Stuffables
This is the last dog day of Christmas, the one I ‘forgot.’ (Actually I got carried away on a Wednesday with surfing and commitments.) You could call this the Eleventh Dog Day of Christmas but it is the December 18th post that I didn’t get around to posting. Here it is.
Stuffables! The best stuff for dogs.
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Stuffables are hollow dog items, usually made of hard rubber, that you stuff with kibble mixed with peanut butter, mashed potatoes, squeeze cheese or cream cheese (low fat), or even chicken broth, then freeze. Voila! A long-lasting treat for Fido to have fun working on. For recipes, see KONG. The KONG website also has helpful hints about size selection and more.
You can stuff a classic KONG (see cross-section diagram), a Premier Squirrel Dude or Chuckle or Waggle (see photo) or Twist ‘n Treat (my favorite) or Football, many other dog stuffables made by other companies and, the poor man’s version – a marrow bone!
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Stuffables usually don’t hold an entire meal. In addition, with applesauce, yogurt, cream cheese, canned pumpkin or dog food, they may hold a few more calories than plain kibble.
Be sure you get a sturdy stuffable or your dog will continue to chew it up once the goodies are gone, especially if you have frozen the stuffable.
Timesaver
I will stuff perhaps four stuffables at a time and put them in the freezer for the following four days’ of fun.
What’s the Difference – Stuffable, Treat Dispenser, Chew-up Toy, Food Puzzle?
What’s the difference between a stuffable (above), a treat dispenser, a chew-up toy and a food puzzle? I covered a couple of my favorite food puzzles in The Third Dog Day of Christmas. Basically there are compartments for kibble that the dog has to open to find the kibble or lick the kibble up.
The Premier Kibble Nibble, Magic Mushroom, and Tug A Jug fall into the whole-meal categories of food puzzles. The Kibble Nibble is good for hardwood floors because it is quieter than hard plastic. (See PremierPet.com and PetSafe.net.)
Nina Ottoson makes the original line of food puzzles in either wood or plastic and now, many other companies have followed suit so that food puzzles abound.
Chew-Ups
A chew-up toy is not as common in the dog world but Premier/PetSafe created them and has easy and difficult ones. And easy one would be the Bouncy Bone, the Bristle Bone, the Teeter Treater, the Nobbly Nubbly, the Jack, the Funny Bone, and others while the newer ones like the Ultra’s by PetSafe whose rawhide rings last perhaps a half hour or more. (See photo.) Quite a challenge for the family pupster and one that he won’t give up on til he’s full and tuckered out.
Chew-up toys like the ones mentioned above must be refilled with only refills from the company rather than any food lying around the house. They may not be inexpensive so should be considered a real treat. In addition I have found the chew-ups to be able to be chewed by hard chewer dogs so that the parts no longer screw together. Wish they were made even harder!
To complete the Premier/PetSafe line, I have not found dogs to be able to get the biscuit out of the Biscuit Basket or GnawBrush, though they love the ‘biscuit-treat’ when I take it out and give it to them.
Treat Dispensers
The Biscuit Bouncer can hold a large Milk Bone type treat like Milk Bones, Ziggies or some rawhide sticks. Think of them as single-large-treat holders which can be quite the challenge. Others include Rip ‘n Tugs by Premier/PetSafe.
More KONGs
On the KONG side of the house you can see the wonderful Wobbler here in action and the Satellite, both food puzzles; the Genius and Quest, stuffables or treat dispensers (not everything fits into a neat category).
Happy New Year!
Now your dog, too, can have a stuffable new year!
(Credits: KONG and Premier's website [Premier is part of PetSafe])
CORRECTION: This is a Squirrel Dude by Premier, similar to a KONG.
