Puzzle toy requests

[Shalista]

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So as many of you know I lost everything in the house fire including Baxter's coveted toy collection. I'm looking to restock from scratch and I'm looking for tips.

I have always been a HUGE advocate for play time even with well behaved dogs and especially puzzle toys. Baxter LOVED his Outward Hound collection and was a pro at them all the way up to I think lvl 3 toys.

I started with some small fluffy squeaky toys which he has played with exactly 3 times for like 2.5 seconds each. enough to show me that with some more decompression time he might actually enjoy playing with toys but that he needs time to unwind.

i next got a Roller Ball Treat Dispenser to make his kibble meal times more interesting. it should come Monday. It's a level one and he's highly food motivated and we don't currently have any furniture for him to lose it under so it should be a pretty easy fun way to get some mental stimulation in. I also got him a Snuffle Mat. both are for enrichment but also cause he tends to INHALE his kibble and I'd like to make it a little more fun for him. I'm also worried about bloat etc because he was so emaciated and food-motivated I want to slow him down a little. i MAY hold off on it for a couple more weeks because I can tell he's still really in full on decompress mode and I haven't noticed any signs of boredom from him. (honestly he still sleeps a solid 22 hours a day poor lil guy. this is not an exaggeration. he gets up when I get up and he loves to go on long walks but as soon I sit down he's out like a light.).

still trying to balance enrichment with overwhelming him so I'm looking for suggestions on that front.

we tried him with these enzymatic dental dog chews because they were Bax's favorite and he has bad teeth too but I think his teeth are much worse than Bax's. he basically just sucked it until the whole thing became like wet cloth like he somehow melted it? and I took it away from him because he was wading the wet rawhide into his mouth and I was worried he would choke on it. we haven't tried it since.

I don't have a link for it but we found some collagen-based bully stick chews that were rated for "mild" chewers and he loves those though he can crunch them up in like 15 seconds so we're treating them more as a high-value treat than as enrichment.

Again I haven't noticed any signs of boredom from him but I'd like some ideas for enrichment and I'm a huge advocate especially for chews for dogs to help them destress, given that Freddie is so food motivated I bet he'd love a good chew and it could help him destress a bit to have a project to work on.

A barrier to getting him chews was I was told his teeth were a "2 or a 3" and may need to be cleaned via a dental visit to the vet under sedation. his toothbrush should be coming today and I'm hopeful he'll tolerate brushing well.

yes, I did ask my vet if I could toss him a raw chicken thigh since Bax's teeth were always good when he was on raw but the vet said no because of salmonella risk with raw chicken. the vet recommends regular brushing so I'm going to see if I can improve his teeth with that.

another barrier is that even though he's been on Hills Sensitive Stomach Diet for kibble (with frequent milk bones and collagen chews) he still has soft serve consistency poops so I don't want to give a lot of chews or kibble or treats that might be rough on his gut.

TLDR looking for toy and chew recommendations, particularly food-based ones.

 

[JudyN]

The risk of salmonella and other parasites is really very low, as long as you follow basic hygiene and don't leave it lying around too long. There are plenty of vets who support raw feeding, and feed raw themselves?

For enrichment, how about a cardboard box he can shred? Maybe wrap bits of small kibble in paper and/or smaller boxes for him to rip open... unless of course he's likely to eat the paper/cardboard.

 

[Shalista]

The risk of salmonella and other parasites is really very low, as long as you follow basic hygiene and don't leave it lying around too long. There are plenty of vets who support raw feeding, and feed raw themselves?

For enrichment, how about a cardboard box he can shred? Maybe wrap bits of small kibble in paper and/or smaller boxes for him to rip open... unless of course he's likely to eat the paper/cardboard.

ooo yeah baxters favorite toy was when I wrapped a billion tiny chip fragments in papertowel and stuffed a papertowel tube full of them. unfortunately I don't have any papertowel tubes yet but I do have some boxes. ill have to feed him his dinner that way.

should I be concerned about overwhelming him with puzzles when he's still adjusting? or do you think it would help him unwind to play and think a little bit more?

 

[JoanneF]

Can I just say, I think some food out of puzzle toys is fine, but don't feel the need to feed everything from a puzzle (I'm not suggesting you are, this is a general observation).

