Toy puzzles keep ‘home alone’ dogs out of trouble
By Pet Connection Staff
August 18, 2009
In this week’s Pet Connection, contributer Liz Palika makes her feature debut with a review of great toys for “home alone” dogs:
The pleasure we get from spending time with our dogs is one of the reasons we have them. But as much as we would love to take them everywhere, the reality for most of us is that our dogs spend a lot of time alone.
Dogs aren’t really designed to stay by themselves, and many times they get themselves into trouble. One helpful tool for avoiding problems is to leave your dog with a treat-dispensing toy to keep your pet busy when you go.
One of the original treat-dispensing toys, and a regular presence in my dogs’ toy box, is the Kong. The toy is made of a hard rubber, and although I’ve heard of a few dogs destroying the Kong, most do not. The Kong can be filled with dog treats, kibble, peanut butter, soft cheese or some commercial treats made expressly for this toy. Some dog owners fill the Kong with peanut butter and then freeze it. The Kong works because it takes time for the dog to get all the treats out from inside it.
See what Liz has to say about all the rest of the dog toys she’s tried here!
Gina Spadafori takes a look at what makes a dog-park-friendly dog, and Rolan Tripp, DVM, and Susan Trip, MS, have some tips for a cat owner about introducing the new Great Dane.
In “The Buzz,” Dr. Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon have some good news about efforts to fight canine cancer:
Cancer in dogs is the No. 1 cause of disease-related death in dogs 2 years of age or older, with one in four dogs dying from cancer. The Morris Animal Foundation is seeking to raise $30 million for cancer research by 2012. It will use the money to fund prevention studies related to genetics and tests on innovative techniques to save lives and ease suffering, to fund a tumor-tissue bank, and to establish an endowment to continue research for the future. The foundation points out that the research helps people as well as pets.
Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or view it here in the PDF version we sent to our client newspapers.
It took some time to get my dog to keep himself busy when I left but now I am pretty sure he sleeps most of the time. The kong is a great way to keep them busy.
Comment by Animals Away — September 2, 2009 @ 7:42 am