Never used a Kong before? Or maybe you have and your pet just doesn't "get it"? When I first started Kongs with our girls, both of them had trouble and couldn't get the food out. River, the youngest, couldn't even figure out how to get out plain kibble. Below are the steps I took with ours, and now they are Kong pros.
Certified Dog Trainer Stacy Braslau-Schneck uses a slightly different approach.
Easy:
Kibble in a Kong (or similar toy). If this is too intimidating for your dog, start with a wide bowl of kibble with a Kong on top (no food in the Kong).
Slightly harder:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt or cottage cheese, in a Kong
Harder:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt, baby food, pureed canned dog food, or cottage cheese, in a Kong, with the big hole blocked by a large dog biscuit or with a dried apricot, or segment of carrot stick. (Note: do not block the small hole; it is there to prevent the Kong from getting stuck like a suction cup on your dog’s mouth!)
Harder still:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt or cottage cheese, in a Kong, but frozen. Fill your Kong and put it open-end-up in a cup or the empty yogurt container or in a plastic bag, and put it in the freezer. For an easier challenge, let it only chill slightly; completely frozen will be harder. To make this easier for you, stuff several Kongs at once and pull one or more out for each meal (each of my 45-pound border collie’s meals fit well into one “large” and one medium Kong).
Harder still:
Kibble and yogurt, blocked, and frozen
Harder still:
Frozen stuffed Kong, wrapped in layers of old newspaper, put in a cardboard box, put in a sealed cardboard box, or put in several layers of newspaper and boxes! Note that you will probably have to pick up lots of shreds of newspaper and cardboard. If your dog consumes the paper, do not do this method again!
Hardest:
Frozen, stuffed, wrapped, boxed Kong toy, hidden somewhere in your house!
Note: I find that if I put a layer of just loose kibble on the bottom, it’s less likely to have a plug of gross, uneaten food left at the bottom, even if I have a sticky, challenging layer on top.
- 1. Place a small amount of kibble in the Kong and stand the Kong up, like the picture on the left. All the dog will have to do is bump it with their nose and there will be a pile of food on the floor. A few repetitions of this, and your dog will have learned that moving the Kong produces food.
- Place a small amount of kibble in the Kong and lay the Kong on it's side. Your dog already knows that moving the Kong makes food happen. When your dog bumps the Kong with it's nose, some kibble might fall out. If not, most dogs will bump it a little harder. If your dog is more gentle, you may need to make it a little more enticing. Take some canned dog food, canned pumpkin, or peanut butter (make sure it's dog safe peanut butter!) and smear it around the inside of the large hole of the Kong. Do not use it to hold the kibble in, it should be very easy for your dog to lick and very easy to make the kibble come out.
- When your dog is good and comfortable at step 2, you can start mixing the wet food/peanut butter (binder) in to the kibble. Start small at first, only using a little of the binder so the kibble is still fairly loose and easy to get out.
- Keep using more and more binder to make the kibble harder to remove from the Kong. You can experiment with freezing it as well.
Certified Dog Trainer Stacy Braslau-Schneck uses a slightly different approach.
Easy:
Kibble in a Kong (or similar toy). If this is too intimidating for your dog, start with a wide bowl of kibble with a Kong on top (no food in the Kong).
Slightly harder:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt or cottage cheese, in a Kong
Harder:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt, baby food, pureed canned dog food, or cottage cheese, in a Kong, with the big hole blocked by a large dog biscuit or with a dried apricot, or segment of carrot stick. (Note: do not block the small hole; it is there to prevent the Kong from getting stuck like a suction cup on your dog’s mouth!)
Harder still:
Kibble mixed with a slightly goopy liquid, like yogurt or cottage cheese, in a Kong, but frozen. Fill your Kong and put it open-end-up in a cup or the empty yogurt container or in a plastic bag, and put it in the freezer. For an easier challenge, let it only chill slightly; completely frozen will be harder. To make this easier for you, stuff several Kongs at once and pull one or more out for each meal (each of my 45-pound border collie’s meals fit well into one “large” and one medium Kong).
Harder still:
Kibble and yogurt, blocked, and frozen
Harder still:
Frozen stuffed Kong, wrapped in layers of old newspaper, put in a cardboard box, put in a sealed cardboard box, or put in several layers of newspaper and boxes! Note that you will probably have to pick up lots of shreds of newspaper and cardboard. If your dog consumes the paper, do not do this method again!
Hardest:
Frozen, stuffed, wrapped, boxed Kong toy, hidden somewhere in your house!
Note: I find that if I put a layer of just loose kibble on the bottom, it’s less likely to have a plug of gross, uneaten food left at the bottom, even if I have a sticky, challenging layer on top.