Sometimes dogs just need to eat with no obstacles. Especially if he has been emaciated, you might not want food to be hard to get. A slow feeder, or kibble scattered on the floor would slow him.

For his teeth, we are big fans of these -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=skippers+fish+skin+flatties&adgrpid=113057317186&hvadid=677606023831&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007337&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8772365559889466340&hvtargid=kwd-916444380892&hydadcr=18598_2355360&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_85b9vfdzk5_e

 

[Flobo]

Another easy way to slow down eating is just put an upside down smaller bowl in his bowl, slows without being too difficult to get...

 

[Shalista]

Can I just say, I think some food out of puzzle toys is fine, but don't feel the need to feed everything from a puzzle (I'm not suggesting you are, this is a general observation).

Sometimes dogs just need to eat with no obstacles. Especially if he has been emaciated, you might not want food to be hard to get. A slow feeder, or kibble scattered on the floor would slow him.

For his teeth, we are big fans of these -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=skippers+fish+skin+flatties&adgrpid=113057317186&hvadid=677606023831&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1007337&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8772365559889466340&hvtargid=kwd-916444380892&hydadcr=18598_2355360&tag=hydrukspg-21&ref=pd_sl_85b9vfdzk5_e

Bought the fish skin! (his tooth brush came yesterday and pardon my french but that was a disaster. went straight into the garbage bin. I'm also buying him some raw chicken wings salmonella be damned. Baxter always ate thighs but I wanted smaller bones because honestly his teeth are so bad idk if he could crunch through a whole thigh. his teeth are really bad and he may just need a cleaning to reset and then work on daily hygiene later with chews but we'll see. if he cant crunch the bones AT ALL I'll get a cleaning. vet visit is june 7 and I'll see what he says to.)

re puzzle toys and slow feeders, it's less about slowing him down and more about enriching his life and giving him some fun. i was very involved in baxs daily life and tried to give him lots of puzzle toys, training, and play time.

THAT BEING SAID I'm not opposed to just scatter-feeding Freddie for a bit. he's obviously still very stressed and is sleeping 22 hours a day (basically any time he isn't walking with me he's sleeping) so the last thing I want to do is stress him out about his food. i just want him to have a little fun and I thought it might help him unwind more if he was forced to use his senses more to get his food.

we did do a box with his kibble wrapped up in tiny packages of paper towels last night and he seemed to enjoy snuffling through the box and pulling out the packages and tearing them open and getting his kibble but think that's going to be a "once in a blue moon" thing more than an "every day" thing. not the least because of how labor-intensive it is to prepare lol.

 

[JudyN]

What was the problem with the toothbrush? It might be worth fishing it out of the bin, and just getting him used to it gradually. But you would probably start from a point of simply getting him to let you lift his gum to look at his front teeth & canines.

Note that I've edited a rude word out of your post - we aim to be a family-friendly forum and wouldn't want to put anyone off.

 

[JoanneF]

I'm wondering, if he is still stressed and decompressing, whether asking him to work for his food really is enriching for him? Or whether it could perhaps be a little bit frustrating for him instead?

Right now, the most important thing is to build your relationship with him and if he sees you as the provider of readily available food, I suspect that's will really help, and be even more important for him than being occupied with puzzles.

I'm personally a bit torn on puzzle toys for food - they are fine for some food, and for some dogs; but I also see the other side of that coin. Should our dogs really have to work for their food?

 

[JudyN]

I do know that I would find it hugely frustrating to have to eat my food from a puzzle toy, and for food-motivated dogs, it can be quite stressful to know there's another bit of kibble in a puzzle but they just. can't. get. it.

 

[Shalista]

I'm wondering, if he is still stressed and decompressing, whether asking him to work for his food really is enriching for him? Or whether it could perhaps be a little bit frustrating for him instead?

Right now, the most important thing is to build your relationship with him and if he sees you as the provider of readily available food, I suspect that's will really help, and be even more important for him than being occupied with puzzles.

I'm personally a bit torn on puzzle toys for food - they are fine for some food, and for some dogs; but I also see the other side of that coin. Should our dogs really have to work for their food?

excellent thoughts as always guys. do you think id be safe giving him chews or would that be to much "work" for his food?

 

[JoanneF]

No, I think chews are great. Apart from being a food supplement, rather than his actual meal, chewing is a sort of soothing and relaxing activity. And you want him to chew to help with dental hygiene.