why me? Aggression?

[jboboxer]

Originally Posted by TwoDogs

I absolutely love the Canine Genius stuffable puzzle toys. They have two--the Leo and the Mike.
Canine Genius | The orignial smart toy for dogs!
They are really durable and easy to stuff. I like them better than Kongs because you can fit more inside of them. Because the openings aren't just a hole, you can fit all differently shaped treats inside. With a Kong, if I want to freeze a banana inside (my dogs' favorite treat), I have to fill the Kong with banana mash and freeze the whole thing. With the Leo, I just freeze the banana and stick the whole thing in. That means I don't have to have a million toys in the freezer, I just need the one Leo. The Mike holds more than the Leo and since it only has two openings, it takes longer for my guys to work the stuff out of it.

They are a bit pricey, but I've had my original Leo for 4 years now and it is holding up really well. And I've only bought one of each for each of my dogs, as compared to the multiple Kongs I would have had to buy.

BTW, I have no personal interest in the company or anything. I just really like their toys.

How does it work? does the dog squeeze on one side and then it comes out on the other side? How long does your dog normally play with it?

I've been putting in dried chicken everyday in the black kong and she plays with it for about 1 hour at most if there's a hard piece to get out and then she will stop trying.

But are these really that mentally challenging for dogs?

I was thinking about buying this Omega Tricky treat ball after reading a lot of great reviews on it and there's a lot of videos on it on youtube. The main reason is that Roxy seems to push her toys under the couch all the time and I end up having to get it every few minutes. I was thinking this ball seems a little too big for her to push under the couch.

Amazon.com: Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball, Large: Home & Garden

But I'm not sure if there's any other ways of mentally challenging dogs? I try to play hide and seek with her, mostly because I grew up playing hide and sick with my two dogs as a child, so it's probably something I enjoy more than the dog. But I can tell you, she loves trying to figure out where I'm hiding. I just keep calling her name until she finds me. It seems to be the most challenging game so far, but I'd really like to keep her more challenged mentally.

Seems like there would be less digging in the backyard, happier dog and less chewing things up or biting people

[Abby Angel]

Thank you everyone...I understand now what your saying about the mental stimulation part as she is nudging me as I type. Not just playing, make her use her brain. I will definitly take your advice and let all know how it works out. Very much appreciated for everyones help. Abby says thanks also!

[jboboxer]

Originally Posted by Abby Angel

Thank you everyone...I understand now what your saying about the mental stimulation part as she is nudging me as I type. Not just playing, make her use her brain. I will definitly take your advice and let all know how it works out. Very much appreciated for everyones help. Abby says thanks also!

Please let us know how things turn out and what you end up doing.

[TwoDogs]

Originally Posted by jboboxer

How does it work? does the dog squeeze on one side and then it comes out on the other side? How long does your dog normally play with it?......

.....But I'm not sure if there's any other ways of mentally challenging dogs?

As the dog chews, the stuff inside starts to break apart and little bits fall out the openings. The harder they chew, the more stuff comes out. If you put frozen stuff in, they lick at it through the openings. Usually I put a mix of frozen and dry stuff in. I'll smear a bit of peanut butter on the inside, jam in a frozen banana and cram in a dry dog biscuit. Sometimes I'll cook some liver, throw it in the food processor with whatever veggie leftovers I have laying around. Then I mix in some kibble at the end, fill a mini muffin tin with the stuff and pop that in the freezer. When I need to stuff a toy I just pull out one of those liver ice cubes and jam it in.

They keep my girl occupied for at least an hour. My male has a tougher time getting stuff out of them. He will work all morning on it depending what I put in it. Sometimes he'll give up and go back to it later. If I put liver in it, he'll work at it until it's all gone.

I honestly don't think that stuffable toys are very mentally challenging. Some are more than others, but by and large they just keep the dog occupied for a time. I think there is great benefit in the time spent chewing. Chewing works muscles that most domestic dogs don't get to exercise as much as they should. Chewing helps to relieve stress and pent up energy. There is definite benefits to chewing. But by far the most mentally challenging thing I can do with my dogs is train them--specifically train them using a technique called shaping. It is not your typical obedience class stuff (although it certainly can be used for obedience behaviors) and is not luring which in my opinion only teaches the dog to wait for you to tell it how to move. If you want to challenge your dog to think for itself, problem solve, and teach it to do basically anything you can think of that is physically possible, google "shaping behavior" and "shaping clicker" and you will find tons of stuff on it like this great article. The Shape of Shaping: Some Historical Notes | Karen Pryor Clickertraining

Try it, it is a blast.

[jboboxer]

Just thought I'd write back again. I ended up buying that Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball, Large from amazon and Roxy absolutely loves it.

You can put about a cup of kibble in there, which the more you put in the easier it's for her to get it out and at the end she has to work hard on getting it out.

I really love it, because I can basically put one meal in there, which it makes her eat slower, makes her work for her food and she plays with it a lot, figuring out ways to roll it , which provides some mental work.

The main reason I got it was the kong was going under couches and she would turn and look at me to help her, which if I was in another room I wouldn't notice until later. The ball can roll anywhere and she loves kicking it.

If you have a dog that's eats way to fast, I can see this as being another method of making them slow down and at the sametime work for their food.

[KWilson]

I noticed that we were on the subject of toys that help with the mental stimulation of our boxer babies so I wanted to share some things that I have found/bought for my future boxer baby.

Hide A Squirrel Stump and Squirrels Puzzle Toy For Dogs

Dog Toys: Puzzle Toys at Drs. Foster & Smith

If you need more information on these you can do a search online and I'm sure that you could find more toys like these...if I had time I would find them and post the info but I am at work and pressed for time lol.

[Furface]

Devon has got some of the Nina ottosson range of dog puzzles, where she has to work out how to slide the bricks around to get the treat, and if they work that out quickly you can put blocks so they can't move, and they have to work out to take them out first.

I can really recommend them they are great (but not for unsupervised play, I would suggest)

Nina Ottosson Dog Box Wooden Dog Puzzle Toy

check the range on the left hand side

[KWilson]

Originally Posted by Furface

Devon has got some of the Nina ottosson range of dog puzzles, where she has to work out how to slide the bricks around to get the treat, and if they work that out quickly you can put blocks so they can't move, and they have to work out to take them out first.

I can really recommend them they are great (but not for unsupervised play, I would suggest)

Nina Ottosson Dog Box Wooden Dog Puzzle Toy

check the range on the left hand side

That is a very interesting toy/puzzle...may have to look into getting one of these.

[Furface]

Originally Posted by KWilson

That is a very interesting toy/puzzle...may have to look into getting one of these.

You won't be disapointed, I think they are great as they have to use that famous intelligence to solve the problem. Even though Devon now knows what to do she gets really excited when they come out... and will still play even if the treats have all gone, I think she must think its like the magic porridge pot.. ever the optimist!!

[jboboxer]

The problem I'm having is Roxy is becoming a picky eater and she isn't that motived when it comes to food. She had a blast with that ball, but she doesn't eat her own food completely, so the ball isn't being used as much as it was when she first got it.