Need some new Kong stuffing ideas

[Guest maya's mom]

Maya gets a Kong every night, while my husband and I eat dinner. I usually line it with peanut butter and stuff it with apples and carrots. I also started using light cream cheese every now and then, just for a change. Lately, Maya is not as interested in going after the Kong, and I think she is just bored with the filling. I think it's mostly the peanut butter, b/c she ate a cream cheese filled one last night, without me having to entice her. Obviously, I don't want to use cream cheese every night. Does anyone have any good ideas I can try? I've heard of the yogurt idea, especially frozen yogurt, but I think that would make too much of a mess on our carpet. Every room where we eat is carpeted, so I need something that won't stain. Thanks for any ideas!!

[MrSnappy]

Okay, crazy question.

 

Why does your dog need to eat a stuffed kong while you are eating dinner? Obviously (or I hope so) apples, carrots and cream cheese are not her dinner meal, so why does she need anything at all? She doesn't have to eat just because you're eating, but if you feel the need to do that, just give her dinner. If you feed kibble, put that in the Kong.

 

I guess I don't think the question is what needs to go in the Kong, but rather, why does she need that Kong in the first place?

 

RDM

[Guest maya's mom]

Ok, I am trying not to take offense to your post RDM. I wasn't posting here to get opinions on if, or why my dog gets a Kong while I eat dinner. Of course that is not her meal. I am a perfectly capable pet owner, who was just asking for some ideas on a treat for my dog. Why is it that some people's innocent posts get turned into a question of judgement? Personally this is the first time it has happened to me, but I have seen it in a number of other posts. It really makes people think twice before posting something here, if they feel they may get reprimanded for it.

[Root Beer]

You could put yogurt in the Kong and freeze it.

 

You can also melt peanut butter in a double boiler, take it off the heat, add the same amount of yogurt, mix well, freeze the mixture, and put some of that in a kong. I'm pretty sure if freezes with a consistency rather like ice cream.

 

Of course, like anything, you would want to start by stuffing just a little and build up to make sure she digests it well.

 

You could also stuff in some of what you are having for dinner if you aren't opposed to table scraps. My dogs usually get a little bit of most things we eat (except onions, chocolate, grapes, etc.). If I gave a Kong while I ate, I would probaby put a "treasure" inside (some meat, etc) from the meal that I had prepared.

[Kate@JIm]

cooked liver -

hot dogs

cheddar cheese & apples

cheddar cheese & bacon

Cheerios with frozen yogurt -

bananas & yogurt -

frozen hamburger & rice

frozen chicken & rice

 

Leftover's from the night before - just freeze, and give the next night...

[JohnLloydJones]

I've used a yoghurt based filling in classic kongs with great success. There's usually no mess when they're frozen, as Senneca is way too eager to lick out the contents to allow the precious filling to dribble out. Just don't overfill. For general amusement, I also put dry treats in Stuff-A-Ball kongs (I seem to remember they were called dental kongs when I bought them, but not any more). That's hours worth of distraction for one load of treats.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Soak some kibble in low sodium chicken/beef stock, put in kong and freeze. That might be less fattening than peanunt butter and cream cheese. Like Kristine said, you can put some little treasures inside, like meat from your meal or some of her fav. soft treats etc. I just use peanut butter and her soft treats for kongs, but Daisy doesn't get them very often, she finds the tallest piece of furniture she can (usually the bed) and chucks it to try and get the stuffing out. I don't like stepping in gewy peanut butter in my bare feet...

[Laurae]

I don't think RDM was making a judgment. Your post does beg the question of why, if your dog isn't even interested in it, are you trying so hard to entice her with a stuffed kong?

[BustopherJones]

I have often used the technique described by Ms.DaisyDuke in preparing a Kong if we have to leave Annie alone for a while. Sometimes, I will mix Old Mother Hubbard's assorted flavor training bitz in with the kibble to add flavor (Annie is on a prescription kibble, which is a bit bland); Annie has a delicate stomach, and these do not seem to upset her.

 

And, maya's mom, I agree with you. One must be careful about what one posts, or run the risk of being belittled or castigated. (Take it from the voice of experience...)

