Could you recommend a puzzle or toy for a young dog pls?

[bbcessex]

Hi all
We have a 9 month old lab... he wants more walks than we can give him at the moment due to the recommended limits of walk time for puppies.

Can anyone’s recommend a robust toy / game / puzzle that would occupy him when not sleeping?

(We have Kongs, balls etc)

Kong wobbler or a snuffle Mat.

Some of his daily ration of food tucked into an old pair of socks or loosely tied in an old tea towel and taped inside a lightweight box like a cereal packet. Be prepared to sweep up the mass of tiny cardboard bits, my girl can now delicately open one of these into three pieces😁
If on dry food, hurl a handful down the garden for him to sniff out or hide treats around the house or garden.
I found the busy buddy toy to be good when she was a pup but I think I have put it through the dishwasher too much and it is too easy to empty now. Kongs of all shapes and sizes appear indestructible and I keep them in a bag and rotate them round so she doesn’t get bored of them. Also freeze them where possible to make them last longer.

Mine likes the above...And I save egg boxes, cardboard boxes, cardboard rolls etc to hide and fill with goodies. Mine has restricted exercise at the moment as she has been spayed, so these things were a life saver!

I have to say my dog worked out the Kong Wobbler very quickly and now empties it within minutes. For the price I expected it to keep a dog occupied for longer. How long does a snuffle mat keep their interest?

I would love to do lots of these but my dog if I give him anything like cardboard or snufflemats gets his back teeth on it and sheers bits of and tries to eat it. He doesn't ever destroy anything else but if it is 'his' toy then it's fair game and I can't risk an obstruction.

Very jealous of all your dogs that 'play nicely'

Oh dear bitey! Mine loves to shred a box, or nice noisy last bottle....luckily she doesn't eat the bits.
About the kong wobbler....my dog tends to graze on dry food anyway, so will keep going back to it for another go. She will also play with it when empty ...but it's new! It may get less exciting, but has been good value so far.
Sniffle mat good for us, but again, my dog will keep going back for a munch of dry food. She likes digging about in it. Also bit some strips off
What about a broccoli or boiled egg as an edible thing to shred? Raw marrow bone should take a while to work on...(Disclaimer, my dog has guts of steel, appreciate others may not!)

Lots of these are great but they don't last my beagle long. We got him expert puzzle toys (he's nine months) and he figured them out within seconds!

We freeze a lot of his meals and stuff them in puzzle bowls, licky mats or buffalo horns. Kibble gets scattered in the garden or on walks, or around the living room if it's raining. He has a snuffle mat and two treat balls as well, I often put kibble or bits of apple/carrot in those, cover with cheese or peanut butter and freeze. They last a good while and keep his interest that way.

A frozen meal in a buffalo horn plus scatter fed kibble/kibble in treat balls will last him a good hour, after which he's exhausted and takes himself off to bed!

Bitey - mine would totally be more excited by ripping up a snuffle mat than eating the food in it, lol

Kong wobblers he just picks it up and throws it till it breaks

Puzzle type ones, he just breaks them - to be fair, he’s not wrong, breaking stuff is usually quicker, rofl

I tend to do trick training or games with scent stuff more than food toys.

Kong Wobbler - put some large pieces in that don't fit through the hole to make it harder for the smaller pieces to come out.

Lickimats - freeze some wet food, yogurt, gravy, banana etc

Nina Ottoman games - I have several including the tornado game.

tabulahrasa phew glad it's not just my dog as I am always a bit sad that others can easily tire out theirs with those kind of things

I've tried all sorts of toys and games. His absolute favourite is a plastic bottle with treats posted into it.

“glad it's not just my dog”

Nope, mine is basically a one dog demolishing team, lol.

Sometimes I let him have a cardboard box to rip up, because he likes it, it makes it easier to fit in the recycling bin and if he does manage to swallow a bit before I see him it shouldn’t get stuck.

I use the ones his food comes in, so big enough that he fits inside (he’s a 38kg dog - so not a small box)... takes him about 4 minutes. 4 minutes from full box to basically confetti...

Supposedly tough toys take about 10 minutes.

The record for a plastic food holder type toy is 5 throws, he literally picks them up and throws them as hard as he can...

If it’s something you interact with, like hiding food under one cup and he’s supposed to find that one out of many - he just knocks them all over and then looks at me for praise because he found it, rofl.

So none of that stuff tires him out because he just bashes or breaks it instead of working it out.

I got dog twister for my Labrador and he ate it 😮

Thanks all.. some options here.. look forward to trying them 👍👍

Puzzle type ones, he just breaks them - to be fair, he’s not wrong, breaking stuff is usually quicker, rofl

Mine does this too 😂