Peanut butter kong and puppy

[flumox1978]

We hVe a nine week old border terrier. I'm desperate get her to settle for a bit.

How old Do they have to be before I can introduce a kong with peanut butter?

Just be careful of the brand of peanut butter because some have something in which is toxic to dogs.....xylitol??

And I would wait a few more weeks as I’m guessing you’ve only had her for a week and moving home can sometimes unsettle a pups tummy so just give her a while before introducing anything new maybe?

I personally wouldn't due to the age and really it should just be used for training. Also there belly's are still quite sensitive as is really not that good for them and can lead to liver damage later in life if given too much.
He is only 9 week and up until the age of one will really push your boundaries. Try some more toys and treat balls where you can put biscuits in perhaps. But if you were to do it I'd wait till the 12-14 week mark xx

Thanks for your help and advice. We shall wait x

It took mine ages (weeks!) to understand how a kong worked so something you could try now is just putting a few of his normal kibbles in there and letting him play with it. That way, kibbles will drop out pretty easily and he will be learning that the kong releases food when played with.

That will help him 'get it' later on when the food is harder to extract (e.g. p butter).

Our did loves his kong but his favourite toy is a hard plastic ball with a hole in it you put his kibble in it he pushes it around with his nose to get bits to fall out. I got him a large size ball about 15cm dia. So there’s no way he can chew it. He loves it!!!

We mash up a small amount of wet food with a drop of water, add regular dry food and stuff into a kong. I then freeze the kong and she licks it for ages as a kind of calming toy. If I put other treat (biscuits, dried chicken or dried duck etc) she flings it around the place trying to get the food out. The combination of the two seems to keep her occupied in between walking and snoozing.

Kongs are fantastic at any age and can be used to keep dogs busy and motivated. Not sure what the comment about only for training means!

You could smear a tiny amount of xytol free peanut butter on the outside of the kong and just a small amount on the top of the hole - I mean a tiny amount. It will give the smell and taste and the puppy can lick it off.

You could also smear a very small amount of squeezy cheese or banana in the same manner.

It could be a good tool to help your puppy relax in the new surroundings and also help to teach calm . I often use kongs in the evening to prevent the mad zoomie hour with puppies.

After a few days you could put one of the meals inside the kong and let the puppy eat it from there - do not make it difficult so smear on the outside or put the kibble inside a large kong so it falls out easily. It does depend on the puppy how quickly they work this out so to get to this stage may take a while

Kong make a paste for putting in kongs, we use the puppy one at the moment.

We started with sprats for a kong novice! You can wedge plenty in, but they fall out one by one if the pup manages to roll the kong about....Then they get the idea where the hole is