Top 10 Food Dispensing Dog Toys

Food dispensing toys have become a big part of our lives since cutting Athena off from her food bowl cold turkey seven months ago.  Each and every morning, Athena eats her breakfast out of a toy and each and every evening, she eats her dinner out of another toy.  Depending on our schedules and Athena's need for entertainment, she might also receive a food dispensing toy filled with a snack during the day as well.  Since incorporating daily mental stimulation into Athena's routine, she has become a much more calm and relaxed dog.

Because we feed all meals out of food dispensing toys, it is important to us that we rotate the toys often to keep Athena entertained and challenged.  This means that we've accumulated a boat load of different toys.  While some of them have been flops, we have quite a long list of toys that we absolutely love and recommend.

We looked at our favorites and rated them using the following criteria.  However, Athena had the final say in the order of the top ten!

Here's our top ten list of favorite food dispensing toys (counting down to the #1 best toy!):

#10 StarMark Bob-a-Lot

Difficulty:  4 paws

Durability:  2 paws

Ease of Use:  1 paw

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($15.89 for size large)

The StarMark Bob-a-Lot was Athena's very first food dispensing toy.  As you can see from the picture,  it has many indents and scratches from Athena's teeth as she learned how to maneuver the toy.  Because this toy is made from such hard plastic, the scratches have caused Athena to get a few nicks on her nose that have now scarred.  We do love that this toy has two openings (one on the top and one on the side) and that the difficulty can be changed.  However, it isn't as easy to fill with food and it doesn't open up to allow for a thorough cleaning.

#9 Kong Satellite

Difficulty:  3 paws

Durability:  3 paws

Ease of Use:  1 paw

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($7.99)

We recently wrote an entire review of the new Kong Satellite (see it here).  We love its unique shape which provides Athena with a different experience than the usual "nose bopping" toy.  However, this toy is a bit difficult to fill with food and treats which also makes it tough to thoroughly clean.

#8 Kong Wobbler

Difficulty:  1 paw

Durability:  4 paws

Ease of Use:  4 paws

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($13.57 for size large)

We love the Kong Wobbler for how easy it is to fill with kibble because it unscrews at the middle.  This also makes it very easy to thoroughly clean.  The material of the Wobbler is excellent quality making it extremely durable.  A major downside to the Kong Wobbler is that there is no way to change the difficulty, meaning that this is a very easy food dispenser for Athena.

#7 Buster Food Cube

Difficulty:  2 paws

Durability:  3 paws

Ease of Use:  2 paws

Storage Size:  2 paws

Price:  ($17.50 for size large)

Although a bit pricey, the Buster Food Cube is a hit with Athena.  She loves to swat this toy all around the house hoping for her kibble to fall out.  Unfortunately there isn't a way to change the difficulty on this toy, but it is rather challenging as is.

#6 PetSafe Premier Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble

Difficulty:  3 paws

Durability:  3 paws

Ease of Use:  4 paws

Storage Size:  4 paws

Price:  ($13.74 for size large)

This toy has quite the kibble capacity and is unique in how its difficulty is changed.  Kibble is dispensed from either end of the egg shaped toy, and each opening has plastic prongs that can be cut out depending on how difficult you want the toy to be for your dog.  As of now, we haven't cut any prongs from the toy and it has remained EXTREMELY challenging for Athena (just the way we like it)!

#5 Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball

Difficulty:  2 paws

Durability:  3 paws

Ease of Use:  3 paws

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($9.71 for size large)

This treat dispensing toy makes it to the top five of our list because Athena is totally obsessed with it!  She probably loves it so much because it's a ball, but we love it because Athena not only receives mental stimulation, but she also physically exercises with this one.  The toy is fairly easy to fill, although not as easy to wash out.  Another bonus of this toy is that it is nearly silent when Athena rolls it around because of its soft rubber material (perfect for hardwood floors!).

#4 Kong Extreme

Difficulty:  4 paws

Durability:  4 paws

Ease of Use:  3 paws

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($14.03 for size extra large)

It's probably no surprise that the Kong makes it to the top of our list of food dispensing toys.  Athena would do anything to have a Kong a day to keep the doctor away.  What makes the Kong Extreme so great is its mega durability (for Athena anyway, I know some dogs have been known to chomp the tops right off of this toy!).  We usually only offer Athena a frozen Kong that has been stuffed with a Kibble mixture.  See the post we did on Kong stuffing recipes here.

