Grab a few puzzle toys and give your bored pup something to do. (Getty Images)(Getty Images)
Have you heard of dog puzzle toys? They give pups the chance to sniff, scratch, dig and hunt for treats. My toy poodle loves his, and a trainer once told me that toys like these could help tire him out on rainy days when neither of us wants to go for a walk. I also recently spoke with a behavior veterinarian, who revealed that these types of challenges are even more important for your dog than you might think.
Dr. Andrea Y. Tu, DVM, is chief of veterinary behavior services at the Heart of Chelsea Veterinary Group in New York City. She treats animals for things like separation anxiety, reactivity and other behavioral issues and told me puzzle toys are one of her favorite tools for canine enrichment. "Dogs need something to do. They really don't get a lot of enrichment and ... natural stimulation that they would if they lived outside," she says. "These puzzle toys allow that kind of exploration, like foraging, for instance. It allows a bit of that activity in the natural sense," she says.
Tu explains that dogs instinctively want to sniff and hunt. While outdoors is the natural environment for that behavior, most pups only go outside for a small part of their day. Without longer stints, they get bored or anxious — or both — and look for ways to entertain themselves. This is why they do things like destroy your favorite pair of shoes or bark excessively.
"So, making sure that they get what they naturally need really helps with those kinds of mental health behavioral concerns," she says.
Tu says the first step to prevent canine boredom is to change how you feed your dog. "If I could do one thing that I hope will make a big difference in my field, it's to get rid of the bowl," she notes. "All meals should be fed out of a puzzle toy. If every single meal can be fed out of a puzzle toy or some sort of manipulation toy instead of a bowl, that would do wonders for pets' enrichment and mental health."
This recommendation is based on a concept called contrafreeloading, which states that some animals, when given a choice, prefer to work for food even when an identical meal is readily available. "That's where puzzle toys come in, or anything that they have to explore, look, dig, push around, play around with," Tu says, noting that the use of such products works with a dog's "natural instinct of how feeding should occur and all of that important behavior that relates to feeding." She even encourages pet owners to occasionally increase the challenge by hiding a puzzle underneath a blanket or creating further diversions that require a dog to seek out their sustenance.
Tu also shares that these challenges don't have to be food-focused — it's more about the hunt. If your dog is very playful and less food-motivated, for example, they might enjoy a puzzle stuffed with smaller toys rather than treats.
Keep in mind that puzzle toys don't have to be difficult — in other words, the goal isn't to stump your dog. Your pup may be content wrangling a peanut butter-stuffed Kong one day, while the next she'll enjoy using her nose and paws to dig around a more complicated challenge. The aim is to have a mix of easy and hard options.
Tu explains it like this: If you like to play games on your phone, some days you'll tackle the challenging New York Times crossword puzzle while on others you'll opt for Bubble Shooter because it's easier, helps calm nervous energy or just gives your brain time to decompress. "The goal is to have different versions [of puzzle games]" for your dogs. She also advises against getting overly complex products that can't be solved. "If you get the ones that are super complicated, they do get frustrated and they won't want to play with it anymore."
Additionally, Tu says, puzzle toys don't need to be expensive and can even be DIY. An easy one she recommends, particularly for gentle chewers, is punching holes in a paper towel tube, filling it with kibble and sealing the ends so your dog can roll it around until all the food falls out.
For dogs who need a tougher challenge, she recommends a Russian Dolls-esque box approach: "Fill a smaller cardboard box with some crumpled up newspaper and kibble hidden in the paper, punch small holes in the small box, then put that in a medium box that is loosely closed. The goal is to let your dog destroy the larger box to get to the smaller box, and either roll around the smaller box so the kibble falls out or open it up to get at the crumpled paper inside."
The bottom line? Creating a puzzle diversion for your pet does not need to involve a lot of expense or effort. I've thrown kibble or treats into my dog's toy basket and let him dig through it until he finds each tasty morsel.
Don't want to DIY a puzzle toy and need something durable? Tu recommends these.
The Woof Pupsicle offers a mess-free way for your dog to work at getting a tasty nibble. Made of BPA-free, dog-safe rubber, it unscrews to reveal a treat receptacle on the inside. Put the lid back on and let your dog go to town. Woof sells treat refills or you can do what Yahoo's Rebecca Carhart does and make your own.
