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If you have a puppy, an active dog breed, or a pupper who is a power chewer, you might've heard of KONG toys and treats. KONG Company specializes in strong, durable rubber toys for dogs of any age and for any style of chewing. Their most popular and recognizable toy is the KONG Classic, a bright red, rubber, bee-hived shaped toy that is perfect for retrieving games, chewing, or stuffed enrichment puzzles!
The toy is hollow on the inside and can be stuffed with your dog's kibble, a few dashes of peanut butter, treat sticks, or any combination of yummy, healthy treats! For dogs that spend majority of the day running around the house, getting into trouble, or being highly active, providing enrichment and puzzle toys can provide an outlet to release some of that energy. (Even if your dog prefers to sleep all day, every dog needs mental stimulation and enrichment in their lives!)
A KONG stuffed with one of your dog's meals or with some special treats can occupy their brain for some time, allow them to settle, and give you some peace and quiet (if your dog is a super rambunctious one). The amount of recipes you can create to stuff a KONG are endless and will provide a yummy treat for your dog, while also engaging their brain and making them work for their snack. KONGs can also be frozen overnight for an enrichment toy that lasts 3-times as long! A fully stuffed and frozen KONG can take a dog hours to completely finish. By the time they're done, the only thing they want to do is nap afterwards. It REALLY engages, stimulates, and more importantly, tires out their brains!
Here are some easy KONG recipes that you could make at home with ingredients you might already have in your pantry!:
stuffing all (or a portion) of your dog's breakfast and/or dinner in several KONGs, drizzling water (or no-salt chicken broth) through the kibble, and refrigerating or freezing
stuffing a mix of xylitol free, no-sugar peanut butter, plain-low fat-greek yogurt, and 100% pure pumpkin puree and freezing
stuffing frozen peas, frozen carrots, a few pieces of your dog's kibble, and a few high value treats and freezing
Here is a recipe made by one of our very own technicians (and retired guide dog puppy raiser)! Several of the staff here at Guyton Animal Hospital utilize stuffed KONGS for our high energy/working dog breeds and they are an absolute staple in many of our toy baskets and training arsenals.
Happy Tails!