#3 Ethical Contempo Tessa

Difficulty:  4 paws

Durability:  4 paws

Ease of Use:  3 paws

Storage Size:  3 paws

Price:  ($14.99)

At one point in time the Contempo Tessa was our number one favorite food dispensing toy.  As we've grown our collection, it has been surpassed by a couple, but still remains one of our favorites for its unique design and ability to change the difficulty.  We love that this food dispenser has two food dispensing chambers that make it that much more challenging for Athena.  It is also fairly easy to fill and clean.

#2 Kong Stuff-a-Ball

Difficulty:  4 paws

Durability:  4 paws

Ease of Use:  4 paws

Storage Size:  4 paws

Price:  ($10.07 for size large)

Yet another Kong product makes it to our top ten list!  This is similar to the Kong Extreme, but Athena especially enjoys its ball shape.  Our favorite thing about this particular Kong is how much food we can stuff inside before freezing it.  It's also easier to stuff than the Kong Extreme and less expensive =)

#1 PetSafe Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom

Difficulty:  4 paws

Durability:  4 paws

Ease of Use:  4 paws

Storage Size:  4 paws

Price:  ($16.10 for size large)

The Magic Mushroom is our number one favorite food dispensing toy!  Athena has loved this toy for many months and still has such gusto when playing with it.  As you can see from the above picture, the mushroom has taken quite a beating, but it is still in great working order.  Athena absolutely loves flinging this toy all around the house by carrying it around in her mouth (notice all of the teeth marks).  She also gets excited and will swat it around with her paws.  It's easy to change the difficulty of this toy and it's also easy to fill and clean.

But wait, there's more!:

Of course we don't only own ten food dispensing toys (because clearly we are food dispensing toy hoarders).  Here are a few more toys that we love, but didn't quite make the top ten:

Busy Buddy Twist n' Treat

Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball

StarMark Treat Dispensing Chew Ball

Kong Genius Mike
Kong Dental Toy

PetSafe Busy Buddy Barnacle

Jolly Pets Monster Mouth

We also have a few toys that were major flops, but we'll save that discussion for another day!

Have you retired your dog's food bowl yet?  What are your dog's favorite food dispensing toys?

*All prices are directly from Amazon.com

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?

The Neverlasting Treat Ball

As many of you well know, Athena doesn't eat from a food bowl.  Rather, all of her food is delivered to her in treat dispensing toys, nosework games, or training.  Not only does Athena get tons of mental stimulation during each of her meals, she will occasionally get "snack" activities that also work to tire out her brain.  However, we've come to find out that not all food dispensing toys are what they're advertised to be.  For example, the StarMark Everlasting Treat Ball:

I have so graciously renamed it the Neverlasting Treat Ball for many reasons.  I first read about this very genius toy online when I was searching something like, "tough toys to tire my pit bull's brain out" many, many months ago.  I believe it was actually the very first treat dispensing toy that we had ever purchased other than a Kong.  I loved that the Everlasting Treat Ball was advertised as "puncture resistant," "for tough chewers," and "everlasting."

Photo via Petco.com

Well, silly ole' me bought the size medium that is designed for dogs 15-40 pounds.  Clearly I was out of touch with reality at the time because 1) Athena is over 40 pounds, and 2) although she's not a vigorous chewer, Athena still has quite the jaws.  When I got the toy home I was so excited for Athena to give it a try.  Not more than one minute later she had popped the special everlasting treat right out of the toy.  TOTAL FAIL.

Photo via Petco.com

Determined that Athena would get some use out of this quite expensive toy, I googled "how to make the Everlasting Treat Ball more difficult."  I didn't find much, but I was able to find a great visual description of a few different ways to insert the treat into the treat ball to increase the difficulty.  There's the "upside down insertion" and the "center cavity insertion" for putting the treat into the ball.  Athena was still able to pop the treat out easily with the upside down insertion.  Currently we have the treat in the center cavity and we allow Athena to play with the treat ball from time to time.  However, it's now WAY too difficult for her and we are going to have to use a drill if we ever want to remove the treat from the middle.

After months of sadness that the Everlasting Treat Ball would never outlast our Athena, I decided that maybe my poor judgement in the size of the toy was the problem all along.  So, while at Petco last week, I put the large sized ball into my cart and kindly asked the customer service if they would allow me to return the toy if Athena was able to pop the treat out of it.  They said yes!  I was SUPER excited for Athena to try out the new treat ball because it is quite a bit larger than the medium size, so I was sure that she wouldn't be able to outsmart it.

