The wieners really need some more indoor activities, since it’s about 87 million degrees outside right now. I’ve seen lately that a lot of people are using Kong Wobblers to provide a fun way to give their dogs treats, or even feed a whole meal; so I buy a couple of Wobblers and hope for the best. (As a note, I bought the small size and it is more than adequate for our use.)
Kong Wobblers are hollow on the inside for you to put some kibble or treats in, with a hole on one side for the kibble/treats to fall out of when the Wobbler is knocked around. They are heavier at the base and are designed to stand back up on end after being knocked over. The idea is for it to be a fun, or at least mentally stimulating, way to treat or feed your dog.
Below is a video of a dog that is almost too good at knowing exactly what to do to get the kibble to fall out, or this case: fly out and slide across the slick kitchen floor. For this reason, I would advise against using the Kong Wobbler in the kitchen, as you may end up with a lot of stray kibble under your appliances. Stray kibble can quickly become an escalating problem. Don’t contribute to the homeless kibble population.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I6pN9AIils
I know that it will take a lot of showing them what to do, and I have decided that I will try to train them on the Wobblers every morning for their breakfast. (They get a small amount of dry kibble for breakfast – their evening meal is moistened with water, plus they get some supplements at that time, so we won’t be using the Wobbler for dinner.) Anyway, this morning went as follows:
Austin – Round One
Don’t tell me you put my breakfast in there…”
what am I supposed to do with this thing?”
Come make friends with my tongue!”
Will you please get them out for me?”
Like this? Does this work?”
Li’l Girl – Round One (Even Worse)
put our breakfast in here… “
I am not amused.”
As you might guess, I had to get it all out for them. I kept knocking around the Wobblers, trying to give them idea… but to no avail. We will try again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. It’s clear that many more rounds of “teaching” (i.e. doing it for them in the hopes that they’ll catch on) may be required than I thought. I won’t post about it again until we achieve success.
How about you? Do you have a Kong Wobbler around your house and does your dog understand how to knock it around to get the food/treats out? If so, how long did it take them to figure it out? Judging by videos I’ve watched, some dogs seem to pick up on it right away… others not so much… if ever.
Disclaimer: This was not a review for the Kong Wobbler, so please do not consider it as such. A proper review requires proper use of a product, which we have not achieved yet. This was simply a summary of the wieners’ first experience with the Wobblers.
UPDATE: They figured it out… turns out they were just faking not knowing what to do.
We have a ball that dispenses treats/food. I don’t like it as it is too much work, but my sister loves those kind of toys.
Right? I think some dogs just take right to the interactive toys and some don’t. Your sister probably loves working to get the treats out. I don’t blame you for just wanting them handed over. Plus, you already work pretty hard anyway – you deserve treats just for that!
Hysterical pictures. L’il Girl is SO not amused by your antics! When will you learn??
Reminds me of our puzzle/hide-the-food-in-the-toy attempts over here! And LOL about the homeless kibble population!
I will definitely not be trying one of these with Rita.
Yes, I read your first post about the puzzle toy – SO funny! And the fact that Rita actually kind of figured it out AFTER the toy was empty. Well, guess what? The only time Li’l Girl nudged at the Wobbler was AFTER it was empty. Good grief, lol.
I actually wrote this post on Thursday. Tried again today (Friday)… still no-go. I’ll give it at least a couple weeks of every morning attempts before I give up.
Heading over to read your follow-up!
I’ve tried a few different treat and puzzle toys with Gizmo and all I get in return is the stink eye…I tried loading it with bacon for heavens’ sake and still no action…could he be too spoiled to work for a treat ? 🙂
Bacon!?!? They’d be freaking out wanting it out of there! Hmmm… maybe they’d sniff around at so much that it would knock over and they’d finally clue in. Probably not. They’d probably just be super miffed that I’d purposely put something as fabulous as bacon into something they (think) they can’t get into.
I had one when I fed kibble; Nola figured it out instantly and got the food out fast. She also breezes through the hardest food puzzles available. The joys of a whip smart dog. 😛
Nola’s Mom
What are you trying to say? 😛 Okay, so maybe they’re not the most brilliant sausages. They’re SO food-motivated, though… I thought they’d at least be pawing at the things out of frustration. Nope. Going to try it with something tastier than kibble to see if that helps speed things along. Maybe they’ll “get after it” more if they can smell something better in there.
LOL oh their faces are just priceless! I can see Shiner trying to rip the thing apart to get the food out.
Honestly… even if they didn’t figure them out right away, I thought they’d at least paw or nose at the things… they’re total food hounds! And Austin has no problem trying to tear things up. But no, they would just wait until I’d knock some out for them.
I am not so thrilled when mom uses the Wobbler. It makes it harder …. so can totally relate on those precious faces. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
It is tougher, and they still haven’t figured out that THEY can be the ones to knock the Wobbler around. They look at me each time like, “Well, hit it again! Make more kibble come out!”
Great photos! Wilhelm absolutely loves our Kong wobblers. In fact, he is so good at knocking them around and empties them so fast, I don’t give him the small dog size one anymore but the extra large dogs size one! I am pretty sure that it weighs more than him but he slides it and tips it and never misses a kibble.
Day three and they still haven’t figured it out. I mean, they know how it works… they just aren’t cluing in that THEY can be the ones to do it. They watch me closely and watch the Wobbler… they know that knocking the Wobbler around gets the kibble to fall out… they just won’t touch it themselves. Sigh.
I wonder how long it took Wilhelm to figure it out. Was it right away? I can’t believe he uses the larger one! The smaller one is pretty darn big!
Took Thunder about 5 seconds. He figures out all toys like that pretty quickly. The others took a longer time. We quit playing with them though, because they get kind of wild and I sometimes wonder whether my tv will be safe…lol. Great pictures.
After watching videos of large dogs pushing, chasing, and knocking their Wobblers all over the house, I totally understand what you mean about wondering whether your TV will be safe!
Too funny! We haven’t ever used them for fear the dogs would fight over them! They don’t share too well when it comes to treats! Thanks so much for voting guys! You are awesome!
Oh my goodness… I’m pretty sure that this is what would happen if I tried to feed Bella that way!