[MaggieDog]

I use canned dog food mixed with dry, then frozen, and give that - especially when I'm trying to make a dog's dinner last longer. The dogs at the shelter I work at get their kongs filled with a mix of canned, dry, and semimoist treats and then frozen. I've also had good luck with stale breadsticks or just a biscuit I wedge inside the toy.

 

Alternatively, have you considered another toy that dispenses food? I like the Squirrel Dude (can stuff with just kibble and still takes longer than a kong, even if they look similar), treat balls like the Kibble Nibble or Buster Cube, the Tug a Jug (another kibble toy, one of the most difficult on the market imo), and the Twist n Treat (not as durable as some toys and still must be stuffed similar to a kong, but the method the dog uses to extract food must change).

 

For good chewies, I like the Bristle Bone with the knawhide rings wedged inside.

[PSmitty]

I give my dogs frozen Kongs now and then, just for some quiet time in the evenings and as a treat. Depending on what I have on hand, I just throw anything I think they might like in there. I make a mixture with pumpkin, yogurt, peanut butter,either veggies or some bits of kibble, stuff and freeze. I've never noticed any carpet stains, but my carpet isn't light, either. Could you teach her to eat the Kong on a towel or area rug?

 

I agree with RDM, though, in that if you feel she needs to eat while you're eating, just stuff her dinner in the Kong.

[Lenajo]

You can up the enticement of what's in the Kong - all the way to frozen steak tartar - but if she's refused cream cheese you really are trying to bypass the fact that she's just probably not hungry.

 

Personally my favorite Kong stuffing currently is a quarter of a leftover baked potato with some residual toppings... takes forever to get out of the kong, and has that forbidden "people food" aroma that brings glee to the most jaded of raw fed hearts.

 

Do you just want her out of the way for dinner or is there some reason for the everyday Kong plan? Rdm actually has a point, and it might be good dicussion. Nobody's going to make you change you pattern if you don't want too. Its just that many, many pets in this country are overweight, and starting a program of daily treats of greater and greater yum value (i.e. higher fat) "just because" is not really a good thing to start. I am *not* implying anything about your dog - simply making a generic point.

 

A dog that won't eat cheese at this house has either just eaten 20 lbs of deer meet they stole out of the sink...or dead.

[MrSnappy]

I don't think RDM was making a judgment. Your post does beg the question of why, if your dog isn't even interested in it, are you trying so hard to entice her with a stuffed kong?

 

Yes, this is my observation. If she doesn't eat and doesn't necessarily want it, maybe she doesn't need it. No judgment, just suggesting you look at it from a different perspective - why try so hard to get your dog to eat something that is completely recreational? I give my dogs stuffed kongs once in a while, though less often than recreational bones, so it's not like I think there's something wrong with it, I just think the simplest answer is often the most useful one, and I guess if they didn't want to eat it, I'd assume they were getting enough food through their meals - dogs on the whole have a less complicated relationship with food than people do.

 

I think it's an interesting subject, so I asked the question. You don't need to take offense - if that's not a question you're interested in, you can just not address it. I won't be offended ;-)

 

RDM

[Guest maya's mom]

Thank you for the suggestions. To clear it up, my husband and I started giving her a Kong while we ate, b/c it took her attention away from us and allowed us some breathing room and down time. We work all day, and get home in the late afternoon. I do come home at lunch time, to play with Maya for about 15-20min, and take her for a short walk. Right now, we are both home around the same time...by 4pm.....and we immediately take her out of her crate and play outisde for an hour. Frisbee, soccer, running, etc. Maya then usually watches me pick up the house and make dinner. Again, we give her the Kong so she doesn't pay attention to our food while we eat. She is not yet a year old, and though we do go to group classes, and have a trainer come to the home, Maya is still learning "good behavior." I guess I feel better giving her the Kong to focus on, instead of just commanding her to lay down, etc while we eat. Also, she gets slightly excited around this time, b/c she knows that after we eat, is when we go for our nightly 2 mile walk. Also, Maya is only 35 pounds and no where near over weight. She is fed a high quality food, California Natural, and gets tons of exercise. I appreciate the comments and don't mean to over react. It just seems in other posts that sometimes when someone posts something that is meant to be an innocent question or opinion, that others who don't agree, feel the need to be a little more "hostile" than seems necessary. I say hostile b/c this is the internet, and things are not always typed/read as they are intended. That being said, I enjoy reading RDM's blog, love her pictures, and was just a little taken a back at the comment. I love my dog, and go out of my way to give her the best life possible, so I guess I was a little insulted that it was commented that what I was doing was wrong. (Well. that's how I intrepreted it anyway.) I realize this was probably not the case.