Photo via Tripawds.com

Oh boy, was I wrong.  The large size was actually EASIER for her than the medium!  What the heck.  She popped the treat out in under a minute.  I assumed it must have been a fluke, so I stuck it back in and let her have another go.  She popped it out.  I then tried the upside down insertion method and Athena quickly popped the treat out again!  Finally, I put the treat into the center cavity (the method that is much too difficult for her with the medium size) and she popped it out!  I returned the $25 toy to the store the next morning.

Unfortunately the Everlasting Treat Ball is just not the toy for Athena.  It may be perfect for some dogs, but I wouldn't recommend it for intense chewers.  We do however love the StarMark Everlasting Chew Ball (in a size large) and have found it to be super challenging, yet very fun for Athena.

Have you ever tried the Everlasting Treat Ball or another toy that didn't work out so well for your dog?

DIY Muffin Tin and Plastic Egg Nosework Game

I promise you that this is the last post for a while that has any hint of Easter in it!  If you follow us on Facebook, then you may have seen our video of Athena playing a new nosework game last week.

Much like the ever popular muffin tin and tennis ball game, we came up with a nosework game using a muffin tin and plastic eggs.  We don't play the muffin tin game with tennis balls because Athena is a bit too ball obsessed for that, so this is a great alternative.

Here's what you need to play:

• A standard sized muffin tin (check your local thrift store for a good deal on these!)
• 12 large plastic Easter egg bottoms (you can use the tops or bottoms, but we found that the bottoms make the game a bit more difficult)
• Tasty treats and/or kibble!

How to play:

1. Fill each muffin cup with kibble and treats.  You can use as little or as much as you'd like depending on if you're feeding your dog a meal with the game, or simply offering them an "afternoon snack."  I did this step in front of Athena so that she knew what she would be working for.
2. Cover each muffin cup with the bottom of a plastic egg.  The large sized plastic eggs fit perfectly snug inside the muffin cups.
3. Place the muffin tin on the floor and release your dog to "find it!"

Athena LOVES to play this game because she LOVES to sniff!  It's a great mental workout for her and allows us a bit of a break during the day if Athena is begging for something to do.  When Athena's done with the game, she's definitely ready for an afternoon nap!

Here's a video of Athena's first attempt at the muffin tin and plastic egg nosework game:

Of  course, if you suspect that your dog may now have as gentle of a mouth as Athena with the plastic eggs, we highly recommend you try the muffin tin and tennis ball game for some great nosework!

Check out these other brain workin' games:

Kibble Egg Hunt

Baby Pickin' and Treat Lickin' Lovers Game

DIY Kibble Egg Hunt

As if yesterday's enrichment game wasn't enough excitement for one week, today we bring you yet another DIY activity.  This one's for all the sniffers out there!  It also happens to be quite fitting for the upcoming holiday.  Introducing the Kibble Egg Hunt!

I loooooovvvveeee celebrating holidays which means that I looooooovvvvveeeee when the holiday aisles get updated at the stores.  This week I popped into Target and couldn't help but meander through the Easter section.  While I was there, I picked up two packages of large plastic eggs at $1 per pack of six for a special game to play with Athena.

Of course, I couldn't wait to play it with her until Easter, so we've already played a few "practice" rounds this week in preparation for the big hunt on Sunday.  The game is simply an egg hunt for dogs, but instead of finding chocolate (please don't poison your dog...) or money, they find FOOD!

To play this nosework game, fill up some plastic eggs with kibble, treats, or both and hide them around your yard or house.  I filled up our eggs in front of Athena so that she knew that food was inside of them.  I then put her in a down-stay and she watched me hide the eggs around the yard.  We often play a "Find It" game in the house, so Athena is released to find the kibble with the "find it" command.

The first time Athena played the game she wasn't quite sure what to do when she found an egg.  She started by nudging an egg with her nose and rolling it through the grass.  When that didn't work, she would bat the egg with her paws.  Finally, Athena gently put an egg in her mouth and popped it open.  From then on she's used this "gentle pop" technique to open all of the eggs.