"This handy gizmo keeps my dog entertained for over 30 minutes. It comes with a mold, so I can make his ice pops using his favorite treats frozen in water and he just has to lick them out. Plus, it’s an opportunity to sneak in some supplements since he’s not a fan of having them sprinkled on his food. I always add a drop of omega fish oil and some probiotic powder into each icy treat. It’s a win-win for both of us!" —Rebecca Carhart, Senior Style Writer
"I love the Nina Ottosson toys," Tu says. "They come with a 'difficulty rating' to help pet parents select what they need." For example, this option is rated level three (out of four), meaning it's more advanced. More than 52,000 dog parents give it a five-star Amazon review.
Here's how it works: Fill the compartments with treats, then cover them. Your dog will have to remove the bones, flip open the lids and manipulate the sliders to get to the goodies inside.
Tu loves snuffle mats and there are a wide variety available. Just hide treats in one for your dog to find and, for an extra dose of fun, find a crinkly version.
The 18-by-12-inch Paw 5 mat is made of non-toxic organic cotton designed to mimic "the look and feel of grass." Pet parents will appreciate that it's machine-washable.
Lick mats are another good option, especially if your dog eats fresh or wet food. There are easier versions with one-way ridges, but one like this can help mix things up since it has more diverse patterns to lick around. Have a bored kitty? Tu notes she uses these with her cats, too.
How cute is this? Each "score" on this fluffy baguette is actually a pocket you can stuff treats into. Even more fun? It contains a few squeakers, including supersonic ones that only dogs can hear, and it comes in a crinkly bag.
"This was my dog's No. 1 most-loved 'puzzle' as a puppy. You hide the treats in the slits and they work to get them out. It's not hard, but it always took my puppy a good 15–20 minutes to find all the treats. And then he would just chew on the baguette for another 10 minutes hoping to find more. As he got older and became a more aggressive chewer, this baguette went the way of so many other plush toys — riddled with holes and in the trash, that is. But we had a good seven-month run with it." —Jeanine Edwards, Commerce Initiatives Director
Your energetic dog will love this simple treat-dispensing ball. Just fill it with tiny tidbits and let them roll it around to shake the morsels out.
"My friend gave my dog this treat-dispensing toy and I am not exaggerating: Frankie lost her mind the first time she used it! We fill it with a few low-value treats or her kibble if we want to prolong mealtime. She usually gets tired of toys and games pretty quickly, but this one can keep her occupied for as much as 15 minutes ... which is kind of the best you can hope for when you have a high-energy pit mix." —Jessica Dodell-Feder, Senior Home Editor
This adorable "garden" comes with 12 tiny stuffed carrots your dog can pull out to get to the treats hidden underneath.
"This was a very close second-place favorite for my puppy. It was so fun to watch him forage and it really kept him occupied. The downside? It didn't take long for his razor-sharp puppy teeth to pierce the soft fleece material. One by one we had to toss the carrots because he kept ripping the stuffing out, but it was 100% worth it for the time we had it." —Jeanine Edwards, Commerce Initiatives Director
Here's a more spherical take on Tu's snuffle mats — this one comes in three sizes.
"My small dog, Sidecar, loves this snuffle ball. I smoosh the treats inside so he gets to play hide-and-seek, plus it rolls around so it’s a kind of movable feast! It’s also great for a dog his size — if a toy is too big he won’t bother (I’ve learned this the hard way), so it’s ideal for little chompers." —Heather Quinlan, Shopping Writer
Similar to the snuffle ball, this plush artichoke features several "leaves" to hide treats in, and my little dog loves it. He's an extremely picky eater and normally won't touch kibble, but if I put his fresh food in his bowl and kibble in his artichoke, he'll eat the kibble first.
Tu explains this is a good example of contrafreeloading — he'd rather dig for kibble than eat the fresh human-grade food just sitting in his bowl. Less scientifically, my boyfriend and I call his artichoke his appetizer, because after a little kibble, he usually heads over to his bowl to finish his meal.
My smartypants toy poodle has a few puzzles, but he seems to really love this one. There are multiple compartments for hiding items, including sliding sections and chutes that treats can trickle down into. Mine paws at it, licks it, bites it and, if he gets frustrated, eventually just flips the whole thing upside down. But he usually plays with it for a good 20 minutes before that happens.
Want more ideas? I reached out to the Yahoo Shopping team to share their favorites — and included two of my own at the end.
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