[Guest maya's mom]

RDM, I saw that you posted while I was typing. I appreciate your follow up, and I do see your point. I guess you will read in my post, where I was coming from. Again, thanks for the suggestions.

[Bordermix]

We put plain, non fat yogurt or pure pumpkin in the kong with a treat in the middle and freeze them. With three dogs, we have 10 kongs and are always prepared! I like the other suggestions, so we'll be mixing it up a little.

 

Cynthia

[Lenajo]

listening to your description of her day, her dinner behavior is not an issue of lack of exercise, it's about manners.

 

For the time being bribing her with Kongs to get some peace at dinner is working, but as you see she will get bored and eventually you will have address the root of the problem if you want a well behaved adult dog.

 

Either she learns to behave during meals now, with minimal to moderate effort as a young dog, or later with a lot of effort because she's got a really negative habit with lots of history.

 

Personaly I would start changing that behavior on the weekends so that you don't have post work stress working against me. There are a lot of ways to do this - if you want more info we'd all be glad to answer your request.

 

I met one of my closest friends over a similar discussion to this one. It is possible to have peace with a young Border Collie in the house!

[Ooky]

the Tug a Jug (another kibble toy, one of the most difficult on the market imo),

 

 

Oh, good!! I just bought one of these for Odin's forced convalescence. I was thinking it looked pretty difficult, and am glad to hear someone else has used it.

 

I second or third the frozen yogurt-mixed-with-kibble idea.

[MrSnappy]

Either she learns to behave during meals now, with minimal to moderate effort as a young dog, or later with a lot of effort because she's got a really negative habit with lots of history.

 

Or just do what I do ... eat in your office with the door shut and sad little faces staring at you from the other side of the glass door, breathing drool all over the place.

 

Just kidding. I do often eat at my computer desk, but that's because I don't have a dining room table, not because I am hiding from my dogs ... who are not allowed to pester me while eating but not because I close the door - I don't. They can lay at my feet if they wish. I agree that in the long run you'll prefer the results of teaching manners rather than teaching distraction.

 

RDM

[Lenajo]

The rules flex here- like most homes. I think the only absolutely intolerable are racing around like a twit or actually physically pestering people. I also don't care if they stare, as long as they do it from their mat.

 

I ate dinner at a house one night with 4 80 lb dogs at the table, and a pair of leg shredding 20 lbers under it. You had to keep you elbows out to keep the dogs from taking your food. Not just out, but actually moving in a steady block. Disgusting, but hilarious. Especially since I didn't have to go back.

 

Now if I eat on the couch, they crowd in, but long history of "she who is politest (i.e. the furthest back and preferably pretending not to care) gets the best goodies" does work.

 

 

Or just do what I do ... eat in your office with the door shut and sad little faces staring at you from the other side of the glass door, breathing drool all over the place.

 

Just kidding. I do often eat at my computer desk, but that's because I don't have a dining room table, not because I am hiding from my dogs ... who are not allowed to pester me while eating but not because I close the door - I don't. They can lay at my feet if they wish. I agree that in the long run you'll prefer the results of teaching manners rather than teaching distraction.

 

RDM

[Guest maya's mom]

Well Lenajo, I think you have hit the nail on the head. I suppose this is off topic now, but here goes. I guess, I feel guilty for leaving her so long during the day, that once we are home, I have a problem not giving her full on 100% attention. As you can see from my earlier post, we are in a good routine with her, but sometimes it isn't enough to quell her energy I guess. At these times, she will sometimes just bark at us, or do something else to say "PLAY WITH ME!". Because she is crated for most of the day, I feel bad ignoring her, or telling her to go lay down. Once we get home from our walk, around 8pm or so, then she is fine for the night and will chew on a bone or otherwise lay around. I know this is my issue...........she is our first dog, so I am learning as well. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[MrSnappy]

I ate dinner at a house one night with 4 80 lb dogs at the table, and a pair of leg shredding 20 lbers under it. You had to keep you elbows out to keep the dogs from taking your food. Not just out, but actually moving in a steady block. Disgusting, but hilarious. Especially since I didn't have to go back.