Because we are able to portion how much kibble goes into the eggs, we can either use the game to feed Athena an entire meal, or simply use it as an "afternoon snack."  This game really gets Athena's nose sniffin' which means that her brain gets quite the workout.

To make the game even more challenging, I suggest having your dog wait inside the house while you hide the eggs in the yard (or if playing indoors, have your dog wait in a separate room while you hide the eggs around the house).  This will really get those sniffers workin'!

Athena gets super excited when she sees me bring out the plastic eggs for a hunt.  I plan to pick up a few more backup packages of eggs once the Easter section goes on clearance so that we can continue to play the game all year round.

**IMPORTANT: If you plan to play this game with your dog, please keep a careful eye on them during any human egg hunts.  Once they know that plastic eggs equal food for dogs, they will probably assume that ALL plastic eggs are filled with dog food.  We don't want any dogs getting ahold of the kid's stash of candy!**

Do you play "find it" games with your dogs?

The DIY Baby Pickin' and Treat Lickin' Lovers Game

As many of you know, Athena is a baby picker.  She LOVES to unstuff her stuffed animals by picking at their weak spots.  We have noticed that Athena would rather pick at her toys than chew on them.  For example, Athena has actually never chewed on a Kong.  She simply holds it between her two front paws and licks out all of the deliciousness.  When looking for new fun and exciting activities for Athena, we usually rule out anything that involves chewing.  We look for toys that Athena can either pick (like stuffed animals), lick (like Kongs), or nose bop (like weighted food dispensers).

So when I recently found this genius at-home game for dogs who like to "disembowel" their stuffed animals, I knew that we had to give it a try.  Not only is this an awesome game for metal stimulation, but we happened to have all of the necessary materials at home making it FREE!

This game, which we've named The DIY Baby Pickin' & Treat Lickin' Lovers Game, is a game that can be played over and over again with quite a bit less mess than a destuffed baby.  Here's what you need for the game:

We own the Hol-ee Roller X Extreme and will often stuff Athena's dental bone inside.  Although you can use the original Hol-ee Roller for this game, we like the Extreme version because of its small openings and durability.  For the fleece, we used strips of fleece scraps that we had at home and cut them into all different sizes (you can usually find super cheap fleece in the remnants bucket at the fabric store).

This brain workin' game takes only minutes to put together.  Start by gathering all of the supplies listed above, then roll up a few pieces of kibble or small treats inside of strips of the fleece (I only put treats in some of the fleece pieces).  Stuff the fleece pieces tightly in the Hol-ee Roller.

Athena spends a good amount of time working to get all of the fleece pieces out of the Hol-ee Roller.  We love that this game provides her with mental stimulation that is a bit different than her usual breakfast and dinner food dispensing toy.  This game really involves quite a few of her favorite things in life: pickin', treats, and a ball.  It's also nice that we don't have to go around the house picking up tufts of baby stuffing that just gets thrown in the garbage.  This game is truly reusable because we can use the fleece pieces over and over again (and they are washable!).

What are your dog's favorite DIY games?

Sniffing for Kibble

It was only a couple of months ago that we said goodbye to Athena's food bowl and opted to feed her meals in food dispensing toys such as the Contempo Tessa, Kong, JW Hol-ee Roller X Extreme, Kong Wobbler, StarMark Bob-a-Lot, and the Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom.

Not only have we incorporated food dispensing toys as a form of everyday mental stimulation, but we also engage Athena in many other activities that mentally exhaust her such as:

• Short at-home training sessions
• Walks around the neighborhood
• Car rides
• Trips to the pet store
• Obedience classes
• Scent games

One mentally stimulating scent game that Athena particularly enjoys is 'Find It' which we play indoors on rainy days, in the yard, and at the park.  I begin by putting Athena in a down-stay and ask her to 'wait.'  I then walk around the room (or outside) and hide pieces of kibble (and other delicious treats) in corners, under chairs, on top of short pieces of furniture, and in the grass.  Athena is released from her down-stay with the 'find it' command and she is on her way sniffing to find each piece of kibble.

'Finding' her kibble

Because this scent game requires Athena to use so much nose power, she gets a very large mental workout.  Even after she has found all of the hidden kibble, Athena will continue to sniff around the house or yard in search of any leftover food that she may have missed.  This game keeps her occupied for quite a while.  Our next step is to advance the 'Find It' game and incorporate some scent identification.

