We’ve talked before about how useful Kong toys can be to provide mental exercise, as well as some ideas on how to stuff them. Here are more ideas on how to get the most out of your dog’s Kong toys!
Photo by OakleyOriginals on flickr
- Freeze it: Any wet or sticky food can be frozen into a Kong toy to provide a longer-lasting “Kongsicle.” Keep several prepared Kongs in the door of your freezer so you always have one ready at a moment’s notice for unexpected visitors or any other time when you might appreciate a puppy pacifier.
- Microwave it: Mix some cheese in with some dry treats or kibble and microwave long enough to melt the cheese. Let the Kong cool before giving it to your pooch. This creates a very gooey treat that takes dogs a long time to extract.
- Hang it from a tree: thread a rope through your dog’s Kong, and tie a knot in the rope on the small end of the Kong. Position the Kong toy with the large hole facing upwards, and fill it with your dog’s food. Throw the other end of the rope over a tree branch and hoist the Kong just high enough that your dog can easily reach it, but will need to jump up and bat at it to knock food out.
- Scavenger hunt: stuff your dog’s meal into one or more Kongs and hide them throughout the house or yard.
- Use it for grooming: A Kong filled with peanut butter or low fat cream cheese can give your dog something pleasant to focus on while you’re brushing him, trimming his nails, or attending to any other grooming tasks that he finds onerous.
- Crate training: make your dog’s crate into a “magic Kong place” and you’ll create a dog who loves his crate for life!
- Ice bucket Kongs: fill a bucket up with water or broth and one or more stuffed Kong toys, then freeze it overnight. In the morning, dump the giant ice cube into a kiddie pool or put the entire bucket in your dog’s crate. As the ice melts, your dog will discover the delicious Kong surprises inside.
These are just a few ideas of fun things to do with Kongs. Have another great idea? Please share it below!
Paws Abilities 
One of the dogs that we have available for adoption, “Cricket”, chews up Kongs! Thankfully, Mom found “EXTREME Kongs” at PetSmart and so far Cricket hasn’t devoured them. The extreme kongs are black and VERY hard rubber. Even so, Mom doesn’t leave Cricket unattended with hers because she doesn’t want her to ruin that one too!
That picture looks SO MUCH like my pup – he even chews his toys upside-down!
I absolutely love my Kongs. There is always a set (I have two dogs) in the freezer ready to be given out. Usually it contains some combination of pure pumpkin (NOT pie filling), plain yogurt and/or peanut butter, banana and what ever else I have on hand. Kongs are wonderful!
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I have tried all toys, my dog chew them up after an hour. They mentioned Kong to me so i bought him a squeezy rabbit which he deformed in half an hour and i had the extreme black rubber kong ready for the experiment but amazingly enough he managed to start chewing the rubber in only an hour.
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