 

Hah ... once Wootie jumped in the air and licked the pear I was holding 17 times in succession. BOING! Lick. BOING! Lick. My dog walker, who is also a trainer, exploded at about leap 9 and screamed WHY ARE YOU LETTING HIM DO THAT?

 

Cuz it was funny?

 

But he doesn't actually do stuff like that anymore - that was when I had just gotten him. It still makes me laugh though. He can really BOUNCE.

 

Maya's mum, it sounds like Maya is taking advantage of your guilt a little bit, which is to say she is taking advantage of the opportunities you give her because you feel guilty. Rest assured that loads of dogs have rich rewarding lives in the homes of people who work all day, and are no worse off for it. My dogs would kill to get a 2 mile walk after dinner, especially if they had an hour of playing frisbee before dinner. They get one or the other, not both. Step 1 - ditch your guilt. It'll start to fall into place after that.

 

RDM

[Lenajo]

Yep, throw the guilt out the window

 

I'd start teaching her a "place" command. You can get a video or book on targeting to teach it (I love Gary Wilke's On Target), or you can just be persistant and rewarding as needed in any method you like. I like having a place for them to go, because it makes it clearer that this is different than just "go that way or stay over there (the vague there)". You can also use a tether at first to keep her in a general place and just ignore her until she is quiet and still, then reward her quietly.

 

Victoria Stillwell (Stillwill? spelling?) shows a lot of boundary training in her TV show Its Me or the Dog as well. Using body blocking she starts teaching dogs to stay out of the kitchen and relax.

 

other books and trainers call it "go to bed" training..."place training" etc.

 

You can also just use old fashioned "no" and enforce it. Be clear about what you don't like, and reward what you do.

 

I also spend some time each evening with my pups on lead by my feet as I watch TV or do paperwork. I define what they can't do (no bugging me, no pulling, no chewing the lead,chair, or me), keep the lead relatively short (under my foot at first) and after that it's for them to figure out. Pretty quickly they just say "blugh...I'll just flop here and rest". Then I reward quietly. Eventually I name it "settle down". I want them to learn to manage themselves appropriately - not depend on me to explain it minute by minute.

 

Don't underestimate how smart she is. She's trained you to feel guilty already - that's pretty high level work. Put yourself a plan down on paper - what you want the end goal to be, and steps you will take to get to that point. You may find teaching her to settle underfoot is a good start, then progress to settling tethered, then place training. work with your trainer - tell her what you want, and have her help you work out the kinks. No excuses though - we want to train her, not

 

And there is nothing wrong with the occassional Kong.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

shows a lot of boundary training in her TV show Its Me or the Dog as well. Using body blocking she starts teaching dogs to stay out of the kitchen and relax.

Or you can use my method and put lino/tile where you don't want them to be so they can't stand on it anyway!

Sorry, i couldn't resist. Daisy will walk on these surfaces, but when I am cooking dinner, she stays on the carpet, out of the kitchen because she can't sit on the lino without her hind legs sliding out from under her.....it's really funny and really convenient.

[Guest maya's mom]

RDM and Lenajo......thanks for the specifics. You are both correct in assessing my feelings and actions. We are about to head out for our walk now and boy is she ready. She is barking at the door to go. So, will this settle it self down as she gets older.........or am I turning her into a dog that requires activity all of the time? That being said, after the playtime outside, etc......she does rest for a while. On weekends, when we play outside for an hour or so, she will come in and sleep for an hour or two, before "letting us know" she is ready to play again. Is this normal 1 year old behavior? Lenajo, the "Place" is a great idea. We are already incorporating something like that for when the doorbell rings, so I know she can learn quickly. Actually, short 10 min or so training sessions are another thing I do with her when she is being ansy. I guess I just have a hard time turning off the guilt, I know. I need to work on it.