Looking for leftover kibble

We are obviously not the first to discover the many advantages of using scent games as a form of mental stimulation.  Here are some of our favorite posts and videos that give examples of different types of scent work:

Find It! from Peace, Love, & Fostering

Sara Lee Find It from Animal Farm Foundation

Nose Work Games from Center for Shelter Dogs

Muffin Tin Mind & Scent Game (YouTube Video)

Scent Games and Nose Work for Dogs (YouTube Video)

Do you play any scent games with your dog or incorporate nose work into their daily routine?  What other ways do you provide your dog with mental stimulation?

Love It: Contempo Tessa

Lately we have been testing quite a few food dispensing toys at our house.  Seeing as Athena eats out of different toys two to three times per day, we have become very familiar with the pros and cons of each toy.

One toy that is at the top of our list is the Ethical Contempo Tessa.  I have actually never seen this toy sold in a pet store, only online at Amazon and Pet Mountain.  I'm a bit shocked at how much we love this toy because it only cost us $6.00 (see our Pet Mountain haul here)!

Athena waiting patiently for her dinner

The Contempo Tessa works much like the Kong Wobbler and the StarMark Bob-a-Lot in that it has a weighted bottom to allow for "wobbling" action.  The difficulty of the toy can be adjusted by spinning the lever on the bottom chamber where the food is placed.  Not only does the dog have to get the food out of the bottom chamber, but they then must knock the food out of a small hole on the side of the toy. This toy will keep Athena occupied for about thirty minutes with 1/2 cup of kibble inside.

Contempo Tessa's pieces

Bottom chamber where kibble is stored

Athena mostly uses her nose to scoot the toy around and will occasionally bat at it with her paws if it gets stuck in a corner.  The tip of the Contempo Tessa is narrow, so Athena will sometimes pick it up with her teeth to move it to a new location.    This has left a few teeth marks on the top, but she has not come close to puncturing the plastic.

Athena scooting the toy all around the house

My one complaint with this toy is that it can be frustrating and time consuming to fill.  Pouring kibble into the bottom chamber takes some time and it can be difficult to twist the top and bottom parts of the toy together.  However, I think it's worth the slight frustration!

When can I have it, dad?!

As far as durability, this toy has lasted one month without any significant damage (other than a few teeth scratches on the top from Athena carrying it around in her mouth).  We make sure to remove the toy as soon as all of the kibble is gone so that Athena won't use it as a chew toy.  For $6.00 this toy certainly passes the durability for your money test!

Unlike the Kong Wobbler, the Contempo Tessa allows for difficulty adjustment making it fit the needs of many dogs.  Its ease of use for the handler is similar to the StarMark Bob-a-Lot in that it can be time consuming to fill.  Also, the Contempo Tessa cannot hold as much kibble as both the Kong Wobbler and the StarMark Bob-a-Lot.

Have you tried the Contempo Tessa, Kong Wobbler, or StarMark Bob-a-Lot?  What do you like (or not like) about them?

Love It: JW Hol-ee Roller X Extreme

It wasn't until recently that we discovered the amazingness that comes from providing a dog mental stimulation throughout the day.  No longer do we feed Athena out of a food bowl, but instead we split up her meals into treat dispensing toys and training sessions.

Although not used to feed Athena a meal, we use the JW Hol-ee Roller X Extreme to feed Athena one of her daily essentials: a dental bone.  Athena is so in love with this ball and so are we.

The Hol-ee roller is a collapsable rubber ball that is extremely durable.  Unlike the original Hol-ee Roller, the Hol-ee Roller X Extreme has thicker rubber to stand up to powerful jaws.

We give Athena a dental bone inside of the Hol-ee roller and it takes her a whopping hour to get the thing out.  She rolls it around, squishes it up against walls, paws at it, and gets it stuck under the bed.  It is one hour of pure self-entertainment for Athena.

Inside of the Hol-ee Roller we put one Checkup Dental Bone broken in half so that there are two pieces for Athena to retrieve.  She moves her body in the silliest positions when trying to get her dental bone out of the ball.  I'm still baffled as to why she gets so excited over a dental bone because the things don't even have an odor!

Some of the many positions that Athena contorts her body into while playing with her Hol-ee Roller!

After an hour of Hol-ee Roller extraction, Athena is exhausted and ready for a long nap!  Have you ever tried the JW Hol-ee Roller X Extreme or a toy similar to it?  What did you stuff inside?