Love It: Kong Satellite

If you haven't figured it out already, I'm a total pet store addict.  Athena and I frequent local pet shops and box stores at least once a week.  Not only do our trips to these store provide Athena with dog and human socialization, but I'm able to parooz the many shelves full of pet supplies, treats, and toys.  Recently I noticed that the Kong company came out with a variety of new dog toys including the Kong Quest Treat Dispensers and the ever intriguing Kong Satellite Treat Dispenser.

I ended up adding the Kong Satellite to my recent Pet Mountain order because it was only $8 which is a mega score for a durable food dispensing toy.  Athena LOVES her Kong Wobbler, so I was curious to find out if she'd love the Kong Satellite just as much.

At first Athena wasn't quite sure how to maneuver the toy to get the kibble out because her usual nose bumps weren't working.  She resorted to attempting to chew off the protruding ends.  I corrected her with an "uh uh" and so she attempted to lick all of the treats out.

After a bit of trial and error, she did finally figure out how to nose bump the toy around to get the kibble to fall out of one of the many openings.  Here's a list of reasons why we like the new Kong Satellite food dispenser so much:

1. It's fairly inexpensive for a large-sized treat dispensing toy.  I saw it sold at Petsmart for $14.99 and I ended up ordering it on Pet Mountain for only $8.17.
2. It's made of durable plastic.  Like most Kong products that we've tried, the Satellite can stand up to Athena whacking it all around the house.
3. It's unique design is unlike other food dispensers on the market.  Most "bobbing" treat dispensers are all similar in that kibble falls out from one hole located on the front or top of the toy.  The Satellite actually has four holes (one on each end and one on the top) that dispense kibble randomly depending on how the toy is turned.
4. It's quite challenging.  Although there's not a way to change the difficulty of this toy, the holes are small enough that Athena isn't able to get all of the kibble out in two minutes.  This toy has Athena working anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes for her meal.
5. It provides great mental stimulation which is one of the main reasons that we feed all of Athena's meals in food dispensers!

The one downside to this toy is that it is a bit time consuming to fill with kibble and treats.  Unlike the Kong Wobbler, the Satellite doesn't unscrew for easy kibble filling (one of the best features of the Kong Wobbler in my opinion).  I find myself plopping small bits of kibble into the toy at a time which can be annoying if I'm in a hurry to feed Athena her breakfast.  Also, I wouldn't recommend this toy for dogs who are known for chewing up their plastic toys.  I can see the protruding ends being quite tempting to some of those power chewers out there.

Overall, the new Kong Satellite has turned into one of Athena's favorite food dispensers (and trust me, she's tried a lot!).  I'm just wondering when she's finally going to figure out that she's never going to get any food to come out by licking the Satellite openings...

Has your dog tried the new Kong Satellite toy?  What other food dispensers does your dog love?