!

[TeamSnag]

I wont buy kongs anymore my bitch chews them to bits.. And yes iv tried the one for extream chewers lol

[PandaGirl]

My girl drops hers and then checks to see if anything has come out. We taught her kong by loosely stuffing it and then slowly switched over to using peanut butter,

[megan_]

try "gluing" it together with something they can lick. I stuff mine with natural youghart stuffed with sardines and some dry food. They love it now! You can also freeze it on a hot day and it lasts longer.

Don't be worried if your dog takes a while to get used to it - it is all part of learning. Just leave it and let him work it out.

[piper]

5 dogs and 5 different techniques in our place (well only 3 current dogs, but the 2 oldies used to have unique methods as well) I think they all work it out but may empty it different ways.

Ricky used to be the classic - he worked out how to throw it and would throw it and watch where it bounced for the food to fall out. He would even bounce it off of the walls to get things out. You could give him a kong with no food and he would still throw it and check where it bounced. He LOVED his kong more than any other.

Reagan was just a licker, sometimes he wuold use his paws to hold it and otehr times he would end up sliding across the ground following it as it got away from him due to licking.

Jazz is a pusher and chaser - sort of like Ricky but minus the throwing. She will give it a nudge and follow along to see what happens.

Jessi is a chomper - she just lays thers and holds it with her paws and chews and occasionally has a lick or nudges it.

Piper is the most versatile at kong emptying. She employs a combination of methods. She will work at it with her teeth or tongue for a bit and then deliberately turn it over or stand it up then go back to getting stuff out. She will push it around if needed to get things moving or just lay there and lick if there is something stuck in there.

So I would say with your dog that if he is emptying the Kong then he may have it and he may like pushing it around the house and checking out what drops. Over time he may get more efficient at emptying it or he may continue to use the current method.

I like watching the different ways they use their paws and noses and teeth and tongues to empty a kong

[~*Shell*~]

I wish Zero took a long time to work out how to get the food out of it. He's worked out how to hold it between his paws to lick the inside of it and if I freeze it, he picks it up and drops it over and over till everything falls out.

Damn smart dog! Then again, he is the dog who worked out how to pop the $16 treats out of the everlasting treat ball and ate them in less than 5 minutes.